The curvilinear effect of benevolent leadership on interpersonal citizenship behavior of civil servants in China: The moderating role of extraversion

Based on social learning theory, this study examined the curvilinear relationship between benevolent leadership and subordinates’ interpersonal citizenship behavior and the moderating role of extraversion. We used a questionnaire survey to collect data in China at two points in time, resulting in 310 usable civil servants’ responses to test our hypotheses. Results showed an inverted U-shaped relationship between benevolent leadership and civil servants’ interpersonal citizenship behavior. Moreover, extraversion moderated the curvilinear relationship, such that the inverted U-shaped relationship was significant only for civil servants with low extraversion. For civil servants with high extraversion, benevolent leadership was positively related to their interpersonal citizenship behavior. These findings broaden benevolent leadership research by verifying its potential negative effects on subordinates’ ICB, which revealed that a moderate level of benevolent leadership should be emphasized and developed in the public sector.