A three-wave time-lagged study of mediation between positive feedback and organizational citizenship behavior: the role of organization-based self-esteem

Background: Previous research has paid less attention to examine the mechanisms through which positive feedback affects employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Moreover, the use of cross-sectional data in most previous research has prevented researchers to make accurate inferences about the mediating processes between feedback and OCB. Given that, more research is required to understand the ways feedback enhances OCB. Purpose: This study sought to explain how positive feedback may affect employees’ OCB. Specifically, a mediating role of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) in linking positive feedback and OCB was examined in a three-wave time-lagged model. Method: Data were gathered from full-time employees and their supervisors from private banks in two districts of Southern Punjab (N=264). A three-wave time-lagged autoregressive mediation model was tested by using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results: The results of time-lagged multiple linear regression analyses indicate that positive feedback predicts OBSE, which in turn partially mediates the feedback–OCB relationship. Conclusion: This study concludes that positive feedback itself is less explicative in describing its effect on employees’ OCB. Other mechanisms such as OBSE can explain why positive feedback enhances OCB.