Neutralizing the effect of perceived underemployment on organizational citizenship behaviors by ingratiation motive

Based on the beneficiary perspective and Bolino’s (1999) organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) model, this study investigates the effects of both employee perception of underemployment and their ingratiation on supervisor-focused and job–focused OCBs. In this study, 304 dyadic questionnaires were conducted with results showing that ingratiation was positively associated with the OCB of employees toward both their jobs and their supervisors, while the perception of underemployment showed a negative correlation only with employees’ OCB toward their jobs. Moreover, the correlation between perceived underemployment and individuals exhibiting OCB toward their jobs was negative for subordinates displaying a low level of ingratiation, but positive for subordinates displaying a high level of ingratiation. The findings of this research not only enrich the existing literature, but also provide important implications for practitioners of human resources management.