Chapter 8: LMX and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Examining the Links Within and Across Western and Chinese Samples

Despite organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) figuring prominently in conceptualizations of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, little is known about either the magnitude of the LMX-OCB relationship, or the paths by which the two constructs are related. Our meta-analysis of the literature shows a population correlation of +.32 between LMX and overall measures of OCB, and no evidence for moderators. Modeling of the LMX-OCB relationship should better integrate published findings, and give due prominence to the role of employee “affect.” While the fundamental tenets of LMX theory appear to apply to the highly relationship-oriented culture of the Chinese, the leader-member relational roles may be more culturally prescribed among the Chinese and more “negotiated” in Western cultures. Cross-cultural differences in exchange processes and currencies should be explored.