Investigation of organizational citizenship behavior considering the moderate role of generativity: A developmental approach

Introduction: The purpose of this research was to investigate the nurses’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) with a developmental approach and a comparison of OCB between young and middle-aged nurses. The moderating effect of generativity was also considered in this study.Method: The participants of this study included ۱۴۱ nurses of five hospitals in Tehran which were selected randomly. Organizational Citizenship Behavior inventory and Loyola Generativity Scale were used for data collection. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software, with an independent sample t test, Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical regression analysis.Results: Data analysis indicated significant differences in OCB, between young and middle-aged groups. Also, the relationship between OCB and generativity was confirmed. Furthermore results showed that the interaction of age and generativity is a better prediction for OCB.Conclusion: Erikson’s developmental theory prediction about the role of middle-age stage’s conflict in caring for the next generation and commitment to the community is applicable in workplaces. In other words, it’s true that middle-aging leads to extra-role behaviors, but only if conflicts are solved and generativity is formed in that middle-aged person.