Impact of Organizational Citizenship Behavior on Emotional Intelligence: A Study of Operational Level Employees in a Retail and Wholesale Organization in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This research aims to identify the relationship between Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and Emotional Intelligence (EI). The associations between OCB and employee EI are well established in western literature. However, in the Sri Lankan context, very few studies have examined the dimensions of OCB, such as Altruism, Consciousness, Sportsmanship, courtesy and civic virtue, on employee EI, especially in retail and wholesale organizations. This study explored the relationship and examined the influence of those variables among operational-level employees working in a retail and wholesale organization within the Sri Lankan setting with a sample of 137. Hence, this was a quantitative and cross-sectional research study. The data were collected with the help of standard questionnaires and by using a convenience sample technique. Regression analysis was used to test the study hypotheses. The analyzed results of the study showed that there is a significant impact of OCB on EI. The dimensions of OCB, altruism, consciousness, sportsmanship, and courtesy significantly impact EI, but the dimension of civic virtue showed no impact on EI. The study results clearly underlined the potential of a firm’s involvement in OCB in influencing employees' ability to understand themselves and others. Furthermore, this study raises the need for companies to look at their employees’ OCB on employee EI in a more severe and holistic approach.