The relationship between trait self-control, consideration for future consequence and organizational citizenship...

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is important to the development of an organization. Research into factors that foster OCB and the underlying processes are therefore substantially crucial.

The current study aimed to test the association between trait self-control and OCB and the mediating role of consideration for future consequence.

Four hundred and ninety-four Chinese employees (275 men, 219 women) took part in the study. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures online that assessed trait self-control, tendencies of consideration of future consequence, and organizational citizenship behavior. Path analysis was conducted and bootstrapping technique (N = 5000), a resampling method that is asymptotically more accurate than the standard intervals using sample variance and assumptions of normality, was used to judge the significance of the mediation.

Results of path analysis showed that trait self-control was positively related to OCB. More importantly, the "trait self-control-OCB" link was mediated by consideration of future consequence-future, but not by consideration of future consequence-immediate.

Employees with high trait self-control engage in more organizational citizenship behavior and this link can be partly explained by consideration of future consequence-future.