The Dark Side of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour: Examining the Buffering Role of Safety Climate on Employee Health Complaints
Keywords:
employee well-being, Organizational citizenship behaviour, subjective health complaints, safety climate, psychosocial safety climate, job demands–resources theoryAbstract
In the context of increasing job demands and organizational changes, employees are increasingly exposed to conditions that may elevate subjective health complaints (SHCs), which often emerge without clear medical diagnoses. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) framework, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) can be conceptualized as a discretionary behaviour that may function as either a personal resource or an additional demand, depending on the organizational context. This study examines the moderating role of safety climate in the relationship between OCB and employees’ subjective health complaints. A quantitative moderation design was employed involving 248 employees from a power plant company in Paiton, Indonesia, selected using total sampling. Data were collected using the Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Checklist (OCB-C), the Subjective Health Complaints Scale (SHCs), and the Psychosocial Safety Climate Scale (PSC-12). Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) was used to test the hypotheses. The findings reveal that OCB has a significant negative association with subjective health complaints. However, safety climate significantly moderates this relationship. Under low safety climate conditions, OCB is positively associated with health complaints, indicating that engaging in extra-role behaviours may exacerbate strain. In contrast, under high safety climate conditions, the relationship between OCB and health complaints becomes non-significant, suggesting a buffering effect of a supportive organizational environment. This study contributes to the literature by clarifying the dual role of OCB within the JD–R framework and highlighting safety climate as a critical boundary condition. Practically, the findings underscore the importance of fostering a strong safety climate to ensure that OCB promotes, rather than undermines, employee well-being.
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