The role of bullying in the development of organizational citizenship behaviors

Abstract Social exchange theory (SET) constitutes the main theoretical framework for research on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), its antecedents (interactional justice and affective commitment), and the circumstances that may exacerbate or weaken these relationships. In the context of the public system and using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), this study analyzes whether bullying at work weakens the relationship between interactional justice and OCB, considering the mediating role of affective commitment. The results show that bullying at work weakens the relationship between interactional justice and affective commitment, but the results do not support the moderating role of bullying at work in the relationship between interactional justice and OCB. This article contributes to advancing knowledge of a complex phenomenon such as OCB, by analyzing how its main antecedents behave in the event of bullying at work.