Introduction
Employees often demonstrate behaviors within the work environment that collectively contribute to the organization as a whole. In order to provide superior service to their clients, teachers work beyond the
confines of their contract and assigned duties by willingly participating at a level that exceeds formal contract requirements. Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) are defined as “performance that supports the social and psychological environment in which task performance takes place” (Organ, 1997, p. 95). Citizenship behaviors contribute to the environment of organizations by providing an effective means of managing the interdependencies between members of a work unit and, as a result, increase the collective outcomes achieved (Organ, 1988, 1990, 1997; Smith, Organ, and Near, 1983). The research regarding this important topic revolves around OCBs that are positively linked to effectiveness of the organization, group level performance, leadership behavior, student achievement, and climate. Leaders of organizations often cite the extra things that employees do that go above and beyond the call of duty and enhance the organization's effectiveness as a contributor to organizational effectiveness (DiPaola & Tschannen-Moran, 2001).
Social Psychology
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General |
Psychological Social Psych |
Sociological Social Psych |
Ontology |
The mind is the locus of human knowledge & understanding
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The individual is a naturally occurring entity; social constructs, such as family, can be defined; hidden truths can be discovered |
Reality is continually negotiated. Power is the ability to have one's version of reality dominate; the individual is an idea with social and historical dimensions |
Epistemology |
Actions, beliefs, and feelings of individuals are socially influenced |
One can observe reality independently of that reality; science is a mirror of nature |
One can only understand reality through a socio-historical perspective; science is a storyteller proposing versions of reality |
Methodology |
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Etic: controlled, laboratory-based, causal studies |
Emic: Cross-cultural, qualitative approaches, examine the various ways social groups have structures and organized understandings of their particular world at different times in history |
Axiology |
By understanding the interaction of social and individual influences, one can make the world a better place; promote the democratic ideal |
To free the rational mind from superstition and irrational thought; science is the neutral arbiter to resolve disputes |
To describe and understand various accounts of human social experiences and activity and the role they play in human life; sensitive to the role field plays in power struggles and dominant theories/beliefs |
Table of Information Created by Dr. Patricia Popp, The College of William and Mary (1998)