OCB scale: what it is and how to measure it

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is what employees voluntarily do beyond their assigned duties that benefits coworkers or the organization. Lee and Allen (2002) developed a 16-item set following the split of Williams and Anderson (1991): OCBI is directed at individuals and OCBO at the organization. In Vietnam, OCB is often an outcome variable in studies on leadership, organizational support, justice, commitment, and work engagement.

Comparing the scales

Items of each scale

Original English wording from the published source. Replace placeholders such as [system] or [brand] with what your study is about, and pilot the questionnaire with 20 to 30 respondents first.

OCB directed at individuals (OCBI) (OCBI) · OCB scale (OCBI/OCBO)

Code	Item
OCBI1	Help others who have been absent.
OCBI2	Willingly give your time to help others who have work-related problems.
OCBI3	Adjust your work schedule to accommodate other employees’ requests for time off.
OCBI4	Go out of the way to make newer employees feel welcome in the work group.
OCBI5	Show genuine concern and courtesy toward co-workers, even under the most trying business or personal situations.
OCBI6	Give up time to help others who have work or non-work problems.
OCBI7	Assist others with their duties.
OCBI8	I share personal property with others to help their work.

Source: Lee & Allen (2002). Response scale, licence and APA reference: OCB scale (OCBI/OCBO).

Use in the survey kit Open all of OCB scale (OCBI/OCBO) (2 constructs)

OCB directed at the organization (OCBO) (OCBO) · OCB scale (OCBI/OCBO)

Code	Item
OCBO1	Attend functions that are not required but that help the organizational image
OCBO2	Keep up with developments in the organization
OCBO3	Defend the organization when other employees criticize it
OCBO4	Show pride when representing the organization in public
OCBO5	Offer ideas to improve the functioning of the organization
OCBO6	Express loyalty toward the organization
OCBO7	Take action to protect the organization from potential problems
OCBO8	Demonstrate concern about the image of the organization

Source: Lee & Allen (2002). Response scale, licence and APA reference: OCB scale (OCBI/OCBO).

Use in the survey kit

Tips

• Write all 16 items in the same person ('I ...') or keep one shared lead-in question 'How often do you...', and use a frequency scale as in the original.
• Self-rated OCB is prone to social desirability bias; if possible, have managers or coworkers rate it.
• OCBI and OCBO are often highly correlated; run a two-factor CFA and check discriminant validity (HTMT, Fornell-Larcker).
• Do not merge it with in-role performance: Williams and Anderson (1991) clearly separate required duties from voluntary behavior.

Once you have a scale, put the concept in the research model drawer to state your hypotheses, work out the minimum sample size, and after data collection check reliability with the Cronbach's alpha calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How do OCBI and OCBO differ?

OCBI is behavior that directly helps a specific coworker; OCBO is behavior that benefits the organization in general. The two groups may have different antecedents, so separate them if your hypotheses distinguish them.

Can I change the frequency scale to an agreement Likert scale?

Some studies have. If you do, state it clearly in the methods chapter; the original question asks 'how often you do it', so a frequency scale matches the meaning better.

Which variables does OCB usually go with?

OCB is often an outcome of transformational leadership, organizational support, organizational justice, satisfaction, and commitment; the reasoning draws on social exchange theory.