Linking Change-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior to Turnover Intention: Effects of Servant Leadership and Career Commitment

Prior research in public management has emphasized the value of change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (CO-OCB) and provided valuable insights on the antecedents of CO-OCB. However, questions regarding the consequences of CO-OCB have received limited attention. Using data collected from Chinese civil servants, this study utilized a moderated mediation model to examine how CO-OCB relates to turnover intention in the public sector. The results demonstrated that CO-OCB was negatively related to turnover intention through the mediating role of career commitment, and servant leadership moderated the positive association between CO-OCB and career commitment. More importantly, our findings showed that the indirect relationship between CO-OCB and turnover intention through career commitment was more pronounced when servant leadership was higher. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for research and practice.