Will a Good Citizen Actively Support Organizational Change? Investigation of Psychological Processes Underlying Active Change Support

Abstract

The present study investigated motivational factors of employees

active change support (ACS). It also investigated good citizens response

to the change by highlighting convergence and divergence of

motivational factors between ACS and traditional extra-role behavior.

The findings based on 166 staff responses and 346 supervisor

assessments in a hospital that recently implemented a sharedgovernance

structure suggest that active change support is a result of

an active thinking process that involves perception of potential benefit

from change but not necessarily the consequence of conventional

predictors of extra-role behaviors (i.e., positive attitudes). The findings

also suggest that good citizens are not necessarily the supporters of

organizational change and that in actuality they confront motivational

dilemma especially when they hold high quality relationship with their

employer because they are reluctant to challenge the status quo.