In a number of studies, researchers interested in positive organizational behavior have sought to better understand the favorable aspects of work engagement-a pervasive state of emotional attachment and motivation toward work. In this study, however, we investigate a potentially negative outcome of engagement. Drawing upon conservation of resources theory, we hypothesize that engagement will be associated with higher work interference with family due to the resources engaged employees may expend when they engage in extrarole work behavior such as organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). We further propose that conscientiousness, as a personal resource, serves to buffer the relationship between OCB and work interference with family. Examining multisource data, collected at multiple points in time, from 3 diverse samples (total N = 844), we find that state engagement is associated with higher levels of work interference with family and that this relationship is mediated by the performance of OCBs. The findings also indicate that engaged employees who are highly conscientious experience lower levels of work interference with family than engaged employees who are less conscientious. The implications of our study and directions for future research are also discussed.

This study seeks to identify workplace conditions that influence the degree to which employees feel worn out, tired, or on edge attributed to engaging in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and also how this phenomenon, which we refer to as citizenship fatigue, is associated with future occurrences of OCB. Using data collected from 273 employees and their peers at multiple points in time, we found that the relationship between OCB and citizenship fatigue depends on levels of perceived organizational support, quality of team-member exchange relationships, and pressure to engage in OCB. Specifically, the relationship between OCB and citizenship fatigue is significantly stronger and positive when perceived organizational support is low, and it is significantly stronger and negative when the quality of team-member exchange is high and pressure to engage in OCB is low. Our results also indicate that citizenship fatigue is negatively related to subsequent acts of OCB. Finally, supplemental analyses reveal that the relationship between OCB and citizenship fatigue may vary as a function of the specific facet of OCB. We conclude with a discussion of the key theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

Summary In recent years, there has been increasing interest in positive organizational scholarship in general, including positive organizational behavior (POB) in particular. This work identifies organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as a prototypical POB. Conceptualizing OCBs in this way is sensible in light of more than 30 years of research highlighting the desirable aspects of such behavior. At the same time, some researchers have raised questions about positive organizational scholarship and have called for a more balanced view of ostensibly positive behaviors. The purpose of this paper, then, is to take a more nuanced view of OCBs while highlighting the dark side of citizenship behavior. In doing so, we review conceptual and empirical work that has challenged the idea that OCBs are inherently positive. We also discuss research that seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the conditions under which OCB does more harm than good. Finally, important areas for future research and the practical realities facing scholars who seek to publish research investigating the dark side of citizenship are addressed as well. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article reviews the underemployment literature, providing a comprehensive integrative overview of underemployment research. Underemployment, which occurs when a worker is employed in a job that is inferior by some standard, is linked to a broad range of negative outcomes for employees. This article builds on Feldman’s 1996 model of underemployment and identifies relevant theoretical perspectives and dimensions of underemployment, as well as reviewing the empirical research on the relationships between underemployment’s antecedents and outcomes. Suggestions for future research are offered, with particular attention on career implications, the effects of underemployment on an employee’s identity, and the importance of “choice” for underemployed employees. Finally, recommendations for improving the methodological rigor of underemployment research are provided.

Previous research investigating proactive behaviour at work has generally focused on the ways in which proactive behaviour enables individuals and organizations to be more effective. Although it has been noted that some proactive behaviours may be undesirable or have potentially negative consequences, researchers have not examined the 'dark side' of proactive behaviour in any systematic way. In this conceptual paper, we explore the potentially negative individual and organizational implications of expecting employees to behave proactively. Specifically, at the individual level, we argue that expecting proactive behaviour in organizations may contribute to stress among employees and friction between proactive and less proactive employees. At the organizational level, we suggest that relying on proactive behaviour may cause harm to an organization by undermining its ability to socialize employees and foster its organizational culture, weakening its learning capability, and reducing its ability to develop future leaders. We conclude by discussing additional avenues for studies examining the potential costs of proactive behaviour for both individuals and organizations alike.

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SummaryThe competitive environment of business today makes corporate layoffs an organizational reality, and losing one's job can be a highly stressful experience. We propose and test a model that places objective underemployment and subjective underemployment in a causal sequence between organizational actions and employees' restoration of equilibrium by obtaining jobs worth keeping. We longitudinally examine relationships between layoff fairness, workers' stress symptoms and appraisal, and subsequent employment outcomes among 149 laid-off technical employees over the course of one year. Structural equation model results support seven of nine hypothesized paths, and demonstrate discriminant validity between and mediational properties of objective and subjective underemployment. Findings also reveal the important role that employees' perceptions and subjective assessments play in successfully returning to pre-job loss equilibrium following displacement.

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