A B S T R A C TBased on the Affective Events Theory (AET), this paper proposes a model of how the level of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) directed at individuals (peers) (OCB-I) declines to the extent that physical conditions in offices make employees experience crowding perceptions and privacy invasions from peers. We hypothesize that: 1) crowding perceptions and privacy invasions by peers are related to employees' feelings of relational conflict with peers; 2) relational conflict negatively relates to OCB-I; and 3) this decrease in OCB-I is mediated by the employee's person-organization fit (POF) and empathic concern. A direct path from crowding perceptions and privacy invasions to OCB-I is also postulated. Data were collected from 299 respondents working in open-plan offices at four IT-based companies in Tehran, Iran. Results found significant positive links of relational conflict to privacy invasion, crowding perceptions and OCB-I; and from privacy invasion to OCB-I. Furthermore, POF and empathic concern mediated the link between conflict and OCB-I. The findings suggest that managers can promote OCB-I by regulating not only the psychosocial conditions of the work environment, but also the physical conditions.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, the relationship between crowding perceptions (i.e. employees’ perceptions of insufficient personal space due to offices’ physical constraints) and deviant workplace behaviors (DWBs) directed at both the organization as a whole (DWB-O) and individuals (DWB-I); and second, privacy invasion from supervisors and peers as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 299 respondents working in open-plan offices at four medium-to-large sized IT-based companies. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, the paper suggests that under crowding conditions employees can perceive the physical workspace as a space-related resource that is threatened leading them to engage in DWBs out of a conservation strategy. Findings Structural equation modeling results significantly supported main effects of employees’ crowding perceptions on the two types of DWBs, with privacy invasion from supervisors and peers as full mediator. Research limitations/implications The study could suffer from mono-method/source bias, and specificities of the studied IT-based companies and their work can raise concerns about the generalizability of the results. Practical implications The findings indicate that a proper physical office arrangement can be a useful tool for managers in combating employee DWB. Originality/value To date, the origin of workplace deviance has mainly been investigated in terms of the psychosocial work environment; however, the physical labor conditions (i.e. the layout of buildings, furniture, workspace, air conditioning, workplace density, etc.) have received little systematic attention.

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