Work meaningfulness motivates university teachers' organizational citizenship behavior: A moderated mediation model

Abstract

This study addresses a gap in the literature by integrating dual mediators and a moderator into the self-determination theory (SDT) framework to explain organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among university faculty. The study also investigates the moderating role of autonomy. Structural equation modeling (SEM) results, derived from a three-stage tracking study of 427 teachers across 12 undergraduate institutions in Guizhou Province, revealed that: (1) perceived work meaningfulness significantly and positively predicted OCB, with proactive behavior and perceived organizational support (POS) jointly explaining 40.9% of the variance; (2) self-determination enhances the effect of work meaningfulness on POS and strengthens its relationship with proactive behaviors; (3) the effect of work meaningfulness on OCB is strongest when teachers experience both high autonomy and high proactive behavior. The study concludes that OCB in university teachers stems from the dynamic interaction between psychological needs (autonomy) and organizational resources, confirming the applicability of SDT's three-stage mechanism (motivation-cognition-environment) in higher education. The study also proposes a practical pathway, “meaning empowerment-autonomy space-support response,” offering theoretical and practical insights into enhancing OCB in higher education. The model explained a substantial proportion of variance in OCB in contexts of high autonomy. These findings contribute theoretically to self-determination research and practically to faculty development policies.

Keywords: Self-determination theory, work meaningfulness, organizational citizenship behavior, moderated mediation model, university teachers.

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