Social Power and Citizenship Behaviors in India: The Moderating Role of Emotional Intelligence

This study investigates the relationships between personal and positional power and person and organization oriented citizenship behavior (P-OCB and O-OCB). Critically, we also examine whether these relationships are moderated by emotional intelligence (EI). The data for this study were collected from 250 mid-level executives working in manufacturing companies in India. The measures were borrowed from the literature and validated for this study. Results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that personal and positional power had a positive relationship with P-OCB and a negative relationship with O-OCB. Moreover, the main effect of EI was positive on both P-OCB and O-OCB. In contrast, the interactive effect of EI with personal power was negative on O-OCB and was positive with positional power on P-OCB and O-OCB. Furthermore, personal power was positively associated with EI. This study underscores the relevance of positional power among high EI managers in promoting OCB in an Indian work context.