Kamile DEMİR
Dr, Mehmet Akif Ersoy
10.14689/ejer.2015.60.8

Abstract

Problem of Study: Research on social exchange relationships does not take into account another vital component of organizational life—namely an individual’s sense of belonging and identity. Organizational identification is one of the most crucial factors holding employees together and keeping them committed to the organization. Many studies demonstrated that organizational identification is positively related to organizational citizenship behavior. Some researchers have suggested that organizational identification also might play an important role in social exchange processes. In recent years, the dominant approach has been to conceptualize the relationship among perceived organizational justice or perceived organizational support and organizational identification in terms of social identity as well as social exchange processes.

Purpose of Study: The purpose of the present study was to investigate how the organizational identification mediates the impact of perceptions of organizational justice and organizational support on organizational citizenship behaviors in the context of Turkish preschool teachers.

Methods: Data for this study were collected via a survey of 169 preschool teachers who completed measures of organizational citizenship behavior, organizational identification, organizational justice, and perceived organizational support. In analyzing the collected data, a two-step approach was adopted to test measured variables describing four latent constructs.

Findings and Results: The model was specified and tested using structural equation modeling and was found to fit the data reasonably. The study findings show that the model was found to be effective in explaining the variance of organizational citizenship behaviors. Perceived organizational justice and organizational support together explained 70% of the variance in teachers’ organizational identifications. Organizational identification explained 79% of the variance in teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviors.

Conclusions and Recommendations: As an overall conclusion, the results of the study demonstrate that teachers’ identification with the school play a significant role in promoting organizational citizenship behaviors. Furthermore, this study’s findings also suggest that organizational identification serves as an integral mediating mechanism among teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviors, perceived organizational justice, and organizational support based on exchange and identity theories. Because teachers’ organizational citizenship behavior improves school effectiveness, principals should understand the antecedents of these behaviors and be able to make use of them.

Keywords: Social exchange theory, social identity theory, preschool.