Linking POS and Exchange Ideology to Behavioral Outcomes: A Social Exchange Framework

In the present study, we develop and test a model where POS and exchange ideology are the two interdependent antecedents of in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and their influences are mediated by social exchange relationship variables (i.e., felt obligation and affective organizational commitment). Based upon a meta-analytic path analysis, our findings supported our prediction by showing that (a) exchange ideology and POS are negatively related to each other, (b) exchange ideology is negatively related to in-role performance and OCB, whereas POS is positively related to both behavioral outcomes, and (c) these relationships are mostly mediated by felt obligation. We contribute to organizational support theory by providing meta-analytic evidence that both POS and exchange ideology are important antecedents of behavioral outcomes, and that felt obligation plays a key role in explaining the influences of POS and exchange ideology on behavioral outcomes. We further provide suggestions for future research directions, as well as meta- analytic correlations of exchange ideology with important individual difference, social exchange, attitudinal, and behavioral variables.