A limitation of the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) literature is
that theory and empirical evidence suggest that some employees define OCBs
as part of their job. A theoretical framework that addresses this problem
is tested in this article. The framework focuses on 2 effects: a role enlar
gement effect (i.e., employees with more favorable attitudes define OCB; as
inrole behavior, which, in turn, results in greater citizenship) and a rol
e discretion effect (i.e., the relationship between employees' attitudes an
d their citizenship will be stronger among employees who define OCB as extr
arole behavior). In tests of this framework with 2 independent samples of s
upervisor-subordinate dyads, role definitions were found to moderate severa
l relationships between procedural justice and OCB, providing support for t
he role discretion effect. Implications for OCB theory and research are dis
cussed.