Cost of organizational citizenship behaviors: serial mediation model of citizenship fatigue

Purpose Recently, a shift regarding the negative consequences of organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) has put them forward as employees’ negative aspects carrying dangerous consequences for organizations. Considering this issue’s seriousness, the purpose of this paper is to examine the process through which compulsory citizenship behavior fosters citizenship fatigue. Design/methodology/approach A total of 370 nurses working in Pakistani public-sector hospitals were this study’s final data set sample using SmartPLS4. Findings Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) results revealed that when employees are compelled to engage in extra-role actions, they frequently experience work-life conflict, which results in citizenship fatigue. The higher the employee’s age and the lower the education level, the lower his/her citizenship fatigue. On the other hand, findings revealed that workaholic personality aspects tend to reduce the strength of the relationship between work-life conflict and citizenship fatigue. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to examine the recently emerged concept of citizenship fatigue among health-care professionals through conservation of resources theory. Besides, this research will highlight how the demand for voluntary actions in routine or forced citizenship behavior can become the reason for work–family conflict and ultimately create citizenship fatigue. Additionally, this paper presents the novel concept of workaholic personality and how it can play a positive role in the linkage between work–family conflict and citizenship fatigue.