Research Article Volume 4 Issue 2 - May 2017 DOI:10.19080/PBSIJ.2017.04.555633 Psychol Behav Sci Int J Copyright © All rights are reserved by Anu Priya Punia Gender Difference in of Organisational Behaviour (OCB) and Motives Underlying OCB Anu Priya Punia* and Radhey Shyam Department of Psychology, M.D. University, India Submission: May 09, 2017; Published: May 31, 2017 *Corresponding author: Anu Priya Punia, Department of Psychology, M.D. University, Rohtak, India, Email: Introduction “People’s behaviour makes sense if you think about it in terms of their goals, needs and motives” Thomas Mann Psychology is the science of behaviour, understanding “why aspect of behaviour” is of utmost importance. It is a basic human need to understand what motivates an individual to act in a certain manner. Organisational Psychologists acknowledge this essential aspect and hence are focused on understanding what drives people and how can these motives be understood to facilitate efficiency of workforce. One such behaviour that is extensively studied within an organisation is Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB). OCB may be understood as “Individual Behaviour that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognised by the formal reward system and that in the aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organisation” [1]. This means that these behaviours are not mandated or a requisite for a job but are rather voluntarily indulged in by employees. Upon reflection the question that needed answering was why certain employees felt compelled to indulge in behaviours which were neither acknowledged nor rewarded directly by the organisation. Rioux & Penner [2] were the first to study the possible motives which might explain why OCB occurred. This phenomenon was further studied by a number of researchers [3]; Finkelstein [4]. Despite numerous studies it is essential to know what the motives are and do they vary from individual to individual. The current study aims at understanding whether Gender plays a role in the extent to which an employee exhibits such voluntary behaviours and whether males and females differ in motives underlying such behaviours. Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) In Organisational & Industrial Psychology, Organisational Citizenship Behaviour is understood as an individual’s elective undertaking within an organisation that is in no way a part of their ordained tasks. This concept of OCB has been researched for over three decades now. The attempts to understand this concept and relate it to other variables date back to early 1980’s. Various researchers over the years have tried to delineate the dimensions of OCB. Over time a number of taxonomies pertaining to this concept came into being in order to comprehend these voluntary behaviours. The term “Organisational Citizenship Behaviour” was first introduced by Organ & Bateman following which researchers have identified about thirty different forms of OCB. Psychology and Behavioral Science International Journal ISSN 2474-7688 Psychol Behav Sci Int J 4(2): PBSIJ.MS.ID.555633 (2017) 001 Abstract Do men and women really differ in the kind of behaviour they display? Do their motives for indulging in certain behaviours differ from one another? This Gender debate has been a subject for speculation for the behaviourist. In today’s competitive world one needs an edge over another to succeed; the organisations especially like to understand aspects that will enable them to retain this edge. Human resource is one such area that if utilized to its true potential can ascertain wonderful result, however in order to so the management needs to understand their workforce. Understanding workforce also entails understanding the basic gender differences underlying behaviour. The current study focuses on understanding whether the female and male employees in an organisation differ in displaying Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) and whether their motives for indulging in this non mandatory behaviour differ as well. The study was conducted on 140 employees (70 Females, 70 Males) from the Information Technology sector. Keywords: Gender difference; OCB; Motives; Organisation