Is supervisory communication more important than co-worker communication for employees’ engagement behavior in China? A moderated mediation analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Past research has demonstrated connections between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior. However, how they are connected has been rarely explored, especially from a communication perspective. OBJECTIVES: This study considered the mixed role of co-worker communication satisfaction and supervisory communication satisfaction in the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior. METHODS: Based on a two-wave survey of 230 employees in China, we conducted a moderated mediation analysis using the PROCESS Macro in SPSS. RESULTS: We found that co-worker communication satisfaction (CCS) was a mediator in the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). On top of that, the relationship between CCS and OCB became more significant when supervisory communication satisfaction (SCS) was at a high level. In contrast, that relationship became non-significant when SCS was at a low level. CONCLUSIONS: These findings extends the pathway research between EI and OCB, primarily through the lens of communication. Also, this work verifies the different values of types of communication satisfaction as resources. It extends the Conservation of Recourse Theory in the Chinese context by integrating cultural traits with employee behaviors.