Impact of Workplace Ostracism on Organization

Citizenship Behavior and the moderating role of

spirituality

by

Department of Management Sciences

FAST NUCES

2022

Table of Contents
1 Chapter 1 (Introduction)..........................................................................................................6

1.1 Background of the Study...................................................................................................6

1.2 Problem Statement............................................................................................................7

1.3 Research Question.............................................................................................................7

1.4 Research Objectives..........................................................................................................8

1.5 Research Gap....................................................................................................................8

1.6 Significance of study.........................................................................................................9

2 Chapter 2 (Review of Literature)...........................................................................................10

2.1 Workplace Ostracism......................................................................................................10

2.2 Organization Citizenship Behavior.................................................................................12

2.2.1 Altruism...................................................................................................................12

2.2.2 Conscientiousness....................................................................................................13

2.2.3 Sportsmanship..........................................................................................................14

2.2.4 Courtesy...................................................................................................................14

2.2.5 Civic virtue..............................................................................................................15

2.3 Spirituality.......................................................................................................................16

2.3.1 Spirituality as a moderator.......................................................................................16

2.4 Theoretical Framework...................................................................................................17

2.5 Hypothesis.......................................................................................................................17

3 Chapter 3 (Research Methodology).......................................................................................18

3.1 Research Design..............................................................................................................18

3.2 Population and Subjects..................................................................................................18

3.3 Data Collection Procedures.............................................................................................18

3.4 Sampling Technique.......................................................................................................19

3.5 Research Instrument / Tools (Development and Validation)..........................................19

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 3.5.1 Workplace Ostracism...............................................................................................19

3.5.2 Organization Citizenship Behavior..........................................................................19

3.5.3 Spirituality...............................................................................................................19

4 4 Chapter 4 (Data Analysis and Interpretation).....................................................................21

4.1 Statistical Package to be Used........................................................................................21

4.2 Statistical tests to be used to analyze data.......................................................................21

5 References..............................................................................................................................22

6 Appendix – A.........................................................................................................................27

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 Impact of Workplace Ostracism on Organization Citizenship
Behavior and the moderating role of spirituality

1 Chapter 1 (Introduction)
1.1 Background of the Study
Around 40% of people in large Pakistanis corporations have said that they feel alone and are not
socially accepted. Every workplace is unique and is made of its own culture that shapes the way
work is being carried out in the organization. Employees are the most valuable asset of a
company; an employee's work is affected by the environment they operate in, and therefore
workplace isolation is a lethal disease that can completely diminish the output a company
produces, ultimately resulting in a company's downfall. Workplace ostracism is a coined term
referring to individuals being isolated or ignored at the workplace Ferris and Berry (2010b). In
today's world, due to increased competition, workplace stress has increased, resulting in
workplace isolation (Robinson et al., 2016). Furthermore, academic research has brought to light
the adverse effect of feeling alone (workplace ostracism) has on the employee mental state, e.g.,
tension and aggression (Matthew et al., 2013), and the overall impact of all of this shows on
employees organization citizenship behavior (OCB).

Due to the drastic impact ostracism has on the five different OCB dimensions, psychologists
have continued to study this phenomenon for more than a decade (William, 2007). OCB is the
positive behaviors employees can have in the workplace, these behaviors are outside of the
employees' job description, and when employees show such behaviors, they are contributing
positively to the organization (Yang & Wei, 2018). Due to a high increase in competition, the
workforce is pushed to achieve higher targets, making them feel more isolated (Robinson et al,
2013). With competition growing higher and higher, the job environment is tougher, and
effective job performance is necessary to ensure the organization's growth and success (Jaramillo
et al., 2003).

The organization citizenship behavior domain is a rather vast one. Many studies have been
conducted to understand the impact OCB can have on other variables and the impact other
variables can have on OCB. The study by Chung (2018) showed that the relationship between
workplace ostracism and workplace behaviors is one that is volatile. This indicates that as the
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intensity of ostracism changes, the intensity of the relation between the two variables also
changes. The study did reveal that workplace ostracism negatively impacts OCB. Another
research done by Liu and Xia (2016) highlighted that the main reason why workplace ostracism
leads to a decrease in one's OCB is due to the lack of feeling of belongingness. In the research by
Khajepour (2017) it was revealed that when people are ostracised, they feel like an outsider;
therefore, they tend to withdraw from positive OCB. The theory of social exclusion clearly states
that those individuals who are marginalized in society, act out and behavior in the workplace is
impacted as well (Williams, 2019). Therefore, this study builds a hypothesis on the basis of the
theory of social exclusion that employees who are ostracized in the workplace will show
negative behaviors when it comes to organization citizenships behavior. This research will show
how being isolated can be harmful for the organization and the individual.

The model of the study shows that the five OCB Dimensions, altruism, conscientiousness,
sportsmanship, courtesy, and civic virtue, are negatively impacted by workplace ostracism, and
this relationship is moderated by spirituality. This shows that the levels of spirituality will
increase or decrease the intensity of the relation between the IV and the DV. The variable of
spirituality is one that has been used as a moderator in many studies. The research by Sarmad
(2016) and Supriyanto (2017) both try to understand how spirituality can moderate the relation
between IVs and DVs.

1.2 Problem Statement

Employee behaviour and attitude greatly impacts organizational performance and this element
can be impacted by the organizations culture, group cohesiveness, etc. If an organization can
understand and see how greatly workplace ostracism impacts the employees OCB, they
organization will be more inclined to taking interest in developing a healthy culture in the
workplace. Hence the aim of the study will be to understand the impact of workplace ostracism
on organization citizenship behaviour and the moderating role of spirituality

1.3 Research Question

The primary aim of the study is to study the effect of the independent variable (workplace
ostracism) on the dependent variables of the study (Organization Citizenship behavior
dimensions). The thesis aims to conduct to answer the following questions:

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 1. What is the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Altruism?
2. What is the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Sportsmanship?
3. What is the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Courtesy?
4. What is the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Civic Virtue?
5. What is the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Conscientiousness?
6. What is the moderating role of spirituality on the relation between workplace
ostracism and OCB dimensions?

1.4 Research Objectives

The main objective is to find out whether or not ostracism have an impact on OCB dimensions
and the moderating role of spirituality. Ostracism is the feeling of loneliness and isolation on the
work place. The objective of the study is to provide an extensive view of the existing literature in
relation to workplace isolation in telecom sector. The sub-objectives are as follows:

1. To investigate the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Altruism.

2. To investigate the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Sportsmanship.
3. To investigate the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Courtesy.
4. To investigate the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Civic Virtue.
5. To investigate the impact of Workplace Ostracism on Conscientiousness.
6. To investigate the moderating role of spirituality on the relation between workplace
ostracism and OCB dimensions.

The result of this study will be valuable to the industry practitioners as they can develop
better HR practices that developing better practice to enhance employees OCB.

1.5 Research Gap

Moreover, it can be seen that in the research by Zheng et al (2019) showed that ostracism did
not have any impact on OCB dimensions, whereas as mentioned before the study by Chung
(2018) showed that the relation varies. From past studies, it can be seen that there is a big gap in
the research when it comes to workplace ostracism and OCB. Past studies have focused on
studying OCB as a whole and have not worked on how workplace ostracism can impact the five
different dimensions OCB is made of. Furthermore, present studies have indicated the damaging
effect ostracism has on employee organization citizenship behavior to add on it also leads to an
increase in employee's deviant workplace behavior (Chung, 2019). Therefore, the aim of this

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study is to find the relation workplace ostracism has with each dimension of organizational
citizenship behavior.

1.6 Significance of study

This research will greatly help in bettering the employee behaviour and understanding how
something as simple as loneliness can impact the employee behaviour. Moreover, when
organizations will see the negative impact workplace ostracism has on OCB they will be more
inclined to introduce polices and activities that limit workplace ostracism and encourage
employees to work together as a group rather than isolating some members. Due to this group
cohesiveness, organization loyalty, and commitment will increase as employees will not feel
pressured at work and will feel like they are important to the organization.

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2 Chapter 2 (Review of Literature)
The workplace has become more and more intricate with the introduction of new concepts and
globalization. One such concept is that of Ostracism or workplace isolation/ loneliness, it is a
term that has come to the mind of many researches mind. Many researchers believe that
workplace ostracism can be seen as a persistent effort to force someone to feel alone at work and
this can also further fall under the umbrella of workplace harassment(Rhoades & Eisenberger,
2002). Workplace ostracism is a feeling of being pushed into isolation that pushes the employee
further into a dark place where they can no longer trust anyone. This feeling eats away the
employee’s motivation and is detrimental for the employee health. As discussed, workplace
ostracism is cancerous for the self-esteem. When an employee feels ostracized, they are more
likely to feel devalued which then impacts their mental piece and with their mental piece
compromised it is not shocking that the employee is not able to deliver the best work they can.

Just like workplace ostracism another concept that is studied quite a bit is organizational
citizenship behavior (OCB). This term refers exclusively to the discretionary actions that are
taken by employees and these actions are outside of the employee’s formal job duties (Zhang et
al., 2019). OCB has been studied over and over by many researched as the implications this
variable has are vast. It was previously discovered that when organizational commitment is high
then levels of OCB are also high, this is especially true for environments where chances of
unemployment are high (Ocampo et al., 2018).

One variable that is often is not studied as much is of “Spirituality”, this term means that there is
a feeling of something greater out there. This term is mostly used in terms of religion and for
understanding how spiritual someone is (Charoensukmongkol et al., 2015). Many studies shows
that spirituality plays a big part in how someone behaves or interacts with others. The same case
can be applied to the workplace as well, levels of spirituality will impact a variety of factors like
deviant workplace behavior, knowledge sharing, knowledge hiding etc. (Sani & Ekowati, 2019).

2.1 Workplace Ostracism

With globalization on the rise and technology advancements the whole world is interconnected,
so is the social phenomenon of workplace ostracism. This phenomenon is not limited to a certain
gender, race or culture; it is pervasive in all of them regardless (Kwan et al., 2018). It occurs

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when an individual feels as if they are being excluded from a group of employees they work
with, they feel cornered and isolated(Robinson et al., 2013).

Research on workplace ostracism is no longer just limited to the immediate relationship it has
with an individual’s behavior and psyche, due to these efforts the one can focus on how to reduce
the negative outcomes that come about due to workplace isolation (Robinson et al., 2013).
Mostly researches tend to study the immediate effects of workplace ostracism, one research has
pointed out the direct link between workplace isolation with employee’s organizational attitudes,
and moreover an individual’s organizational attitude can greatly affect their organizational
behavior. Surveys have found approximately 75% of respondents have experienced ostracism
(Faulkner et al., 1997). While another survey found 66% of employees reported being given “the
silent treatment” at work(Fox & Stallworth, 2005). In all it is clear that workplace isolation will
hinder an employee’s healthy workplace attitudes like job satisfaction. In return due to a decrees
in an employee’s job satisfaction their level of engagement with fellow employees also
decreases(Xerri, 2013). Workplace isolation has many forms, it can be in the form of a cold
shoulder, and dismissal and being out casted (Ferris et al., 2008).

Furthermore, workplace ostracism can be intentional where certain employees are aware that
their actions will result in inflicting hurt or just making another individual feel excluded. The
method of giving someone a cold shoulder may be used to put distance between certain
individuals or be simply used as to punish others. On the other hand, workplace ostracism may
not always be intentional or done purposefully as an employee may ignore the other just because
they themselves are having a bad day or they’re caught up with work(Williams, 2001).

Another form of ostracism is one without any intent at all this occurs purely by accident where
individuals are completely unaware of the consequences their actions have on others it can a
simple act of forgetting to include someone’s email Address in a group email. Nevertheless, of
the form of ostracism this social phenomenon is associated with harm and negative effects. The
intention behind workplace ostracism is not kept in regard while defining it as a negative social
phenomenon as the individuals who experiences it goes through a bad/ painful time (Chung,
2018).

Workplace ostracism has continued to increase over the passage of time due to the extreme
reliance people are having on technology. Technology has become a critical part of life and

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things are almost redundant due to the use of technology. People lost their jobs while new jobs
were created as well (Ferris & Berry, 2010a). This dependence on technology has continued to
divide people into more groups and push them in isolation. Workplace ostracism is an important
research variable that seems to impact so many different variables. Workplace ostracism tends to
not only generate negative feeling in employees but has a domino effect on everything else. A
domino effect refers to the bigger impact a certain event seems to cause (Robinson et al., 2016).

2.2 Organization Citizenship Behavior

The concept of OCB is not a new one, it has been around for a long period of time. Regardless of
the duration of the concept the importance OCB gets has increased in recent times. As
organizations have moved to a more open workspace, where employee contributions even at
individual level are recognized. Researchers by in 1988 defined OCB as “individual behavior
that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that
in aggregate promotes the effective functioning of the organization”(Organ, 1988). Overtime this
concept has been studied over and over again, and the five dimensions of OCB have been
identified: citizenship behavior”, “altruism”; “conscientiousness”; “sportsmanship”; “courtesy”;
and “civic virtue”. These dimensions as a whole make up the entirety of the OCB, if any variable
is impacted the outcome is reflected in OCB. The universe of OCB is vast this one variable can
be impacted by many things that take place at the workplace and it can also be impacted by
individual characteristics. Many studies have been conducted to try to understand how OCB can
be increased for the better (Perreira & Berta, 2015). Moreover, it has also been revealed that in a
work setting job satisfaction, job commitment and job security all impact the levels of OCB an
employee will display (Pitaloka & Sofia, 2014).

2.2.1 Altruism
Many researchers have stated that humans are generally more concerned about their individual
being rather than others. Overtime the studies that have been conducted have revealed that
people when faced with a challenging situation are more inclined towards cooperating rather
than competing (Dur & Tichem, 2015). Moreover, the studies done by the evolutionary scientists
found quite a contradicting result, they hypothesized that in the very nature of a human being
altruism already has deep roots. When people feel like they are part of a group the need to help
other members of the group increases even more (Mallén et al., 2019). This need then translates

9
into agreeing with the collective thinking of the group and also sometimes agreeing with things
the individual on a personal level doesn’t like.

2.2.1.1 Altruism and Workplace Ostracism

Many studies have been conducted previously that try to understand how altruism in the
workplace helps, how it can be increased and what puts a damper on the level of altruism in the
workplace. The research by Mallén et al. (2019), specifically works on how the leaders
personally and traits impacts the level of altruism an employee displays in the office. Altruism is
a very broad topic, previous studies have shown that if a good level of altruism is maintained in
the organization then knowledge sharing can be increased and even relationship conflict can be
reduced (Guinot et al., 2015). Another concept that is new in the workplace now is of isolation,
technically known as ostracism. Humas have a need of belongingness and when they are
cornered or cast aside, they feel low, depressed and rejected (Xie & Yan, 2016). Therefore, this
study is going to try to analyze the impact workplace ostracism has on altruism.

2.2.2 Conscientiousness
According to Theory X, people do not have the intrinsic desire to work and they need to be
monitored to carry out their tasks effectively (Zhang et al., 2019). Whereas, according the OCB
dimension of conscientiousness, people have the internal desire to work well and perform their
tasks effectively (Hassan et al., 2016). People who rank higher on conscientiousness they tend to
be more organized and are much more disciplined. Moreover, this personality trait is one that can
distinguish hard workers from the laggards (Dahm et al., 2017).

2.2.2.1 Conscientiousness and Workplace Ostracism

Past research has been focused on understanding the various factors that can impact
conscientiousness. Conscientiousness is the internal desire to follow the rules and act as per
society standards. In layman’s term Conscientiousness is the internal desire in someone to do
their duties fully and perfectly (Kepes & McDaniel, 2015). A person with higher levels of
conscientiousness will complete their work with utter diligence and out more effort than anyone
else. These people are those that believe in going beyond what is being required. A very
important trait of Conscientiousness person is that they are self-discipline and have a very god
control over themselves (Perreira & Berta, 2015). These employees who are reasonable for
achieving best outcomes is ought to get disheartened and therefore they will end up performing

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badly and thereby hurting the company. An employee that doesn’t feel like they are included the
are ought to get demotivate and eventually lose their will to perform. Research by Garg and
Anand (2020) shows that employees who are ignored or are not part of a group will show lower
levels of Conscientiousness.

2.2.3 Sportsmanship
This dimension of OCB refers to how much of a team player an employee is, it talks about how
an employee deals with negative situations (Nna, 2021). This variable is all about the team and
the team spirit, studies have shown that sportsmanship is a highly important aspect when it
comes to team cohesiveness and team morale (Demerouti & Cropanzano, 2017). The researchers
who have studied this variable have stated that sportsmanship does not only men that you are
helping your fellow teammates but you are also consciously trying to avoid conflicts and
complaining (Romaiha et al., 2019). This dimension of OCB has been studied more and more
when it comes to team sports, office dynamics and even in the education sector.

2.2.3.1 Sportsmanship and Workplace Ostracism

The need for sportsmanship is something natural, people working in the same space want to be
accepted and they want to help out their fellows (Demerouti & Cropanzano, 2017). Research
shows that people generally want to help people. When people are part of a group, they feel like
they can rely on one another and they do not feel alone (Devece et al., 2016). Employees who
feel like they do not belong or are left out tend to show lower levels of sportsmanship. Whereas,
another research showed that sometimes employees might show higher levels of sportsmanship
when they feel isolated so that they are liked and accepted by others (Nna, 2021). The aim of this
research is found out whether employees when ostracized show low level of sportsmanship.

2.2.4 Courtesy
The polite behavior of an employee comes under the head of courtesy. Being courteous simply
means that you are considerate to another person’s feelings and care about others (Ajlouni et al.,
2019). Humans by nature are a social animal and they like to mix and match in the crowd
therefore previous research has concluded that humans are by nature courteous (Perreira & Berta,
2015). The events in one’s life that shape a person’s personality impact the levels of courtesy
displayed as well. Studies show that for being courteous a person does not have to go out of their

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way, by simply saying good morning or asking how someone’s day is going courtesy can be
displayed (Khajepour, 2017).

2.2.4.1 Courtesy and Workplace Ostracism

Sociability is in the very nature of a human-being, when isolated a person feels depressed, sad,
and they tend to shut away from the world. Research by Nezlek et al. (2015), showed that being
alone and cast away directly impacts how conversational a person is and how much a person tries
to talk to others. When an employee feels like they will be ignored or made fun of they tend to
shy away from conversation and start keeping a distance from others (Ocampo et al., 2018).
Therefore, this study hypothesizes that employees when ostracized will show lower levels of
courtesy.

2.2.5 Civic virtue

Civic virtue is about how an employee talk about their organization to others. It deals with how
an employee feels about the organization and how they represent the organization to the outside
world (Yao & Chang, 2017). Moreover, civic virtue is not an official duty of an employee, it is a
discretionary behavior but it greatly impacts the reputation of an organization. Civic virtue
comes from the sense of community an employee has, the more loyal an employee feels to an
organization the more the employee will talk good about the organization (Mehmood et al.,
2016).

2.2.5.1 Civic Virtue and Workplace Ostracism

Researcher from the past has highlighted that civic virtue can decrease when an employee has an
unsupportive manager, or a hostile workplace (Yang & Wei, 2018). Moreover, if an employee is
not satisfied with their compensation package or their work responsibilities even then there will
be a decline in civic virtue. This clearly shows that when an employee will not be happy with
their relations with their colleagues, supervisor and subordinate, civic virtue will take a negative
hit (Ajlouni et al., 2019). Employees who are isolated or are not invited in the social circle will
not feel satisfied in the workplace, therefore when they will talk about how they feel about the
organization they are working in they will use negative words and it will put a damper on the
organization’s reputation (Zhang et al., 2019). Hence, this study hypothesizes the following.

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2.3 Spirituality
The term spirituality goes back a long time, it has been used since the dawn of time in one way
or the other. In very simple terms spirituality can be described as; ‘recognition of a feeling or
sense or belief that there is something greater than myself’ (Charoensukmongkol et al., 2015).
Researchers have been studying spirituality in all walks of life. Spirituality is a very diverse
variable it can impact almost every aspect of one’s life (UTAMI et al., 2021). Studies have
shown that even in adolescents health spirituality plays a big part. It has been hypothesized in
many studies that spirituality and religious activity can operate as a stress reliever (Supriyanto et
al., 2017).

2.3.1 Spirituality as a moderator

Spirituality has been used as a moderator time and time again. In the study by Wilson (2018), it
was shown that spirituality can moderate the relation between negative life events and subjective
well-being. The study showed that when something negative happens in someone’s life their
well-being is directly impacted negatively but the level of spirituality someone has can
strengthen or weaken the relation between the independent variable and the dependent variable.
Another study by Supriyanto et al. (2017), showed that organizational effectiveness is impacted
by total quality management practices, but the degree of impact again can vary due to the
moderating role of spirituality. Previous research has shown that when employees are in a
negative environment, spirituality can moderate the outcomes be it positive or negative (Wilson,
2018). Moreover, in a country like Pakistan, spirituality is something that is held close to heart.
People carry out many tasks because it will please the greater power and they feel happy by
doing good deeds. Research by Abidi, (2019) showed that people in Pakistan feel a direct
connection between happiness and spiritually, this shows that the more people feel connected to
God the more they are happy. Another study by Abbas (2020) revealed that in Pakistan
employees who have higher levels of spirituality have higher levels of job satisfaction.
Therefore, this study aims to find out the degree to which spirituality can moderate the relation
between workplace ostracism and the five dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior.

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2.4 Theoretical Framework

Civic Virtue

Altruism

Workplace
Conscientiousness
Ostracism

Spirituality Courtesy

Sportsmanship

2.5 Hypothesis
After thorough study of the previous literature, the research will be working to draw a conclusion
on the following hypothesis.

 H1: Workplace ostracism will lead to a decrease in altruism

 H2: Workplace ostracism will lead to a decrease Conscientiousness
 H3: Workplace ostracism will lead to a decrease in Sportsmanship
 H4: Workplace ostracism will lead to a decrease in Courtesy
 H5: Workplace ostracism will lead to a decrease in Civic virtue
 H6: Spirituality moderates the relation between workplace ostracism and organizational
citizenship behavior

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3 Chapter 3 (Research Methodology)
3.1 Research Design
To make sure that data collection part of this study is carried out in an ideal manner and to
control social desirability bias and common method variable methodologically, we will let our
respondents know that participation in this study is completely voluntary, no information will be
shared with a third party and they can choose to leave this study at any point in time. Moreover,
to limit the social desirability factor respondents will not be asked to share their personal
information or any sensitive information regarding their personal life or the company they work
in. Before participants can be moved towards answering a new section of the questionnaire, they
will be presented with a cover story that highlights the relation between the variables this will
serve as a temporal delay and will help respondents understand better the relevance of the study.

3.2 Population and Subjects

The purpose of the study is to understand the impact of workplace ostracism on the five
dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior and the moderating role of spirituality. This
study will be confined to the telecom sector of Pakistan, comparatively this sector faces more
issues with workplace ostracism more than others (Zaidi, 2021). Since, team cohesiveness and
office politics play role in workplace harmony. Employee working in teams and in all hierarchal
levels will be the population for this study.

3.3 Data Collection Procedures

The main source of data collection for this study will be a questionnaire and that will be floated
online through google docs. Initially the questionnaire will be shared with a smaller chunk of the
total population around 50-60 people to get an idea of understanding the respondents have.
Through this first phase of data collection, the reliability and validity of the chosen measure of
data collection will also be checked. To make sure that the data is coming from a diverse group
of respondents, employees belonging to different ethnicities will be approached.

The survey will be administrated with the approval from the relevant authorities. To furthermore
make sure that employee information is kept safe, the survey will be an anonymous one and
employees will not have to share any personal details. This study will be a time lagged one, as
data will be collected at two points in time. At first data will be collected from employees and
their answers will be recorded after two months data will again be collected from those

15
employees to see if the impact of workplace ostracism has worsened over time or has spirituality
moderated the relation to such an extent that ostracism does not bring a change on OCB.

3.4 Sampling Technique

The study was primarily based on quantitative analysis and thus to collect the data questionnaires
were used. We used non-probability sampling in this research, the first technique being
judgmental sampling through which we picked out the most suited organization. 200 employees
will be surveyed to understand the core objectives of the study; hence around 25-30 responses
from each company will be received. Likert scales were used to measure the responses of the
employees.

3.5 Research Instrument / Tools (Development and Validation)

3.5.1 Workplace Ostracism
Workplace ostracism will be measured with Ferris et al. (2008) 13-item scale. Sample items
include: ‘Others at work treated you as if you weren’t there’ and ‘others avoided you at work’.
Workplace ostracism items will be anchored at a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Never to
7 = Always. This scale has been found to be reliable in the study by Zheng et al. (2016) (α
= .90)

3.5.2 Organization Citizenship Behavior

OCB will be measured using the Podsakoff et al. (1990) 23-item scale. Sample items include: ‘Is
always ready to lend a helping’ and ‘Helps others who have been absent’. Items 1-5 measure the
altruism dimension of OCB which implies how much of this dimension is exhibited by team
members in the organization. Similarly, items 6-10 measure the conscientiousness dimension of
OCB. The courtesy dimension is measured by items 11-15. Items 16-20 measure the
sportsmanship dimension of OCB and civic virtue is measured by items 21-24. OCB items will
be anchored at a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Never to 7 = Always. This scale has been
used in many different studies and is reliable, e.g., Supriyanto et al. (2020) , (α = .89)

3.5.3 Spirituality
To measure the moderator of spirituality for this study, the 12 item measure created by
Underwood and Teresi (2002), will be used. Sample items include: ‘I find strength in my religion
or spirituality” and ‘I feel God’s love for me, through others”. The items will be anchored at a 6-

16
point Likert scale ranging from 1 = Many times a day to 6 = Almost Never. This scale was
previously found reliable and used in the study done by Pereira et al. (2019) (α = .77).

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4 4 Chapter 4 (Data Analysis and Interpretation)
4.1 Statistical Package to be Used
The main statistical package to be used in this research will be SPSS 17.0. Using this program,
we will be to run different statistical analysis and will be able to test the hypothesis of the study.

4.2 Statistical tests to be used to analyze data

As mentioned before using SPSS 17.0, different analytical tools like standard deviation, T-test
and ANOVA will be used. The t-test will show whether there is a big different between the
different sample sets. Moreover, the ANOVA test will show whether the means are statistically
different from one another. Lastly regression analysis will also be done to analyze the relation
between the variables, it will show if the relation between the IV and DV are positive or
negative.

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5 References

Abbas, M., Idrees, N., & Rehman, U. (2020). Workplace Spirituality and Job Satisfaction:
Evidence from Pharmaceutical Industry of Karachi, Pakistan. Global Business Spectrum,
1(1), 12-20.
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 6 Appendix – A
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORKPLACE OSTRACISM, ORGANIZATIONAL
CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR AND SPIRITUALITY

Dear Respondent!

I am a student MBA in Bahria University. This survey is being conducted to know factors affecting organizational
citizenship behavior. Please take few minutes to complete the survey and return it within one day. Your cooperation in this
regard shall be highly appreciated.

Thanking you in anticipation.

(Please tick the appropriate checkbox below)

Age Gender Highest Level of Education Job

1  20 or below 4  31-35

2  21-25 5  36-40 1  Male 1  SSC 3  Bachelors 1  Indoor

3  26-30 6  41 or above 2  Female 2  HSSC 4  Masters or above 2  Outdoor

You have to answer the following questions in view of the network you are using.

Never Once in a Sometimes Fairly Often Often Constantly Always

while
Scale
1 3 4 5 6 7
2

Workplace Ostracism

1 Others ignored you at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2 Others left the area when you entered. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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3 Your greetings have gone unanswered at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4 You involuntarily sat alone in a crowded lunchroom at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5 Others avoided you at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6 You noticed others would not look at you at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7 Others at work shut you out of the conversation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 Others refused to talk to you at work. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9 Others at work treated you as if you weren’t there. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Others at work did not invite you or ask you if you wanted 6 7
10 anything when they went out for a coffee break. 1 2 3 4 5

You have been included in conversations at work (reverse 6 7

11 coded). 1 2 3 4 5

12 Others at work stopped talking to you. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

You had to be the one to start a conversation in order to be 6 7

13 social at work. 1 2 3 4 5

Altruism

I willingly assist new colleagues to adjust to the work 6 7

1 environment. 1 2 3 4 5

2 I willingly help colleagues solve work-related problems. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I willingly cover work assignments for colleagues when 6 7

3 needed 1 2 3 4 5

4 I willingly coordinate and communicate with colleagues. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5 I am always ready to lend a helping

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 Conscientiousness

I comply with company rules and procedures even when 6 7

6 nobody watches and no evidence can be traced. 1 2 3 4 5

7 I take my job seriously and rarely makes mistakes. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 I do not mind taking on new or challenging assignments. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9 I try hard to self-study to increase the quality of work outputs. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10 I try my best to work without vigilantly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Sportsmanship

I never use illicit tactics to seek personal influence and gain 6 7

with harmful effect on interpersonal harmony in the
11 organization. 1 2 3 4 5

12 I never use position power to pursue selfish personal gai 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

13 I take credit, avoid blame, and fight fiercely for personal gain. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I often speak ill of the supervisor or colleagues behind their 6 7

14 back 1 2 3 4 5

I never use illicit tactics to seek personal influence and gain 6 7

with harmful effect on interpersonal harmony in the
15 organization. 1 2 3 4 5

Courtesy

16 I ask my fellow employees how they are feeling 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

17 I try to help my fellow employees as much as possible 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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18 I am actively offering help to my colleagues 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I often find myself thinking of ways in which I can be of more 6 7

19 use 1 2 3 4 5

Civic Virtue

I am willing to stand up to protect the reputation of the 6 7

20 company. 1 2 3 4 5

I am eager to tell outsiders good news about the company 6 7

21 and clarify their misunderstandings. 1 2 3 4 5

I make constructive suggestions that can improve the 6 7

22 operation of the company. 1 2 3 4 5

23 I actively attend company meetings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Spirituality

1 I feel God’s presence. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2 I experience a connection to all life. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

During worship, or at other times when connecting with God, I 6 7

3 feel joy, which lifts me out of my daily concerns 1 2 3 4 5

4 I find strength in my religion or spirituality 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5 I find comfort in my religion or spirituality 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6 I feel deep inner peace or harmony 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7 I ask for God’s help in the midst of daily activities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 I feel guided by God in the midst of daily activities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9 I feel God’s love for me, directly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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10 I feel God’s love for me, through others 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11 I am spiritually touched by the beauty of creation 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

12 I feel thankful for my blessings. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

13 I feel a selfless caring for others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14 I accept others even when they do things, I think are wrong 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

15 I desire to be closer to God or in union with Him 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

16 . In general, how close do you feel to God? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Do you have additional comments or recommendations?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks for your Time and assistance, its greatly appreciated!

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