The interactive effects of spirituality and trait cynicism on citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors

Abstract

Spirituality is increasingly recognized and accepted as part of the total employee and the general work environment. The following study examined spirituality as a moderator between an employee personality trait (cynicism) and discretionary job performance dimensions (citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior). This exploration integrates the literature on spirituality, cynicism and performance by probing the relationship between negative personality traits and performance while considering the interactive effects of cynicism and spirituality. Specifically, trait cynicism was predicted to have a direct impact on performance. Results did not support this prediction. However, as expected, there was a significant interaction between cynicism and spirituality such that there were significant differences in the performance of highly spiritual cynics and those low in spirituality. Implications are discussed.