A Meta-Analysis Study: The Relationship between Servant Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior
P. Tommy Y. Sumatera Suyasa(1*), Qurrota A'yun(2), Raja Oloan Tumanggor(3)
(1) Master’s Program in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Tarumanagara
(2) Master’s Program in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Tarumanagara
(3) Master’s Program in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Tarumanagara
(*) Corresponding Author
Abstract
Introduction/Main Objectives: This study examined the
relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship
behavior using a meta-analytic approach. The topic is essential
because servant leadership emphasizes ethical conduct, empathy, and
individual development contributing to organizational
effectiveness. Background Problems: Previous studies have
reported inconsistent findings regarding the influence of servant
leadership on organizational citizenship behavior across various cultural
and organizational contexts. This study examined the central
question: To what extent is the relationship between servant leadership
and organizational citizenship behavior consistent and significant within
Asian organizational contexts? Novelty: This research synthesized 22
quantitative studies conducted across Asia, published from 2015 to
2024, making it the first regional meta-analysis to systematically
explore the servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior
relationship. Prior research has been fragmented and dominated by
Western perspectives, limiting comprehensive insights into
collectivist Asian cultures. Research Methods: A meta-analysis was
conducted using data from 6,023 participants. Statistical procedures,
including effect size calculation (r̂), Fisher’s Z transformation,
heterogeneity testing, and publication bias assessment, were
conducted using JAMOVI version 2.6.26. Finding/Results: The
results indicate a significant and positive correlation between
servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (r̂ = 0.359,
95% CI [0.274, 0.443]), demonstrating that a higher level of servant
leadership is associated with stronger extra-role behaviors among
employees. No evidence of publication bias was identified.
Conclusion: Servant leadership plays a critical role in fostering extrarole
behaviors among employees in Asian organizations. These
findings underscore the importance of cultivating servant
leadership practices to enhance collaboration, empathy, and
sustainable organizational performance.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Abid, H. R., Gulzar, A., & Hussain, W. (2015). The impact of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behaviors with the mediating role of trust and moderating role of group cohesiveness: A study of public sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 5(3), 234–242. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v5-i3/1515
Adewale, A. S., & Ghavifekr, S. (2019). Leadership self-efficacy and staff organizational citizenship behavior in higher education institutions: Experience from Nigeria. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 22(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2018.1543540
Aminah, A., Lin, P. K., Susita, D., & Helexandra, L. (2022). How does servant leadership affect public employee’s organizational citizenship behavior? The mediation effect of organizational culture and knowledge sharing. International Journal of E-Business and E-Government Studies, 14(1), 361–387. https://doi.org/10.34109/ijebeg.202214118
Aydoğan, H., & Özer, O. (2024). Examining the effect of servant leadership on organisational trust and organisational citizenship behaviour. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics, 11(5), 491–504. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11268763
Aziz, K., Awais, M., Hasnain, S. S. U., Arslan, M., & Rahat, Q. (2017). Impact of workplace perception and servant leadership on organizational citizenship: The mediating role of employee cynicism. International Journal of Research, 4(9), 1479–1492.
Aziz, K., Awais, M., Hasnain, S. S. U., Khalid, U., & Shahzadi, I. (2018). Do good and have good: Does servant leadership influence organizational citizenship behavior? International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 7(4), 7–16.
Bahari, A. (2023). Servant leadership and proactive personality as impetus for teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviour. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v13-i2/16351
Bateman, T. S., & Organ, D. W. (1983). Job satisfaction and the good soldier: The relationship between affect and employee “citizenship”. Academy of Management Journal, 26(4), 587–595. https://doi.org/10.2307/255908
Beshlideh, K., Sharifi, R., Hashemi, S. E., & Naami, A. (2018). Testing a model of perceived organizational support, citizenship behavior, commitment, job satisfaction and leader-member exchange as consequences of servant leadership in cement factory employees in Kermanshah. International Journal of Psychology, 12(2), 169–196. https://doi.org/10.24200/ijpb.2018.115440
Biswas, N., & Mazumder, Z. (2017). Exploring organizational citizenship behavior as an outcome of job satisfaction: A critical review. The IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(2), 7–17.
Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. John Wiley & Sons.
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P. T., & Rothstein, H. R. (2009). Introduction to meta-analysis. John Wiley & Sons.
Choi, B., & Cho, K. W. (2025). Influence of transformational leadership on innovative behavior in the Korean public service sector: The moderated mediating effect of change management and PSM. Public Performance & Management Review, 48(2), 437–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2024.2436631
Choudhary, A. I., Akhtar, S. A., & Zaheer, A. (2013). Impact of transformational and servant leadership on organizational performance: A comparative analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(2), 433–440. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1470-8
Deng, Z. H. (2016). Comparative study of servant leadership and paternalistic leadership on employee’s performance. In DEStech Transactions on Engineering and Technology Research, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.12783/dtetr/ssme-ist2016/3918
Eva, N., Robin, M., Sendjaya, S., van Dierendonck, D., & Liden, R. C. (2019). Servant leadership: A systematic review and call for future research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(1), 111–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.07.004
Ezerman, M. M., & Sintaasih, D. K. (2018). Effect of servant leadership, trust in leadership on organizational citizenship behavior with interpersonal communications as mediation variables. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 20(4), 21–30. https://doi.org/10.9790/487X-2004052130
Farooqui, N. S., Pathan, S. K., & Channa, N. U. (2024). Servant leadership, trust, organizational citizenship behavior: Triadic model for educational achievement. Sustainable Business and Society in Emerging Economies, 6(3), 445-456. https://doi.org/10.26710/sbsee.v6i3.3137
Frangieh, M., & Popescu, D. (2020). The role of leadership in instilling organization citizenship behavior. In Proceedings of the International Management Conference, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, (pp. 522-532). https://doi.org/10.24818/IMC/2020/03.05
Gao, S., & Huang, J. H. (2024). The relationship between college teachers’ perceived servant leadership and teachers’ organisational citizenship behaviour: The mediating effect of teachers’ psychological capital. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 110, 268-280. https://doi.org/10.14689/ejer.2024.110.16
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219-247. https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(95)90036-5
Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Paulist Press.
Hanaysha, J. R., Kumar, V. V. A., In’airat, M., & Paramaiah, C. (2022). Direct and indirect effects of servant and ethical leadership styles on employee creativity: Mediating role of organizational citizenship behavior. Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, 40(1), 79–98. https://doi.org/10.1108/AGJSR-04-2022-0033
Hanilesta, L., & Putranto, N. A. R. (2024). The influence of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behavior. In Proceedings of the 8th Global Conference on Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship GCBME 2023 (pp. 841-848). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-443-3_112
Harwiki, W. (2016). The impact of servant leadership on organization culture, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and employee performance in women cooperatives. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 219, 283–290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.04.032
Kartono, Setiawan, M., Sunaryo, & Moko, W. (2023). The effect of servant leadership on employee performance as mediated by leader-member exchange and organizational citizenship behavior. KnE Life Sciences 8(9), 444–457. https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v8i9.13357
Katz, D., & Kahn, R. L. (1966). The social psychology of organizations. Wiley.
Khajehpour, N., Baharlou, M., Montakhab Yeganeh, M., & Hashemi, S. E. (2016). The mediating role of psychological empowerment and organizational justice in the relationship of servant leadership with job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior and organizational commitment. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 10(2), 50–56. http://www.behavsci.ir/article_67942.html
Khan, I., & Nawaz, A. (2016). The leadership styles and the employees’ performance: A review. Gomal University Journal of Research, 32(2), 144–150.
Kiker, D. S., Callahan, J. S., & Kiker, M. B. (2019). Exploring the boundaries of servant leadership: A meta-analysis of the main and moderating effects of servant leadership on behavioral and affective outcomes. Journal of Managerial Issues, 31(2), 172–197.
Kumar, S., & Hamid, S. (2021). The role of cultural organizations, leadership services, job satisfaction towards organizational citizenship behavior: A path analysis study in private primary schools. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 13(02). https://doi.org/10.31838/ijpr/2021.13.02.513
Kumari, K., Abbas, J., Hwang, J., & Cioca, L. I. (2022). Does servant leadership promote emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior among employees? A structural analysis. Sustainability, 14(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095231
Liden, R. C., Wayne, S. J., Zhao, H., & Henderson, D. (2008). Servant leadership: Development of a multidimensional measure and multi-level assessment. The Leadership Quarterly, 19(2), 161-177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2008.01.006
Lee, A., Lyubovnikova, J., Tian, A. W., & Knight, C. (2020). Servant leadership: A meta-analytic examination of incremental contribution, moderation, and mediation. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 93(1), 1-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12265
Leem, T. J., & Lee, S. W. (2015). The role of non-financial measures in the relationship between servant leadership and organizational effectiveness. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 8(12), 83–89. https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2015/v8iS8/70741
Lu, J., Falahat, M., Choong, Y. O., & Cheah, P. K. (2024). From servant leadership to organizational citizenship behavior: A theoretically grounded moderated mediation framework for Chinese private enterprises. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), Article 1216. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03751-6
Maharani, P. D. (2019). The influence of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) with job satisfaction as an intervening variable (Bachelor’s thesis, Brawijaya University, Malang).
Mariana, A., Hadianto, B., & Budianti, S. (2020). The effect of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behavior: A perspective of leaders. Asian Journal of Management Sciences and Education, 9(4), 73–81.
Margaretha, M., & Prasetio, Y. A. (2012). The influence of servant leadership, organizational citizenship behavior, person-organization fit, and organizational identification: A study of student organizations at Maranatha Christian University. Maranatha Management Journal, 12(1), 45–62.
Mekpor, B., & Dartey-Baah, K. (2017). Leadership styles and employees’ voluntary work behaviors in the Ghanaian banking sector. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 38(1), 74–88. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-09-2015-0207
Muhdar, M. (2018). Empirical study of the relationship between leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: A literature review. Journal Al-Buhuts, 14(01), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.30603/ab.v14i01.414
Naa, W., Jasfar, F., Warsindah, L., & Kristaung, R. (2022). Servant leadership's contribution to organizational culture-mediated job-related outcomes and leader-related outcomes. Journal of Economics, Management and Trade, 28(11), 35–44. https://doi.org/10.9734/jemt/2022/v28i111053
Nielsen, T. M., Bachrach, D. G., Sundstrom, E., & Halfhill, T. R. (2012). Utility of OCB: Organizational citizenship behavior and group performance in a resource allocation framework. Journal of Management, 38(2), 668-694. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309356326
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. (2023). Study quality assessment tools. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/healthtopics/study-quality-assessment-tools
Nelwan, O. S., Lengkong, V. P. K., Mandey, S. L., Saerang, R. T., Pratiknjo, M. H., Manginsela, E. P., Walangitan, H. D., Ratag, S. P., Paat, F. J., & Kawet, R. C. (2024). The role of organizational citizenship behavior and servant leadership on employee creativity: An empirical study of university in Manado. Revista De Gestão Social E Ambiental, 18(6), e05243. https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v18n6-072
Neuschel, R. P. (2008). The servant leader: Unleashing the power of your people (A. Cahyani, Trans.). PT Indeks.
Organ, D. W. (1988). Organizational citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome. Lexington Books.
Öztürk, T. (2020). Servant Leadership, Other Orientation and OCB: A Review on Associations of Industrialists and Businessmen In Ankara. Ulisa: Uluslararası Çalışmalar Dergisi, 4(2), 198-214. https://izlik.org/JA59TX57JS.
Page, M. J., McKenzie, J. E., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hróbjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, E. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., & Moher, D. (2021). The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, 372, n71. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Perkasa, D. H., Abadi, F., & Shandy, D. F. A. (2020). The effect of emotional intelligence, servant leadership, and organizational commitment on organizational citizenship behavior: A study of the South Tangerang City education and culture office. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management, Economics and Business ICMEB 2019, (pp. 97–102). https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.200205.019
Pletzer, J. L., Oostrom, J. K., & de Vries, R. E. (2021). HEXACO personality and organizational citizenship behavior: A domain and facet level meta-analysis. Human Performance, 34(2), 126–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2021.1891072
Podsakoff, P. M., & MacKenzie, S. B. (1997). Impact of organizational citizenship behavior on organizational performance: A review and suggestions for future research. Human Performance, 10(2), 133–151. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327043hup1002_5
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Paine, J. B., & Bachrach, D. G. (2000). Organizational citizenship behavior: A critical review of the theoretical and empirical literature and suggestions for future research. Journal of Management, 26(3), 513–563. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630002600307
Priyono, B. S., Cahyaningsih, E., Indriyaningrum, K., & Putra, A. B. (2019). The role of organizational citizenship behavior as an intervening variable in the influence of servant leadership and employee engagement on performance. In Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Organizational Innovation ICOI 2019, 100, (pp. 645–650). https://doi.org/10.2991/icoi-19.2019.113
Retnawati, H., Apino, E., Kartianom, Djidu, H., & Anazifa, R. D. (2018). Introduction to meta-analysis. Parama Publishing.
Russell, E. J. (2016). Servant leadership's cycle of benefit. Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice, 3(1), 3.
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, A. T. (2008). Organizational behavior (12th ed., Book 2). Salemba Empat.
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2010). Management (10th ed.). Erlangga.
Rockstuhl, T., & Van Dyne, L. (2018). A bi-factor theory of the four-factor model of cultural intelligence: Meta-analysis and theoretical extensions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 148, 124–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.07.005
Sadikin, F., Tecualu, M., & Desy, E. (2020). The effect of servant leadership and work engagement on organizational citizenship behavior mediated by organizational commitment on volunteers in Abbalove Ministries Church. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Entrepreneurship and Business Management ICEBM 2019, 145, (pp. 146–152). https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.200626.027
Saleem, F., Zhang, Y. Z., Gopinath, C., & Adeel, A. (2020). Impact of servant leadership on performance: The mediating role of affective and cognitive trust. SAGE Open, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019900562
Shafi, M. Q., Rabbani, S., Alam, R. M., & Gul, S. (2020). Servant leadership: Impact on organizational citizenship behavior and knowledge sharing behavior. Journal of Southwest Jiaotong University, 55(4), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.55.4.63
Shareef, R. A., & Atan, T. (2019). The influence of ethical leadership on academic employees’ organizational citizenship behavior and turnover intention: Mediating role of intrinsic motivation. Management Decision, 57(3), 583–605. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-08-2017-0721
Subhaktiyasa, P. G., Andriana, K. R. F., Sintari, S. N. N., Wati, W. S., Sumaryani, N. P., & Lede, Y. U. (2023). The effect of transformational leadership, servant leadership, and spiritual leadership on organizational citizenship behavior. Jurnal Organisasi dan Manajemen, 19(1), 224–238. https://doi.org/10.33830/jom.v19i1.3695.2023
Suhardi, Ratih, I. A. B., Wasiman, Putra, I. B. U., Cempena, I. B., & Svinarky, I. (2022). Impact of team member exchange and servant leadership on employee performance with organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Human University Natural Sciences, 49(5), 90–101. https://doi.org/10.55463/issn.1674-2974.49.5.11
Susanto, A. (2023). The role of servant leadership and perceived organizational support (POS) on SMEs performance through organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Journal of Industrial Engineering & Management Research, 4(1), 138-148. https://doi.org/10.7777/jiemar.v4i1.452
Spears, C. L. (1995). Reflections on leadership: How Robert K. Greenleaf’s theory of servant leadership influenced today’s top management thinkers. John Wiley & Sons.
Spears, C. L. (2002). Character and servant leadership: Ten characteristics of effective, caring leader. The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, 1(1), 25-30.
Tagliabue, M., Sigurjonsdottir, S. S., & Sandaker, I. (2020). The effects of performance feedback on organizational citizenship behaviour: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 29(6), 841–861. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2020.1796647
Thao, N. P. H., & Kang, S. W. (2020). When servant leaders inspire followers to become organizational citizens? Empirical evidence from Vietnam. SAGE Open, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019900184
Turnipseed, D. L. (2018). Emotional intelligence and OCB: The moderating role of work locus of control. Journal of Social Psychology, 158(3), 322–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2017.1346582
van Dierendonck, D. (2010). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228-1261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206310380462
van Hoven, A. G. D., Mahembe, B., & Hamman-Fisher, D. (2021). The influence of servant leadership on psychological empowerment and organisational citizenship on a sample of teachers. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 19, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v19i0.1395
Vondey, M. (2010). The relationships among servant leadership, organizational citizenship behavior, person-organization fit and organizational identification. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 6(2), 3-27.
Wahyu, A., Tentama, F., & Sari, E. Y. D. (2019). The role of servant leadership and organizational climate on organizational citizenship behavior with job satisfaction as mediator. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 8(10), 1134–1141.
Wulandari, D., Sunaryo, W., Sumardi, & Tedjasukmana, D. I. (2021). Improving organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) through servant leadership and job satisfaction. In Proceedings of the 5th Asian Education Symposium 2020 AES 2020, (pp. 45–49). https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210715.009
Zhang, Y., Zheng, Y., Zhang, L., Xu, S., Liu, X., & Chen, W. (2019). A meta-analytic review of the consequences of servant leadership: The moderating roles of cultural factors. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 38(1), 371-400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-018-9639-z
Zhao, H., & Zhou, Q. (2019). Exploring the impact of responsible leadership on organizational citizenship behavior for the environment: A leadership identity
perspective. Sustainability, 11(4), 944. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11040944
Article Metrics
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Leadership in Organizations

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
| Journal of Leadership in Organizations |
| Journal of Leadership in Organizations (JLO), with registered number ISSN 2656-8829 (Print) and ISSN 2656-8810 (Online), is published by the Center for Leadership Studies, Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The content of this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License |
| © 2019 Journal of Leadership in Organizations | |



_logo2.png)


.png)




