Using goal facilitation theory to explain the relationships between calling and organization-directed citizenship behavior and job satisfaction

•The hypotheses were tested with data from multiple sources and different times.•Calling was positively related to organization-directed citizenship behavior.•Calling was positively related to job satisfaction.•Organizational instrumentality fully mediated the link from calling to organization-directed citizenship behavior.•Organizational instrumentality partially mediated the link from calling to job satisfaction.

Despite an increase in research on calling, few studies have examined how calling influences overt workplace behaviors and job satisfaction. Drawing on goal facilitation theory we examined the psychological mechanisms underlying the effects of calling on organization-directed citizenship behavior (OCBO) and job satisfaction in a sample of 322 Chinese employees. The results showed that calling (employee-reported at time 1) was positively related to OCBO (supervisor-reported at time 2) and job satisfaction (employee-reported at time 2), and organizational instrumentality (employee-reported at time 2) provided an explanatory mechanism for these relations. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.