In the Eye of the beholder: a multi-stakeholder perspective of organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors

•Asymmetrical outcomes of discretionary work behaviors are described.•A multi-stakeholder approach is used to identify possible asymmetric outcomes.•Contextual factors that may elicit the likelihood of these outcomes are identified.•Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Researchers have generally treated organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) as positive and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) as negative forms of discretionary work behavior. Consequently, there has been extensive focus on the symmetrical relationships surrounding these behaviors (i.e., focusing on positive outcomes of OCBs and negative outcomes of CWBs), with less recognition of potential asymmetric outcomes of such behaviors. One possible reason asymmetric outcomes have been overlooked is the lack of organizational research that considers multiple stakeholders' perspectives when studying these behaviors. We argue that studying OCBs and CWBs from multiple perspectives helps guide research to identify more asymmetric outcomes of these behaviors, and thus better understand these behaviors overall. The current paper identifies asymmetric outcomes of OCBs and CWBs for multiple stakeholders, proposes conditions under which OCBs and CWBs may be more likely to result in negative and positive outcomes, respectively, and offers propositions to stimulate and guide future research.