Purpose: This paper aims to study the effects of perceived organizational support (POS) on employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). More specifically, this study examined whether these effects are mediated by psychological capital (PsyCap).

Design/methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out among the employees of ITES sector in Bangalore, India. The questionnaire consists of Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS, 1997), Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ, 2007a) and the OCB scale (1990). Effective responses were collected from 595 employees. The statistical packages,SPSS and AMOS were used to analyze the data to examine the relationship between the variables in the study.

Results: A positive association between POS and PsyCap and the influence of PsyCap on OCB were confirmed through the analysis. Moreover, POS had a positive relationship with OCB. The role of PsyCap as a mediator in the relationship between POS and OCB was also tested. The significance of the indirect effects was examined using bias-controlled confidence intervals with five-thousand bootstrap samples. The results confirmed that PsyCap was a partial mediator in the influence of POS on OCB.

Conclusion: The study highlights the role of a personal resource like PsyCap in the relationship between POS and OCB. When employees perceive high organizational support, it creates positive conditions for the development of PsyCap. The higher level of PsyCap has a positive influence on their citizenship behavior. Thus PsyCap provides a new perspective for the organizations to gain competitive advantage. Consistent support from the organization together with periodic training in PsyCap for the employees could assure constructive and cooperative employee behaviors through OCB.

Keywords: Perceived organizational support, Psychological capital, Organizational citizenship Behavior, ITES sector