Conscientiousness and contextual performance : The compensatory effects of perceived organizational support and leader‐member exchange

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to understand when and why employees engage in contextual performance directed toward one's organization and immediate supervisor. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted to measure study variables. Data collected from 158 professional employees were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and moderated hierarchical analysis was used to test hitherto untested hypotheses. Findings – Results indicate strong support for the hypothesized moderating effects, such that high levels of support compensated for low levels of conscientiousness in influencing contextual performance. Research limitations/implications – Although contextual performance is unlikely to influence one's level of conscientiousness, the cross‐sectional design of the study does not permit firm conclusions regarding causality for the influence of support on contextual performance. Practical implications – Results indicate that, by providing organizational and supervisory support, organizations will be able to elicit contextual performance from those individuals who lack the personality predisposition to engage in contextual performance. Given the importance of contextual performance, the practical implications of study results are of immense value. Originality/value – This study makes several contributions. For instance, it extends Motowidlo et al. 's theory to include subjective measures of situational conditions as factors that interact with personality to influence contextual performance. The study responds to LePine et al. 's call for theory‐based attempts to identify variables that have differential relationships across dimensions of contextual performance. Drawing on individual difference and social exchange perspectives, this study theorized and found that perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between conscientiousness and organization‐directed contextual performance, and that the quality of the leader‐member exchange experience moderates the relationship between conscientiousness and supervisor‐directed contextual performance.