Does job satisfaction mediate the nexus between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior? Empirical evidence from Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The justice practice of an organization plays a vital role in the way that an individual perceives organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction in the workplace. However, there is scanty research on how justice practice affects organizational citizenship behavior and employee job satisfaction in developing countries like Ethiopia. This study endeavors to fill this gap by analyzing the mediating role of employee job satisfaction in the nexus between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior by controlling various demographic variables. The study used a cross-sectional design and involved 312 full-time non-academic staff members from Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions. Data were gathered using a self-administered survey questionnaire. By integrating the theory of social exchange and equity theory, the study theorized that employee job satisfaction mediates the nexus between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results showed that employee job satisfaction partially mediated the positive and significant association between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior. This study contributes an additional understanding of the significant role of employee job satisfaction in unlocking the black box between perceived justice and citizenship behavior in developing countries like Ethiopia in the context of Higher Education Institutions.

Keywords:

• Perceived organizational justice
• employee job satisfaction
• organizational citizenship behavior
• public higher education institutions
• Ethiopia

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Pablo Ruiz, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

SUBJECTS:

• General Psychology; Developmental Psychology; Social Psychology

1. Introduction

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) are discretionary behaviors that go above and beyond in-role requirements and contribute to organizational performance by creating social capital (Bolino et al., 2002). For an organization to be successful, it requires employees who are committed to exert their effort not only as per the formal job requirement but also beyond and above their formal job description since the formal contracts of job descriptions can never cover the entire array of behaviors that are required for organizational success (George & Brief, 1992). Thus, helping new staff, punctuality in arriving and leaving, helping others when their work load increases, making unique ideas to advance the quality of work and defending an organization’s assets are all essential ingredients of organizational citizenship behavior (Mohammad et al., 2016).

These levels of extra role engagement are depending on the efficient workplace human resource practice (Rauf, 2015; Snape & Redman, 2010).

In the global context, extant scholarly literature revealed that the human resource practice of the organization positively influences organizational citizenship behavior (Huda & Fu, 2019; Rauf, 2015; Snape & Redman, 2010). Nevertheless, there is a lack of consistent conceptualization of organizational citizenship behavior (Farh et al., 2004; Ocampo et al., 2018; Sesen et al., 2011) since OCB conceptualization is culture-specific (Vaijayanthi et al., 2014). According to Hofstede (1981), Ethiopia is characterized as a collectivist and high power distance country, converging with other cultural groups on specific values and diverging on others. As a result of this cultural divergence, the psychometric properties of organizational citizenship behaviors are likely to vary in the Ethiopian context. Moreover, most empirical studies have been conducted in Western countries, especially in the United States, using U.S. samples (Ocampo et al., 2018; Organ, 2016). Also, Kasa and Hassan (2015) conclude that Organizational theories that have been developed based on these findings do not adequately clarify the context of citizenship behaviors in other cultures. In research, it is quite common that identifying contextual conditions that would be most pertinent to individuals in a diverse culture is warranted. Hence, it is crucial to synthesize and conceptualize the term organizational citizenship behaviors in developing countries like Ethiopia.

To enhance employee OCBs, organizations need to find out what can cause or increase OCBs. In the global context, a considerable amount of organizational studies have shown that OCBs can be caused by various dispositional and attitudinal factors, but studies (Chen & Jin, 2014; Ilies et al., 2007; Mashi, 2017; Wan, 2017) showed that attitudinal factors – especially job satisfaction and organizational justices are among the primary and sound predictors of OCBs. Furthermore, meta-analysis studies (Organ & Ryan, 1995) on attitudinal and dispositional predictors of OCBs conclude that employees who were satisfied with their jobs and believed they were treated fairly were more likely to engage in OCBs. Although vast literature in the global context has proven the association of OCBs with employee attitudes and behaviors, no study, to the best of our knowledge, has been conducted about organizational justice that may carry an influence on OCBs and the intervening mechanism through which employee job satisfaction impact OCBs in the Higher Education context in Ethiopia that need further investigation. Moreover, scholars (Hameed Al-ali et al., 2019; Sesen & Basim, 2012) recommended that adding a suitable mediator, such as job satisfaction, helps to explain the relationship between the two conceptions. Therefore, to solve the mystery surrounding the connection between perceived organizational justice and OCBs, this study presents a new theoretical framework that includes the employee job satisfaction construct in the proposed research model.

In addition to employee job satisfaction, OCB improvement is achieved through organizational justice. Wan (2016) defines organizational justice as the fairness of a decision an organization makes, the procedure they use in making decisions, and the interpersonal treatment employees receive. Also, Asadullah et al. (2017) briefly reflect justices as employees’ perception of fairness within an organization. It is vital in shaping employees’ behavior and attitude and allows employees to work together effectively and efficiently (Rupp et al., 2017). Prior studies confirmed that organizational justice positively influences employees’ involvement in role and extra-role performance and job satisfaction (Rauf, 2015). It is also noted that employees perform better and behave more than their job descriptions when they believe they are treated fairly at work (Yardan et al., 2014). In the global context, extant literatures repeatedly reveal the effect of specific facets of organizational justice on OCBs. However, still very little research exists regarding the overall (combined) effects of perceived justice on organizational citizenship behavior (Mohammad et al., 2019; Sheeraz et al., 2021).

Furthermore, there is a contradiction in previous research results about the mediating role of job satisfaction in the nexus between perceived organizational justice and OCBs. For instance, some studies have indicated that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between organizational justice and OCBs (Le et al., 2018; Mashi, 2017; Saif & Shahzad, 2017; Rauf, 2015). Other study has indicated that the mediating role of job satisfaction was not in the relationship between organizational justice and OCBs (Mahmoudi et al., 2017). Therefore, the present study addresses these contradiction and the need to concurrently examine the nexus between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior via Employee job satisfaction with a particular reference to non-academic staff members in the institutions under investigation.

2. Theoretical foundation and hypothesis development

This section provides theoretical and empirical underpinning that helps to develop the hypotheses and conceptual model of the study. Hence, the following hypotheses and the conceptual model were developed based on the existing scholarly literature.

2.1. Social exchange theory

The theoretical basis of this study stems from the propositions of social exchange theory based on employee attitudinal and behavioural perspectives. According to the theory of social exchange, there is a social form of exchange in the norm of reciprocity where employees of an organisation manifest OCB when they believe they are treated fairly at work (Yardan et al., 2014). In the same vein, according to Gong et al. (2010) social exchange theory is appropriate to understand employee reactions to organisations. Moreover, in line with the theory, behavioural responses to justice perceptions have been described as manifestations of social exchange at the workplace (Cropanzano et al., 2005). According to Garg and Punia (2017), social exchange theory supports the idea that employees are more likely to stick with the organisation once they feel valued. Therefore, based on Adim and Tamunomiebi (2019) recommendation and review of the social exchange theory, it is possible to infer that social exchange theory is the most appropriate theoretical rationale for explaining the relationship between perceived organisational justice and organisational citizenship behaviour via employee job satisfaction.

2.2. Equity theory

The guiding principle of equity theory suggests that every human resource system in the organization works on the pattern of the law of proportionality, where employees retain a balance between what they give to an organization (time, effort and ability) and what they receive in return (pay, recognition, security and personal development) (Adams, 1965). However, it is not always possible for employees to meet all their expectations because various factors can affect an employee’s perception of fairness in the workplace (Adams, 1963). In an organization, employees tend to compare themselves with other employees if they are treated fairly, and they may also compare their contributions to match their rewards (Yean & Yuso, 2016). According to equity theory, when employees discover a discrepancy between their contribution and outcomes in relation to those of others, they may alter their OCB in order to reduce their dissonance which leads to efforts to restore equity within the relationship. Extant scholarly research widely used equity theory in explaining the link between justice practice and citizenship behavior (Adeyoriju, 2021; Hassan et al., 2016; Gan & Yusof, 2018; Sujono et al., 2020). In general, a bulk of existing research on perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behaviour is based on the theory of social exchange and equity theory that sheds some light on the ‘black box’ of justice practice-citizenship behavior (Sesen & Basim, 2012). Hence, to explain the association between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior, both the theory of social exchange and equity theory are the two grand theoretical premises which enable the study to achieve the research purpose. Therefore, taking insight from these theoretical and empirical underpinigs, the present study’s conceptual model is proposed in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Conceptual model.

2.3. Perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior

Many organisational and dispositional variables can affect employees’ inclination to demonstrate citizenship behaviour at the workplace (Mohammad et al., 2019). One critical variable is employees’ perception of justice (Chen & Jin, 2014). Several scholarly studies have investigated the effect of Perceived organisational justice on organisational citizenship behaviour. For instance, Noruzy et al. (2011) confirmed that the causal relationships between organisational justice and citizenship behaviour revealed that organisational justice directly and significantly influenced organisational citizenship behaviour. Besides, employees’ behavioural outcomes are enhanced within the context of organisational justice (Waribo et al., 2020). A study conducted in a service organisation in Turkey showed a significant positive association between justice perception and citizenship behaviour (Mohammed et al., 2020). Even very recent studies (Majeed et al., 2018; Özbek et al., 2015; Hassan et al., 2016) involving diverse samples and industries have demonstrated a positive impact of perceived organisational justice on citizenship behaviour. Thus, the first hypothesis is proposed as follow:

Hypothesis 1:

Perceived organizational justice has a positive significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior.

2.4. Perceived organizational justice and employee job satisfaction

The justice perception of employees leads to various outcomes, and employee job satisfaction is one of them. Exant literature repeatedly reported that justice perceptions are linked to employee job satisfaction (Pan et al., 2018). Organisational justice improved the workers’ job satisfaction because of being treated equally within the organisation (García-Izquierdo et al., 2012). Moreover, justice promotes positive attitudes of job satisfaction, commitment and trust, breeding healthy and constructive professional and interpersonal behaviour (Baldwin, 2006). Rauf (2014) conducted a study to find the impact of organisational justice perception on job satisfaction. The result of the study revealed that the perception of justice is a strong predictor of employee job satisfaction. In a similar vein, the study conducted in Pakistan investigated a comparative study of public and private universities on the effect of organisational justice with respect to job satisfaction. The result confirmed that organisational justice positively correlated with employee job satisfaction (Afrid & Baloch, 2018). Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed in light of the discussion and the literature listed above.

Hypothesis 2:

Perceived organizational justice has a positive significant effect on employee job satisfaction

2.5. Job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior

Extant literature shows that delighted employees are more inclined to display extra-role behaviour (Kaur et al., 2020). In relation to this, Hemakumara (2019) and Yeo et al. (2013) pointed out that employee job satisfaction impacts OCBs and organisational performance. Besides, a study conducted in Turkey educational settings found that job satisfaction positively affects teachers’ organisational citizenship (Sesen & Basim, 2012). Moreover, a considerable amount of empirical literature supports that satisfied employees are capable of doing their job effectively and feeling encouraged to outshine once they are given opportunities to show their capabilities and they also show high organisational commitment and perform better as compared to the employees with a low level of job satisfaction (Srivastava, 2013). Ruiz-Palomino et al. (2011); Rauf (2015) and Jenaababadi et al. (2013) provided evidence for the association between job satisfaction and OCB. Similarly, a study conducted by Simret (2022) in the public sector in Ethiopia found that employee job satisfaction positively related with organizational citizenship behavior. Therefore, this stream of discussion leads to the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3:

Job satisfaction has a positive significant effect on organizational citizenship behavior.

2.6. Perceived organizational justice, employee job satisfaction, and OCB: a mediation model

The Attitude-Behavior theory (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2000) elucidates how people’s attitudes and behaviours can influence their perceptions and beliefs about their workplaces. In connection with this, employees’ views of justice will influence their level of job satisfaction, and this perspective may lead them to act in ways that promote their organisational contribution (Restubog et al., 2008). Thus, prior studies highlighted that job satisfaction acts as a mediating variable through which organisational justice impacts employee work-related attitudes and behaviour. For instance, Khan et al. (2020) and Wan (2017) found that organisational justice and OCBs are mediated by employee job satisfaction. Similarly, a study by Saifi and Shahzad (2017) revealed that employees’ positive perception of organisational justice was a significant predictor of their job satisfaction, which in turn mediated the association between justice perceptions and citizenship behaviours. Moreover, a study conducted in the banking and insurance sectors in Spain found that job satisfaction and affective commitment fully mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employee organizational citizenship behaviour (Ruiz-Palomino et al., 2011).

As per the Attitude-Behavior theoretical argument, when we analyze the Ethiopian context, Ethiopia is a collectivist and high power distance country where people are more likely to value social harmony and cooperation, accept power inequality, respect authority figures, and rely heavily on rules and procedures (Hofstede, 1981). As a result, these cultural values influence employees’ perceptions of justice in the workplace, which in turn affects employees’ attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. It is of interest then to examine the relationship between perceived organizational justice and organizational outcomes in the context of Ethiopian cultural characteristics. More specifically, by examining these variables simultaneously, we shed light on the mechanisms underlying the mediating role of job satisfaction in the nexus between perceived organizational justice and OCB, particularly in the higher education sector. Therefore, based on these empirical and theoretical underpinnings, the authors proposed:

Hypothesis 4:

Employee job satisfaction mediates the nexus between perceived justice and organizational citizenship behaviour.

3. Conceptual model of the study

A conceptual model was developed to define the link between the study variables clearly. It is derived from a theoretical framework and relates to specific research problems, allowing the integration of different ideas from different theories and linking them with research inquiries (Adams, 2007). Therefore, it acts as a map to guide a researcher towards realising the study’s objectives. Hence, the following hypothesised conceptual model is developed based on the above.

4. Materials and methods

4.1. Research setting and sampling procedures

Ethiopia is one of the most stunning countries in Africa, known for its diverse culture and rich history. The country has a range of higher education institutions offering a diverse array of programs in various fields. The data for the present study were gathered from administrative personnel/non-academic staff members working permanently in Public Higher Education Institutions in Ethiopia. The present study selects four public universities from thirty-seven Public Higher Education Institutions purposively based on the category of generation which means one university from each generation ie 1st generation, 2nd generation, 3rd generation and 4th generation, which signifies the year of establishment of each university. Eight universities are excluded from the population for they are not well functioning due to the prolonged conflict in the area. According to data from the human resource departments of sampled universities, the total number of employees in 2023 is 8652. Thus, using Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size determination formula, 368 employees were drawn as samples. Sample selection is done on the following basis when the population is known; the formula is used as follows. $$\text{S}={\text{X}}^2\text{NP}\left(1-P\right)/d^2\left(N-1\right)+{\text{X}}^{2}P\left(1-P\right)$$

Where:

S = required sample size.

X ² = the table value of chi-square for 1 degree of freedom at the desired confidence level which is 3.841(=1.96*1.96)

N = the population size.

P = the population proportion (assumed to be 0.50 since this would provide the maximum sample size).d = the degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion (0.05); it is margin of error.

S = 3.841*8, 652*0.5(1 − 0.5) = 368

0.0025(8, 652 − 1) + 3.841 * 0.5(1 − 0.5)

Therefore, at each university that was sampled, every second employee was chosen at random from a list of employees provided by the human resources department. Hence, 368 employees filled out the questionnaire, of which 312 responses were used for the analysis, as the remaining questionnaires were incomplete. Data were collected using a self-administered survey questionnaire. The survey instrument used in this study comprised 23 questions relating to three constructs: Perceived organizational justice, Employee job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior—moreover, four questions about respondents’ demographic variables.

As a result of the study’s variable-based approach, a positivist philosophical research paradigm was applied, which enabled to meet the objective of this study, which is aimed to investigate the causal association between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior with employee job satisfaction serving as the mediating variable (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Thus, to avoid subjectivism, the causal relationships among variables in this study are investigated through empirical evidence. Grounded in the positivist philosophical research paradigm, the deductive approach was used for this study to test the hypothesis related to an existing theory. From a methodological viewpoint, the study employed a quantitative research method using standardized survey questionnaire adapted from previous studies. Finally, the explanatory research design was used to investigate how and why perceived organizational justice affects organizational citizenship behavior via employee job satisfaction (Saunders et al., 2012)

4.2. Measures and scales

4.2.1. Perceived organizational justice (POJ)

The questionnaire items that measure the study variables are taken from earlier studies. Perceived justice was measured by using a five-point Likert-type scale adapted from (Niehoff & Moorman, 1993). The latent variable perceived organizational justice consists of 20 items with three dimensions: distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice. A sample item for distributive justice was ‘I consider my workload to be quite fair.’ A sample item for procedural justice was ‘To make job decisions; my manager collects accurate and complete information.’ A sample item for interactional justice was ‘Managers show concern for my right as an employee.’ Each item was evaluated using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

4.2.2. Employee job satisfaction

Employees’ level of job satisfaction was measured using a 5-item scale adapted from (Judge et al., 1998). Participants rated the items using a five-point Likert-type scale that ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). A sample item for employee job satisfaction was ‘I fairly well satisfied with my present job.’

4.2.3. Organizational citizenship behavior

A 16-item scale was adapted from Lee and Allen’s (2002) to measure organizational citizenship behavior. Organizational citizenship behavior is reflected through citizenship behaviors directed toward individuals (OCBI) and citizenship behaviors directed toward organizations (OCBO). A sample item for citizenship behavior directed toward individuals was ‘I help other colleagues who have been absent from their job.’ A sample item for citizenship behaviors directed toward organization was ‘I show pride when representing the university in public.’ Each item was evaluated using a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

4.3. Control variables

Previous findings suggested that factors such as gender, age, educational qualification and experience have an impact on organizational citizenship behavior (Ocampo et al., 2018). The control of all these variables was found to be associated with organizational citizenship behavior (Cohen & Avrahami, 2007). Because these demographic variables are supposed to be controlled in studies intended to measure employee attitudes and behaviors (Riordan et al., 2003). Thus, we controlled the demographic variables in the current study. Results indicated in Table 4, the control variables for this study have an insignificant influence on the model. As a result, the demographic variables are excluded from further analysis.

Table 4. Summary of the direct effect.

Relationship	Estimate	SE	CR	P
POJ -> EJS	0.455	0.109	6.000	***
POJ -> OCB	0.321	0.068	3.257	***
EJS -> OCB	0.290	0.043	3.227	***
Gender-> OCB	0.055	0.096	0.965	0.334
Age -> OCB	−0.018	0.057	−0.295	0.771
Education -> OCB	−0.057	0.069	−1.006	0.314
Experience -> OCB	0.120	0.056	1.903	0.057

OCB: Organizational Citizenship Behavior; POJ: Perceived Organizational Justice; EJS: Employee Job Satisfaction. Significance of correlation *** p < .001.

4.4. Test of common method bias (CMB)

As the data for all the variables were collected from the same source, we assessed if there was any influence of common method variance in the dataset using Harman’s single factor with confirmatory factor analysis, where all indicators are purposely loaded on a single factor. The result reported that only 33.7% of the variance is explained by a single factor, which is less than the required value of 50% (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Therefore, there is no major problem in the biasness or responses are free from significant biases. Thus, the data suitability is confirmed for the subsequent statistical analysis.

5. Results

5.1. Descriptive analyses

The demographic profile of respondents in the study comprised 202(64.7%) men and 110(35.3) females. Age was the most dominant, which falls in the age bracket of 31–40 years (40.1%). The majority of the respondents for educational qualification were bachelor’s degree graduates (n = 155, 49.7%), followed by respondents who possessed master’s degrees (n = 119, 38.1%), and only 12% of the respondents have diploma. Meanwhile, most respondents have worked for 6–10 years in the current organization (n = 137, 37.5%). In contrast, respondents have worked for more than 16 years are small in number (n = 25, 8%). Summary of descriptive statistics and correlation of sample respondents’ presented in Table 1. As it is observed in Table 1, Perceived organizational justice was positively related to organizational citizenship behavior (r = 0.381, p < .01) and employee job satisfaction (r = 0.379, p < .01). Furthermore, Employee job satisfaction was positively related to organizational citizenship behavior (r = 0.350, p < .01).

Table 1. Mean, standard deviation, and correlations among the study variables.

	Variables	Mean	SD	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1	Perceived Organizational Justice	3.15	0.793	1
2	Organizational Citizenship Behavior	3.76	0.806	0.381* *	1
3	Employee Job Satisfaction	3.09	1.155	0.379**	0.350**	1
4	Gender	1.35	0.479	−0.027	0.051	0.040	1
5	Age	2.02	0.891	0.054	0.022	0.121*	−0.134*	1
6	Educational level	3.26	0.661	−0.050	−0.062	0.035	−0.077	0.102	1
7	Experience	2.21	0.909	0.106	0.106	0.076	−0.085	0.449**	0.013	1

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

N = 312. Gender (1 = male, 2 = female); Age (1 = 20–30, 2 = 31–40, 3 = 41–50, 4 = 51–60, 5 = above 60); Educational level (1 = certificate or less, 2 = deploma, 3 = bachelor degree, 4 = master’s degree, 5 = PhD or above); Experience (1 = 1–5).

5.2. Measurement model assessment

5.2.1. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

In EFA, the principal component analysis and Varimax rotation, as a method of factor extraction, were used to evaluate the factor structure of the constructs. We set a minimum factor loading criteria of 0.50. The communalities of the scale were evaluated to ensure that the measured variable’s total variance shared with the constructs was at an acceptable level of explanation. Besides, in EFA, the Eigenvalue represents the amount of variance accounted for by a factor was applied. Factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 were considered as the factor extraction criterion (Hair et al., 2014). The items that did not meet the criteria were deleted, while others were retained.

The result reveals that the Kaiser—Meyer—Olkin score of sampling adequacy was found to be 0.872, above the minimum threshold value of 0.50 (Hair et al., 2014). In the study, the six dimensions explained 75.023% of the variance among items. Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity was also highly significant at .000 p-value. Lastly, communalities were over the minimum value of 0.5. Therefore, the six dimensions extracted in EFA aligned with the study’s theoretical propositions.

5.2.2. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)

Confirmatory factor analysis was applied using AMOS 23 to assess the psychometric properties of the latent constructs. According to Becker et al. (2012), a second-order CFA is a higher-order construct comprised of the dimensions of first-order latent variables. Therefore, in this study, except for employee job satisfaction, which is the first-order latent construct, perceived organizational justice (distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice), and organizational citizenship behavior (citizenship behavior directed toward individuals and citizenship behavior directed toward organization) constructs are categorized as second-order latent variables. In the study, factor loadings greater than 0.50 better explain unobserved constructs (Hair et al., 2014). Thus, as part of confirmatory factor analysis, we assessed factor loadings for each item once the variables are validated through EFA. Therefore, 18 items were removed due to low factor loading and cross-loading.

To examine the overall model’s goodness of fit in this study, multiple fit indices were applied including Model Chi-Square Test (CMIN/df), Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker Lewis Index (TLI), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) and all the fit indices values are felt within the acceptable range (Bentler, 1990; Hu & Bentler, 1999; Wheaton et al., 1977). These particular measurement indices were focused due to their insensitivity to sample size and misleading parameter estimates (Kline, 2018). The three-factor model, as it is portrayed in Figure 1, Perceived Organizational Justice, Employee Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior, yielded that the data fits the measurement model is very well. Thus, the model fit value of CMIN/df is 2.601, which lies under the threshold of 5 (Schumacker & Lomax, 2010). Further, the comparative Fit Index (CFI) and Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) values are 0.939 and 0.911, respectively, which is above the acceptable value of 0.9 (Bentler, 1990). Lastly, the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) values are also 0.0627 and 0.072, respectively, which is lower than the suggested required value of 0.08 (Hu & Bentler, 1999). Therefore, these best fit values of the measurement model can be used as a foundation for testing the study hypothesis in the next section. Thus, measurement model is depicted in Figure 2.

5.3. Instrument validity and reliability

The study assessed construct reliability using Cronbach’s alpha (α) and composite reliability (CR). The results for both are presented in Table 2. The Cronbach’s alpha for each construct in the study ranged from 0.860 to 0.905, whereas composite reliability ranged from 0.711 to 0.861. Both reliability indicators were found above the required limit of 0.7 (Hair et al., 2014). Hence, construct reliability is established.

Figure 2. Measurement model of the study.

Table 2. Loadings, reliability, and convergent validity.

Items	Standardize Loadings	Cronbach’s Alpha (α)	Composite Reliability (CR)	Average variance extracted (AVE)
Perceived Organizational Justice		0.905	0.749	0.510
PDJ3	0.744
PDJ5	0.732
PPJ1	0.738
PPJ2	0.810
PPJ3	0.825
PPJ4	0.755
PIJ4	0.712
PIJ5	0.762
PIJ6	0.837
PIJ7	0.922
PIJ8	0.784
PIJ9	0.852
Organizational Citizenship Behavior		0.865	0.711	0.553
OCBI1	0.808
OCBI2	0.651
OCBI4	0.894
OCBI8	0.615
OCBO4	0.642
OCBO6	0.805
OCBO7	0.843
OCBO8	0.940
Employee Job Satisfaction		0.860	0.861	0.675
EJS1	0.850
EJS2	0.815
EJS4	0.797

Convergent validity of scale items was checked using Average Variance Extracted (AVE). The average variance extracted was above the required threshold value of 0.50 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Therefore, Convergent validity is achieved.

The present study examined discriminant validity using Fornell and Larcker criteria. Therefore, discriminant validity is attained when the square root of AVE for the construct is greater than the correlation between the associated variables in the study (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). In this study, the square root of AVE (bolded) for a construct was greater than its correlation with other constructs. Hence, discriminant validity is not an issue in this study. Table 3 shows the discriminant validity results.

Table 3. Discriminant validity of the study.

Constructs	OCB	POJ	EJS
OCB	0.743
POJ	0.452***	0.714
EJS	0.436***	0.455***	0.821

OCB: Organizational Citizenship Behavior; POJ: Perceived Organizational Justice; EJS: Employee Job Satisfaction. Significance of correlation *** p < .001.

5.4. Structural model assessment

5.4.1. Hypothesis testing

Following the assessment of the measurement model, the next part of the data analysis is testing the structural path coefficients and their statistical significance using the AMOS Graphical approach with the maximum likelihood estimation method for structural equation modeling (SEM), which is portrayed in Figure 3. Results of the structural model showed an adequate model fit with the data (CMIN/df = 2.601, CFI = 0.939, TLI = 0.911, SRMR = 0.0627 and RMSEA = 0.072). First, the study has tested three hypotheses based on results shown in Table 4 (H1, H2 and H3). The results revealed that Perceived Organizational justice positively and significantly affects organizational citizenship behavior (β = 0.321, t = 3.275, p < .001). Hence, the result supported H1. Likewise, Perceived Organizational justice positively and significantly affects employee job satisfaction (β = 0.455, t = 6.000, p < .000). Thus, this result also supported H2. Lastly, Job satisfaction positively and significantly affects organizational citizenship behavior (β = 0.290, t = 3.227, p < .001) and H3 was supported.

Figure 3. Structural model of the study.

5.4.2. Mediation analysis

For testing the mediation effect of employee job satisfaction, the bootstrap technique was used using AMOS 23. According to Schumacker and Lomax (2010), bootstrap is a nonparametric resampling technique that uses a random sample of data as a substitute for the population (pseudo population) and then uses another random sample to assess whether the indirect effect falls within a confidence interval. In the present study, bootstrap was done by taking 2000 resamples and a 95% confidence interval. The study assessed the mediating role of employee job satisfaction on the nexus between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior. Thus, the summary of the mediation analysis is presented in Table 5.

Table 5. Indirect effect of job satisfaction.

			Confidence Interval
Relationship	Direct	Indirect	Lower bound	Upper bound	p-value	Decision
POJ -> EJS -> OCB	0.321	0.132	0.060	0.228	.001	Partial mediation

POJ: Perceived Organizational Justice; EJS: Employee Job satisfaction; OCB: Organizational Citizenship Behavior.

The result revealed the indirect effect of Perceived Organizational Justice on Organizational Citizenship Behavior through Employee Job Satisfaction (β = 0.132, p = .001), supported H4. Furthermore, the direct effect of Perceived Organizational Justice on Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the presence of Employee Job Satisfaction was also found significant (β = 0.321, p = .001). As a result, Employee Job Satisfaction partially mediated the nexus between Perceived Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior.

6. Discussion

This study intended to determine the role of job satisfaction in the nexus between Perceived Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior of employees working in Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions. Hence, Perceived Organizational Justice, according to the findings, has a direct positive influence on organizational citizenship behavior, meaning that where organizational justice practice is good, employees’ feeling of citizenship behavior will be more likely to be enhanced. This result supports the findings of previous empirical studies (Awang & Ahmad, 2015; Guangling, 2011; Hameed Al-ali et al., 2019; Mohammad et al., 2019), which discovered that organizational citizenship behavior is positively and significantly affected by overall organizational justice. In the context of this study, this result means that the universities need to enhance the OCBs displayed by the employees first to seek to improve the overall employees’ perceptions of fairness. In addition, the findings from this study revealed that perceived organizational justice positively and significantly affects employee job satisfaction. This finding suggests that the more the Higher Education Institutions work to make their workplace as conducive through establishing fair decision-making processes, procedures, and smooth interaction and transaction, the better employee job satisfaction is attained. This result is similar to the existing collective empirical findings (Adeyoriju, 2021; Altahayneh et al., 2014; García-Izquierdo et al., 2012; Rauf, 2014), which suggest that when employees perceive their organization’s policies and procedures as fair, they become more likely to be satisfied with their current job and will defy all odds to contribute meaningfully to the progress of their organizations. Consistent with previous studies (Hemakumara 2019; Jenaababadi et al., 2013; Kaur et al., 2020; Pio & Tampe, 2018; Ruiz-Palomino et al., 2011; Rauf, 2015; Yeo et al., 2013), it is found that employee job satisfaction positively and significantly related with OCBs as hypothesized. This finding suggests that employees, who are being satisfied in the current jobs, are more likely to display discretionary behavior.

Furthermore, the results of this study asserted that employee job satisfaction mediates the positive relationship between Perceived Organizational Justice and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. The study’s context indicates that this finding means that the more employees are satisfied, which is caused by better organizational justice, tends to increase organizational citizenship behavior, since satisfied employees are more excited about working beyond their formally stated job description (Yardan et al., 2014). Thus, organizational justice is the dominant variable influencing organizational citizenship behavior via job stisfaction. This finding is congruent with the majority of previous studies (Le et al., 2018; Mashi, 2017; Rauf, 2015; Saif & Shahzad, 2017). For instance, a study on the Pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan that disclosed employee job satisfaction mediated the effect of overall organizational justice on organizational citizenship behavior (Khan et al., 2020). More specifically, this study reveals that employee job satisfaction partially mediated the nexus between Perceived Organizational Justice and organizational citizenship behavior. This result suggests not only a significant positive association between employee job satisfaction and citizenship behavior but also some direct positive and significant relationship between perceived justice practice and citizenship behavior. In other words, the better the level of job satisfaction is, the greater the relationships between Justice Practice and OCBs. Hence, this finding is congruent with social exchange theory, which suggests that when there is favorable treatment in the employee-organization exchange, such as supervisory fairness and high justice perceptions, the reciprocal exchange becomes attained. Further, this result also supports previous findings reported by (Junur & Huang, 2019; Dearsi & Ratnawati, 2022). Therefore, the unique position of employee job satisfaction must be considered to unlock the black box between perceived organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior in the Ethiopian context, particularly in higher education settings.

7. Theoretical contributions and practical implications

7.1. Theoretical contributions

There are various ways this study contributes to the literature. First, in response to the demand for more studies on the various influences of employee job satisfaction on the link between organizational justice and behavioral outcomes (Kerwin et al., 2014; Sesen & Basim, 2012; Waribo et al., 2020), this study expands on previous results by investigating the intervene mechanism of employee job satisfaction. Second, as the present study reported a significant mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between perceived organizational justice-OCBs, this study supports Blau’s (1964) social exchange theory. In particular, the study conceptualized OCBs from Ethiopian higher education settings within Blau’s notion of social exchange theoretical underpinning. Therefore, this study can enrich and promote research in field of organizational behavior and human resource management. Third, it is the first attempt, in the institutions under consideration, to specifically investigate the combined effect of organizational justice in influencing organizational citizenship behavior via employee job satisfaction, revealing that citizenship behavior is strongly influenced by organizational justice. Fourth, the results of the current study, more surprisingly, were congruent with previous research works studied with Western samples, as this study was conducted in an Ethiopian context. This convergence of cultural values is due to the country’s strong Western-style Education system and globalizations. Even though Ethiopians are indeed collectivist and have high power distance, according to Hofstede (1981), there are strands of thoughts, sentiments, and action in the mind of Ethiopians that reflects the underlying values of individualism. Thus, this finding did not differ significantly from the studies conducted with samples drawn from other cultures. Lastly, we found that employee job satisfaction is crucial to unlocking the black box in the association between the organizational justice practice-OCB relationship (Hameed Al-ali et al., 2019; Sesen & Basim, 2012).

7.2. Practical Implications

This study has imperative management implications for Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions. First, this study may serve as an input to devise HR policies to enhance employees’ desire to engage in positive discretionary behavior, which in turn boosts employee performance and the smooth functioning of the universities. Second, the result of this study revealed that employee job satisfaction plays a vital role in regulating the perceived justice-OCBs relationship. Thus, equal attention should be given to perceived organizational justice and employee job satisfaction that may also contribute to organizational citizenship behavior. Third, besides enriching the organizational behavior literature, the study’s findings offer valuable messages to the leaders of Ethiopian Higher Education Institutions in creating conducive work environment via organizational outcomes like employee job satisfaction and citizenship organizational behavior.

8. Limitations and future research implications

Based on the findings of the study, implications were forwarded to future researchers. First, this study is limited to Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions, but it has more importance if private Higher Education Institutions are considered to enhance the generalizability of the findings. Second, the data for all the variables were collected from the same source using a self-administered survey questionnaire, which may jeopardize the study’s findings. Therefore, future scholars should use a dyadic approach to analyze managers’ and employees’ viewpoints. Third, the study was cross-sectional. However, it is better if a longitudinal research design is used to see perceptual differences between employees’ discretionary behaviors and justice practices of the universities by collecting data over time. Fourth, methodologically, this study was purely quantitative. Hence, future studies may consider qualitative data for triangulation. Lastly, in this study, we developed a model in which employee job satisfaction was the mediator variable while organizational justice and citizenship behavior were independent and dependent variables, respectively. However, in future studies of employee citizenship behavior, this model might be expanded, and ethical behaviors of top management organizational leaders can be discussed as the independent variable (Ruiz et al., 2011), and employee growth satisfaction as a mediating variable (Ruiz-Palomino et al., 2021). Consequently, we can compare different models and expand knowledge about the direction how an ethical leader can foster personal growth satisfaction and the relationship between ethical leadership and employee organizational citizenship behavior (Ruiz-Palomino et al., 2013).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Birhanu Moltot Ayalew

Birhanu Moltot Ayalew is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Debere Birhan University, Ethiopia. He is a PhD scholar in Applied Management at Punjabi University, Patiala, India. Adama University awarded him MBA and BA degrees. His key areas of research interest include Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior, and Leadership. Moreover, he has experience in Lecturing, Researching, Career Counseling, and Course Coordinating.

Nidhi Walia

Nidhi Walia is an Associate Professor of Behavioral Finance and Management of Financial Services in the School of Applied Management at Punjabi University, Patiala, India. She has contributed to more than 40 research publications published in various national and international journals of repute. Nidhi also has presented several papers at national and international conferences and workshops. Currently, she is serving as head of the University School of Applied Management at Punjabi University, Patiala, India.