From psychological imbalance to behavioral withdrawal: unraveling the impact of relative deprivation on organizational citizenship behavior in tourism enterprises

Relative deprivation (RD), an important antecedent of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), remains underexplored in terms of its fundamental mechanisms. By integrating Social Identity Theory and Attribution Theory, this study investigates how RD affects OCB among 305 tourism employees, with organizational identification (OI) acting as a mediator and attribution of responsibility (AR) functioning as a moderator. Three key findings emerge: (1) RD significantly diminishes OCB; (2) OI partially mediates the negative relationship between RD and OCB; and (3) AR not only weakens the direct RD-OCB connection but also moderates the mediating role of OI. These findings advance the theoretical understanding of how negative psychological experiences influence OCB by clarifying the dual mechanisms of identification and attribution. Practically, this study provides actionable strategies for tourism organizations to improve employee behavior through fair frameworks, cultural empowerment, and attributional guidance.