Accountability is a core institutional mechanism in the public sector, shaping employee behavior and organizational performance. However, its impact on change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) among civil servants has received limited attention. This study draws on perspectives from agency theory and stewardship theory to examine how sanction-based and trust-based accountability influence civil servants’ change-oriented OCB. Using a survey experiment with 457 civil servants in the Chinese local government context, this study finds that, compared with sanction-based accountability, trust-based accountability is associated with higher levels of change-oriented OCB. Harmonious passion may be a plausible pathway linking accountability type to change-oriented OCB, while mianzi-oriented relationships may weaken the comparative advantage of trust-based accountability. These findings contribute to accountability theory and provide practical implications for designing accountability systems and encouraging change-oriented OCB in the public sector.
AleksovskaM. (2021). Accountable for what? The effect of accountability standard specification on decision-making behavior in the public sector. Public Performance & Management Review, 44(4), 707–734.
2.
AleksovskaM.SchillemansT. (2022). Dissecting multiple accountabilities: A problem of multiple forums or of conflicting demands?Public Administration, 100(3), 711–736.
3.
AleksovskaM.SchillemansT.GrimmelikhuijsenS. (2022). Management of multiple accountabilities through setting priorities: Evidence from a cross-national conjoint experiment. Public Administration Review, 82(1), 132–146.
4.
AliM. U.Nicholson-CrottyS. (2021). Examining the accountability-performance link: The case of citizen oversight of police. Public Performance & Management Review, 44(3), 523–559.
5.
AndersonJ. (2009). Illusions of accountability. Administrative Theory & Praxis, 31(3), 322–339.
6.
AstakhovaM. N.McKayA. S.DotyD. H.WooldridgeB. R. (2024). Does one size fit all? The role of job characteristics in cultivating work passion across knowledge, blue-collar, nonprofit, and managerial work. Human Resource Management, 63(3), 443–462.
7.
BovensM. (2007). Analysing and assessing accountability: A conceptual framework. European Law Journal, 13(4), 447–468.
8.
BrandsmaG. J.SchillemansT. (2013). The accountability cube: Measuring accountability. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 23(4), 953–975.
9.
BruqueS.MoyanoJ.PiccoloR. (2016). OCB and external–internal social networks: Effects on individual performance and adaptation to change. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(1), 1–22.
10.
BuckleyP. J.CleggJ.TanH. (2006). Cultural awareness in knowledge transfer to China—The role of guanxi and mianzi. Journal of World Business, 41(3), 275–288.
11.
BusuiocM.LodgeM. (2017). Reputation and accountability relationships: Managing accountability expectations through reputation. Public Administration Review, 77(1), 91–100.
12.
CampbellJ. W. (2018). Workgroup accord and change-oriented behavior in public service organizations: Mediating and contextual factors. Journal of Management & Organization, 26(5), 719–735.
13.
CampbellJ. W. (2025). Job autonomy, role ambiguity, and procedural justice: A multi-conditional process model of change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior in public organizations. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 45(1), 145–171.
14.
CampbellJ. W.ImT. (2016). PSM and turnover intention in public organizations: Does change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior play a role?Review of Public Personnel Administration, 36(4), 323–346.
15.
ChenC.A.BozemanB. (2013). Understanding public and nonprofit managers’ motivation through the lens of self-determination theory. Public Management Review, 15(4), 584–607.
16.
ChenD.ZhangY.AhmadA. B.LiuB. (2023). How to fuel public employees’ change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior: A two-wave moderated mediation study. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 43(1), 185–208.
17.
ChenM. H.BedfordO. (2022). Measuring guanxi quality in the workplace. Journal of Business and Psychology, 37(3), 581–599.
18.
ChiaburuD. S.OhI.-S.StoverinkA. C.ParkH. (Hailey)BradleyC.Barros-RiveraB. A. (2022). Happy to help, happy to change? A meta-analysis of major predictors of affiliative and change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 132, Article 103664.
19.
ChoiJ. N. (2007). Change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior: Effects of work environment characteristics and intervening psychological processes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 28(4), 467–484.
20.
ChrismanJ. J. (2019). Stewardship theory: Realism, relevance, and family firm governance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43(6), 1051–1066.
21.
ChuD. C.CretacciM. A.JinC. (2020). Comparison of Chinese male and female police cadets’ perceived occupational self-efficacy. Policing and Society, 30(9), 1013–1026.
22.
CoppockA.LeeperT. J.MullinixK. J. (2018). Generalizability of heterogeneous treatment effect estimates across samples. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(49), 12441–12446.
23.
De ClercqD.PereiraR. (2025). Coworker ostracism, depersonalization of coworkers and thwarted change-oriented OCB: The mitigating role of employee idealism. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOEPP-10-2024-0484
24.
de GeusC. J. C.IngramsA.TummersL.PandeyS. K. (2020). Organizational citizenship behavior in the public sector: A systematic literature review and future research agenda. Public Administration Review, 80(2), 259–270.
25.
DengY.SunY. (2025). How does the usage of artificial intelligence affect felt administrative accountability of street-level bureaucrats? The mediating effect of perceived discretion. Public Management Review, 27(11), 2795–2815.
26.
EckhouseL. (2022). Metrics management and bureaucratic accountability: Evidence from policing. American Journal of Political Science, 66(2), 385–401.
27.
FangZ.ZhangQ. (2025). How does accountability exacerbate job burnout in the public sector? Exploratory research in production supervision in China. Behavioral Sciences, 15(6), 747.
28.
GelfandM. J.LimB.-C.RaverJ. L. (2004). Culture and accountability in organizations: Variations in forms of social control across cultures. Human Resource Management Review, 14(1), 135–160.
29.
GiestS. N.KlievinkB. (2024). More than a digital system: How AI is changing the role of bureaucrats in different organizational contexts. Public Management Review, 26(2), 379–398.
30.
HallA. T.FrinkD. D.BuckleyM. R. (2017). An accountability account: A review and synthesis of the theoretical and empirical research on felt accountability. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), 204–224.
31.
HanZ.NiM.HouC.ZhangY. (2023). Effects of superior–subordinate guanxi on employee innovative behavior: The role of follower dependency and work passion. Behavioral Sciences, 13(8), 645.
32.
HochwarterW. A.FerrisG. R.GavinM. B.PerrewéP. L.HallA. T.FrinkD. D. (2007). Political skill as neutralizer of felt accountability—Job tension effects on job performance ratings: A longitudinal investigation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 102(2), 226–239.
33.
HoustonD. J. (2006). “Walking the walk” of public service motivation: Public employees and charitable gifts of time, blood, and money. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16(1), 67–86.
34.
HuangB.WuX. D.WiebrechtF. (2024). Environmental antecedents, innovation experience, and officials’ innovation willingness: Evidence from China. Public Management Review, 26(12), 3664–3691.
35.
HwangA.FrancescoA. M.KesslerE. (2003). The relationship between individualism-collectivism, face, and feedback and learning processes in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 34(1), 72–91.
36.
HwangK. K. (1987). Face and favor: The Chinese power game. American Journal of Sociology, 92(4), 944–974.
37.
JungH.CamarenaL. (2025). Street-level bureaucrats & AI interactions in public organizations: An identity based framework. Public Performance & Management Review, 48(6), 1423–1452.
38.
KyeongK. (2025). Do transformational leadership and innovative climate always enhance employees’ innovative behavior? Focusing on the moderated mediating role of innovative climate on change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Public Personnel Management, 54(4), 584–621.
39.
LandayK.SchwartzS.WilliamsJ. L. (2024). Passion versus positivity: How work passion and dispositional affect predict job satisfaction and its facets. Human Resource Management, 63(6), 891–902.
40.
LangheB. D.Van OsselaerS. M. J.WierengaB. (2011). The effects of process and outcome accountability on judgment process and performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 115(2), 238–252.
41.
LaveeE. (2021). Who is in charge? The provision of informal personal resources at the street level. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31(1), 4–20.
42.
LeT. V.Barboza-WilkesC. (2023). How self-determination moderates burnout in public organizations across gender, race, and generation. Public Personnel Management, 53(1), 113–147.
43.
LeeD. Y.DawesP. L. (2005). Guanxi, trust, and long-term orientation in Chinese business markets. Journal of International Marketing, 13(2), 28–56.
44.
LiM. (2016). The effects of co-worker relationships on individual job performance: An empirical study based on the Chinese context. Journal of Soochow University (Philosophy & Social Science Edition), 37(02), 124–134.
45.
LiY.LiuW.YuG. (2022). Dancing in shackles: The double-edged sword effect of felt accountability on work outcomes and individual wellbeing. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 904946.
46.
LiY.YuH. (2025). Changes in the accountability obligation, intensity, and working drive of public employees: Evidence from a survey experiment. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 36(1), 71–84.
47.
LinL. H. (2011). Cultural and organizational antecedents of guanxi: The Chinese cases. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(3), 441–451.
48.
LinM.XieM.LiZ. (2023). Organizational error tolerance and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior: Mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of public service motivation. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 16, 4133–4153.
49.
LiuD.ChenX. P.YaoX. (2011). From autonomy to creativity: A multilevel investigation of the mediating role of harmonious passion. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(2), 294–309.
50.
MansbridgeJ. (2014). A contingency theory of accountability. In BovensM.GoodinR.SchillemansT. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of public accountability (pp. 55–68). Oxford University Press.
51.
MansouriM.RowneyJ. I. A. (2014). The dilemma of accountability for professionals: A challenge for mainstream management theories. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(1), 45–56.
52.
MarinovaS. V.CaoX.ParkH. (2019). Constructive organizational values climate and organizational citizenship behaviors: A configurational view. Journal of Management, 45(5), 2045–2071.
53.
MarkmanK. D.TetlockP. E. (2000). “I couldn’t have known”: Accountability, foreseeability and counterfactual denials of responsibility. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39(3), 313–325.
54.
MartinJ. A.ButlerF. C. (2017). Agent and stewardship behavior: How do they differ?Journal of Management & Organization, 23(5), 633–646.
55.
McAllisterC. P.HarrisJ. N.HochwarterW. A.PerreweP. L.FerrisG. R. (2016). Got resources? A multi-sample constructive replication of perceived resource availability’s role in work passion–job outcomes relationships. Journal of Business and Psychology, 32(2), 147–164.
56.
MehmoodK.JabeenF.Al HammadiK. I. S.Al HammadiA.IftikharY.AlNahyanM. T. (2023). Disentangling employees’ passion and work-related outcomes through the lens of cross-cultural examination: A two-wave empirical study. International Journal of Manpower, 44(1), 37–57.
57.
MolinesM.MifsudM.El AkremiA.PerrierA. (2022). Motivated to serve: A regulatory perspective on public service motivation and organizational citizenship behavior. Public Administration Review, 82(1), 102–116.
58.
MulganR. (2000). “Accountability”: An ever-expanding concept?Public Administration, 78(3), 555–573.
59.
MullinM.DaleyD. M. (2010). Working with the state: Exploring interagency collaboration within a federalist system. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 20(4), 757–778.
60.
MullinixK. J.LeeperT. J.DruckmanJ. N.FreeseJ. (2015). The generalizability of survey experiments. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 2(2), 109–138.
61.
NagelM. L. (2025). The challenge of balancing innovation and tradition in the public sector: The role of street-level bureaucrats in digital transformation. Administration & Society, 57(1), 154–181.
62.
OrganD. W.KonovskyM. (1989). Cognitive versus affective determinants of organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74(1), 157–164.
63.
OssegeC. (2012). Accountability—Are we better off without it? An empirical study on the effects of accountability on public managers’ work behaviour. Public Management Review, 14(5), 585–607.
64.
OvermanS.SchillemansT. (2022). Toward a public administration theory of felt accountability. Public Administration Review, 82(1), 12–22.
65.
OvermanS.SchillemansT.GrimmelikhuijsenS. (2021). A validated measurement for felt relational accountability in the public sector: Gauging the account holder’s legitimacy and expertise. Public Management Review, 23(12), 1748–1767.
66.
ParkeM. R.TangiralaS.HussainI. (2021). Creating organizational citizens: How and when supervisor- versus peer-led role interventions change organizational citizenship behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(11), 1714–1733.
67.
PierreJ.PetersB. G. (2017). The shirking bureaucrat: A theory in search of evidence?Policy & Politics, 45(2), 157–172.
68.
QuratulainS.KhanA. K.KhalidM.ArainG. A.ZhaoL. (2026). Enacted abusive supervision and supervisory outcomes: A social distance perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 204(3), 565–582.
69.
RabbiM. F.SabharwalM. (2025). Understanding accountability overload: Concept and consequences in public sector organizations. International Journal of Public Administration, 48(2), 115–133.
70.
RajalaT.JalonenH. (2025). Beyond simplification in public sector accountability: Contradictions between principal-agent and complexity theories. Public Administration Review, 85(6), 11757–11770.
71.
RomzekB. S.LeRouxK.BlackmarJ. M. (2012). A preliminary theory of informal accountability among network organizational actors. Public Administration Review, 72(3), 442–453.
72.
Salas-VallinaA.PozoM.Fernandez-GuerreroR. (2020). New times for HRM? Well-being oriented management (WOM), harmonious work passion and innovative work behavior. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 42(3), 561–581.
73.
SchillemansT. (2013). Moving beyond the clash of interests: On stewardship theory and the relationships between central government departments and public agencies. Public Management Review, 15(4), 541–562.
74.
SchillemansT.AleksovskaM. (2025). Making nonpunitive accountability matter: Exploring behavioral effects of nonpunitive accountability in a conjoint experiment. Public Administration, 103(2), 392–416.
75.
SchillemansT.BusuiocM. (2015). Predicting public sector accountability: From agency drift to forum drift. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25(1), 191–215.
76.
SchillemansT.OvermanS.FawcettP.FlindersM.FredrikssonM.LaegreidP.MaggettiM.PapadopoulosY.RubecksenK.RykkjaL. H.SalomonsenH. H.SmullenA.WoodM. (2021). Understanding felt accountability: The institutional antecedents of the felt accountability of agency-CEO’s to central government. Governance, 34(3), 893–916.
77.
SheagleyG.CliffordS. (2025). No evidence that measuring moderators alters treatment effects. American Journal of Political Science, 69(1), 49–63.
78.
ShiG.ZhangZ. (2025). Inclusive leadership and creative territory behavior: A triple interactive moderating effect model. Behavioral Sciences, 15(8), 1105.
79.
SmithR. W.MinH.NgM. A.HaynesN. J.ClarkM. A. (2023). A content validation of work passion: Was the passion ever there?Journal of Business and Psychology, 38(1), 191–213.
80.
StroeS.SirénC.ShepherdD.WincentJ. (2020). The dualistic regulatory effect of passion on the relationship between fear of failure and negative affect: Insights from facial expression analysis. Journal of Business Venturing, 35(4), Article 105948.
81.
TetlockP. E.SkitkaL.BoettgerR. (1989). Social and cognitive strategies for coping with accountability: Conformity, complexity, and bolstering. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(4), 632–640.
82.
ThorgrenS.WincentJ. (2013). Passion and role opportunity search: Interfering effects of conflicts and overloads. International Journal of Stress Management, 20(1), 20–36.
83.
TuW. Y. (2022). Unpacking the accountability cube and its relationship with blame avoidance. Public Management Review, 26(3), 701–723.
84.
TuW. Y.GongT. (2022a). Accountability intensity and bureaucrats’ response to conflicting expectations: A survey experiment in China. Public Management Review, 24(11), 1779–1801.
85.
TuW. Y.GongT. (2022b). Bureaucratic shirking in China: Is sanction-based accountability a cure?The China Quarterly, 249, 259–274.
86.
VallerandR. J. (2015). The dualistic model of passion. In The psychology of passion: A dualistic model (pp. 43–68). Oxford University Press.
87.
VallerandR. J.BlanchardC.MageauG.KoestnerR.RatelleC.LéonardM.GagnéM.MarsolaisJ. (2003). Les passions de l’ame: On obsessive and harmonious passion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(4), 756–767.
88.
VallerandR. J.PaquetY.PhilippeF. L.CharestJ. (2010). On the role of passion for work in burnout: A process model. Journal of Personality, 78(1), 289–312.
89.
van der VoetJ.RimkutėD. (2022). A behavioral view on responsibility attribution in multi-level governance: Upward and downward responsibility attribution in response to performance below aspirations. Public Administration, 101(4), 1461–1480.
90.
van DijkeM.GuoY.WildschutT.SedikidesC. (2025). Perceived organizational change strengthens organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior via increased organizational nostalgia. Journal of Applied Psychology, 110(1), 89–106.
91.
Vigoda-GadotE.BeeriI. (2012). Change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior in public administration: The power of leadership and the cost of organizational politics. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 22(3), 573–596.
92.
WaringS. K.AlisonL. J.CunninghamS.WhitfieldK. C. (2013). The impact of accountability on motivational goals and the quality of advice provided in crisis negotiations. Psychology Public Policy and Law, 19(2), 137–150.
93.
WarrenM. (2014). Accountability and democracy. In BovensM.GoodinR.SchillemansT. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of public accountability (pp. 39–54). Oxford University Press.
94.
WeiX.ShenB. (2025). Effects of two face regulatory foci about ethical fashion consumption in a confucian context. Journal of Business Ethics, 196, 807–825.
95.
XuT.WenJ. Q.LvZ. K. (2025). Enabling and burdening: The impact of supervisor off-work digital connection for work and employees’ harmonious passion. Current Psychology, 44(20), 16669–16681.
96.
YanY.QuX.LeiH.GengY. (2025). Approach or avoidance: How does employees’ generative AI awareness shape their job crafting behavior? A sensemaking perspective. Behavioral Sciences, 15(6), 789.
97.
YangN. D.SongY.ZhangY. L.WangJ. B. (2020). Dark side of joint R&D collaborations: Dependence asymmetry and opportunism. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 35(4), 741–755.
98.
YangX.KongX.QianM.ZhangX.LiL.GaoS.NingL.YuX. (2024). The effect of work-family conflict on employee well-being among physicians: The mediating role of job satisfaction and work engagement. BMC Psychology, 12, 1-14.
99.
YangY.YuanL.YeL.YangS. (2025). How does work passion affect employees’ radical and incremental creativity? A three-way interaction model. Journal of Business Research, 196, Article 115430.
100.
ZampetakisL. A. (2023). Core job characteristics and change oriented organization citizenship behavior: What can managers do on a day-to-day basis?The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 34(16), 3123–3143.
101.
ZampetakisL. A.ArvanitisA. (2024). Finding an autonomous path to positive change: A self-determination theory view of daily change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Current Psychology, 43(25), 21952–21965.
102.
ZarychtaA.GrillosT.AnderssonK. P. (2022). Accountability and effort among street-level bureaucrats: Evidence from a lab-in-the-field experiment. International Public Management Journal, 25(6), 916–938.
103.
ZhangQ. Y.WangX. H.NerstadC. G. L.RenH.GaoR. (2022). Motivational climates, work passion, and behavioral consequences. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(9), 1579–1597.
104.
ZhangS. C.ZhouB. (2024). Impact of mianzi consciousness on unethical pro-organizational behavior: The roles of impression management motive, educational level, party affiliation in China. Current Psychology, 43(16), 14244–14258.
105.
ZhaoH.ZhangM. (2020). The role of guanxi and positive emotions in predicting users’ likelihood to click the like button on WeChat. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1736.
106.
ZhouL.ZhangS. (2017). How face as a system of value-constructs operates through the interplay of mianzi and lian in Chinese: A corpus-based study. Language Sciences, 64, 152–166.
107.
ZhuoF. C.YuanL. (2022). The impact of knowledge distance on turnover intention of millennial employees: From the perspective of mianzi. Journal of Knowledge Management, 26(10), 2558–2578.
