Companion Animal Involvement and Its Impact on Employee’s Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Relationship Conflict at Work through Gratitude and Guilt

Abstract: This study provided evidence for the double-edged sword of pet involvement, showing that involvement with pets was linked to both OCB and relationship conflict through positive and negative emotional pathways respectively. Through a two-wave survey study with working adults through Prolific, we identified both gratitude and guilt as emotional pathways through which involvement with household pets may be linked to work-related outcomes. Results supported some, but not all of our hypotheses. Specifically, the expected relationship between gratitude and conflict was not supported, indicating that gratitude for ones’ pets does not necessarily translate to reduced interpersonal frictions at work. Further, the expected relationship between guilt and OCB was not supported, indicating that guilt over pet caretaking does not necessarily translate to reduced extra role behaviours at work.

Keywords: Companion Animal Involvement, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, and Relationship Conflict