Sleep and organizational citizenship behavior: the mediating role of job satisfaction.

We examine sleep as an important factor beyond the work domain that is relevant to organizational citizenship behavior. In a field study of 87 employees from a variety of organizations, an objective measure of sleep quantity predicted organizational citizenship behavior directed toward organizations but not organizational citizenship behavior directed toward individuals. Additionally, job satisfaction mediated this relationship. In a second field study of 85 working college students, we found that natural variation in daily sleep over the course of a work week predicted daily variance in organizational citizenship behavior directed toward both individuals and organizations, and that job satisfaction mediated these relationships. Based on these findings, we discuss theoretical and practical implications of sleep-deprived employees.