Race, Management Citizenship Behavior, and Employees’ Commitment and Well-Being

Previous research, building on Hodson’s concept of management citizenship behavior (MCB), has shown that managers’ operational and relational competence are positively related to important employee outcomes. In this article, we suggest and show how such behaviors vary by the race-specific character of manager–subordinate dyads. Drawing on organizational demography literature (that emphasizes ascriptive differences between superiors and subordinates) and literatures on racial stereotyping (that suggest ways in which minority supervisors are viewed as less competent than White supervisors), we test hypotheses that minority and White employees have different responses to minority and White managers’ MCBs. Analyses of the 2002 National Survey of the Changing Workforce reveal that in cross-race dyads managers’ relational competence significantly increases subordinates’ commitment and job satisfaction. Managers’ technical competence, in contrast, increases subordinates’ commitment, satisfaction, and (to a lesser extent) mental health, but only in same-race dyads. Our findings suggest that managers who competently organize the workplace and show respect for workers’ rights can potentially transcend racial differences in the workplace. In the process, worker well-being and employee commitment can be enhanced.