Transformational Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Decade of Scientific Inquiry through a Bibliometric Analysis (2015-2024)

Abstract

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive bibliometric study of the scientific literature examining the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) over the period 2015–2024. Drawing on a corpus of 376 publications retrieved from the Web of Science database, the analysis highlights a continuous growth in academic research on this topic, revealing a progressive structuring of the field around key concepts such as work engagement, organizational justice, leader–member exchange, and social exchange theory. Using the VOSviewer software, the study maps the principal research trends, identifies the most influential authors, countries, and publishers, and highlights both dominant themes and emerging perspectives. The findings emphasize the central role of transformational leadership in fostering discretionary behaviors within organizations, while also underscoring the need to broaden analytical approaches to encompass diverse cultural and sectoral contexts, particularly in a rapidly evolving world of work.

Keywords: Transformational leadership, Organizational citizenship behavior, Bibliometrics, Social exchange, Organizational performance.