Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between authentic leadership and organizational citizenship behaviour. Positive and negative emotions toward the organization were also included as a moderator of this relationship.

Design/Methodology/Approach: A self-report online questionnaire was distributed to Public Servants, a District Health Board and retail employees at a single time point. The study data was analysed using SPSS (version 25). The analyses included exploratory factor analyses for each of the scales, and moderated multiple regression to test the hypotheses.

Findings: Authentic leadership is not significantly related to employees performing organizational citizenship behaviours. Positive emotions toward the organization were significantly associated with organizational citizenship behaviours. Positive and negative emotions toward the organization did not significantly moderate the relationship between authentic leadership and organizational citizenship behaviours.

Originality: This study is the first to explore the relationship between authentic leadership, emotions toward the organization and organizational citizenship behaviours. How employees feel about the organization seems to be more important in encouraging organizational citizenship behaviours than working with an authentic leader.

Research Limitations/implications: Findings from the current study demonstrate the importance of positive emotions in the workplace and highlight the need for further research to be conducted on the relationship between organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) and emotions.

Practical/ societal implications: Encouraging positive emotions in followers could lead to OCBs which are highly beneficial for organizations. By encouraging a positive emotional climate and building a positive emotional relationship between the organization and its employees, organizations can be rewarded with OCBs.