This study builds on the relatively limited work examining police officer identity, dedication, and organisation citizenship behaviours (OCB), by connecting illegitimate tasks to these outcomes. From the textual analysis of focus group responses by members of an Australian state police service, a clear social identity of ‘copper’ emerged among constables, and when this copper identity was threatened, the constables' dedication and levels of OCB depleted. The most serious threat to that identity was the need to perform illegitimate tasks based on perceived time-wasting activities. However, a new negative phenomenon, tasks reducing professional discretion, emerged as a third type of illegitimate task. The study also indicates that future studies of police dedication and OCB depletion need to consider the negative socio-political aspects of managerialism.

According to social exchange theory, the motivation for organizational citizenship behavior can be understood with the help of the frameworks of obligation to reciprocate and expected reciprocity. This study predicts that the true motivation for organizational citizenship behavior could be differentiated conditional on the career plateau. These relationships predict the existence of a U-shaped nonlinear relationship between the career plateau and organizational citizenship behavior. In addition to exploring this relationship, the study attempted to discover the effect of organizational commitment and job involvement on the relationship. As a result, a U-shaped curvilinear relationship is applied between career plateau and four dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior except civic virtue. Commitment and involvement show unexpected moderating effects on those curved relationships.