Background <p>Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a non-compulsory but beneficial behavior for effective organizational operation. OCB can be largely determined by the type of leadership style, among which responsible leadership has been attracting considerable attention in the organizational context nowadays. The objective of this study was to examine the parallel mediating effect of gratitude and organizational identification between responsible leadership and OCB among the academic staff in China.</p> Methods <p>This study employed a cross-sectional design by distributing self-administrative questionnaires to 317 faculty members from higher education institutions in China. SmartPLS 4.0 statistical software was employed to perform Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling, in which hypotheses were tested.</p> Results <p>The findings indicated that responsible leadership had a positive direct relationship with employees’ gratitude and organizational identification but not with OCB. Meanwhile, gratitude and organizational identification were found to improve OCB significantly. Furthermore, the results revealed that gratitude and organizational identification functioned as mediators between responsible leadership and OCB.</p> Conclusions <p>This study theoretically expanded existing research by employing a parallel mediation model between responsible leadership and OCB within an Asian higher education setting. Moreover, this study also presented practical suggestions for management and policymakers to devise strategies that can cultivate responsible leadership in higher education institutions to enhance employees’ gratitude and organizational identification, ultimately promoting OCB.</p>