BREACH AND FULFILLMENT OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT: A COMPARISON OF TRADITIONAL AND EXPANDED VIEWS

Breach and fulfillment in a psychological contract has traditionally been studied with approaches that are conceptually and methodologically limited. We compared predictions derived from the traditional view to predictions from an expanded view that maintains the distinction between promised and delivered inducements and examines their joint relationship with employee satisfaction. The traditional and expanded views were compared using longitudinal data and polynomial regression analysis. Results provided little support for the traditional view. In contrast, results supported the expanded view and revealed that relationships for breach and fulfillment are more complex than previously suggested. Specifically, satisfaction depended on whether breach represented deficient or excess inducements and the particular inducement under consideration. Moreover, satisfaction was more strongly related to delivered inducements than promised inducements. These results question basic tenets of psychological contract research and indicate new avenues for research that build on the expanded view developed in this article.     

Affective commitment,trust, and the psychological contract: contributions matter,too!

ABSTRACT

Employees’ receipt of inducements is associated with trust and affective commitment, and employees pay for their inducements with their contributions (e.g., time, and physical and intellectual effort). Yet this relationship does not fully mirror events as they occur in an employment relationship where employees’ promises and delivery of inducements and contributions are ongoing, and relatively continuous. Our premise is that promising and delivering contributions may enhance or reduce employees’ trust in and commitment to the organization depending on how well they fulfill psychological needs. We tested a social exchange theory model and our alternative model. Survey results favoured our alternative model and suggested that employees’ contributions were related to trust and commitment, independent of the role of inducements. Tests of the social exchange model exhibited worse fit to the data. Breach and fulfilment results from polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed that commitment was higher when delivered contributions equal promised contributions and declined when delivered amounts were deficient of, or exceeded, promised amounts. Employees’ promised and delivered contributions to organizations may constitute a path to their feelings of commitment, but commitment was highest when delivered contributions were within close range of promised amounts.     

Exploring temporal changes in obligated and delivered inducements: a dynamic systems perspective

ABSTRACT

The psychological contract (PC) is a dynamic process, where employees actively and passively adjust their perceptions of obligated and delivered inducements. In this study, we focus on the temporal changes in employee’s perceptions of obligated and delivered inducements and show that these micro-level dynamics take place at every stage through the PC process. We introduce a dynamic systems perspective to understand these temporal fluctuations. We show that employees’ perceptions of obligated and delivered inducements interact with each other and form a dynamic system. We compared daily and weekly time-frames and found that the daily time-frame maximizes the temporal fluctuations of employees’ perceptions of obligated and delivered inducements, whereas the weekly frame captures more complex trajectories. Furthermore, inducements that are explicitly communicated demonstrate more temporal fluctuations than inducements that are not explicitly communicated. We advance PC theory by providing more understanding of the temporal dynamics of employees’ perceptions of obligated and delivered inducements. We provide practical guidelines for the choice of an ideal time-frame to study employees’ perceptions of obligated and delivered inducements, depending on the specific inducements and the aim of the research. We propose that researchers further integrate dynamic systems theory into PC models.     

Sensemaking during organizational entry: Changes in newcomer information seeking and the relationship with psychological contract fulfilment

In this study, insight is given into the temporal nature of psychological contract‐related information seeking during organizational entry, by examining how the frequency of information seeking changes across the first year of employment for a sample of 280 newcomers. We examined the pattern of changes in the frequency of information seeking from four sources (supervisor, co‐workers, mentors, and other newcomers) and about two content dimensions of the psychological contract (organizational inducements and employee contributions). We also investigated if information‐seeking behaviours were related to the evaluation of the psychological contract and whether these relationships changed over time. The data were analysed using Latent Growth Modelling. The results indicated that information seeking about the psychological contract decreases significantly over the first year of employment, with the exception of information seeking from supervisors, indicating that for different targets of information different information seeking patterns exist. Employees seek more information on organizational inducements than on employee contributions. We found a positive association between information seeking during the initial weeks after entry and evaluations of psychological contract fulfilment after 3 months, but changes in information seeking after this initial period were not associated with changes in psychological contract fulfilment. Finally, we found that younger newcomers engaged more frequently in information seeking from co‐workers and other new hires compared to older newcomers. Implications for theories on psychological contract formation and future research are discussed.     

Factors Influencing Employee Beliefs That Pay Is Tied to Performance

The unique relationship of perceived pay level equity, perceived appraisal accuracy, merit increase satisfaction, trust in supervisor, and trust in top management to employee beliefs that pay is tied to performance was investigated in a sample of 658 managerial, professional, and clerical employees. Pay level equity, merit increase satisfaction, and trust in top management exhibited a significant unique relationship. Post hoc analysis found appraisal accuracy exhibited a significant unique relationship with belief that pay is tied to performance among employees receiving a lower or higher than expected performance appraisal, but not among employees receiving the expected performance appraisal.     

Exchange relationships: examining psychological contracts and perceived organizational support

The authors surveyed 347 public sector employees on 4 measurement occasions to investigate the conceptual distinctiveness of the psychological contract and perceived organizational support (POS) and how they are associated over time. Results support the distinctiveness of the 2 concepts. In terms of their interrelationships over time, by drawing on psychological contract theory the authors found little support for a reciprocal relationship between POS and psychological contract fulfillment. Under an alternative set of hypotheses, by drawing on organizational support theory and by separating psychological contract fulfillment into its 2 components (perceived employer obligations and inducements), the authors found that perceived employer inducements were positively related to POS, which, in turn, was negatively related to perceived employer obligations. The results suggest that POS and the components of psychological contract fulfillment are more important in predicting organizational citizenship behavior than psychological contract fulfillment.     

Broken Promises: Equity Sensitivity as a Moderator Between Psychological Contract Breach and Employee Attitudes and Behavior

This study examined the moderating role of equity sensitivity in determining the relationship between psychological contract breach and employees' attitudes and behaviors. Entitled individuals were expected to have greater increases in negative affect toward their organization and greater decreases in job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior than benevolent individuals following a breach of extrinsic outcomes (i.e., pay, benefits). Conversely, benevolents were expected to respond more negatively than their entitled counterparts following a breach of intrinsic outcomes (i.e., autonomy, growth). Results supported most of the study's propositions. Practical implications as well as directions for future research are discussed.     

Employee and Supervisor Ratings of Motivation: Main Effects and Discrepancies Associated with Job Satisfaction and Adjustment in a Factory Setting1

Research and theory on employee job satisfaction and well-being has increasingly concentrated on both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. According to self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985). autonomy, relatedness, and competence are three intrinsic psychological needs that, if fulfilled in the workplace, will lead to greater satisfaction, performance, and general well-being. This study examines employee and supervisor perceptions of the employee's autonomy, competence, and relatedness in the workplace, as well as the degree and direction of discrepancies between employee and supervisor reports. Both employee and supervisor ratings of intrinsic motivational factors were significantly related to work satisfaction, psychological health, and self-esteem, after controlling for the extrinsic factors of pay and job status. Results of discrepancy analyses were somewhat supportive of overrating being associated with greater well-being and job satisfaction. Discussion of the results ties this study to relevant research from a self-determination perspective and to the growing literature on discrepancies and self-perception.     

心理契约破坏对员工态度与行为的影响

心理契约破坏是指在雇佣关系中员工对组织未能履行的责任或承诺的认知评价。本文从概念上区分了心理契约破坏与心理契约违背, 然后从直接影响和间接影响(中介效应与调节效应)两方面回顾了国内外有关心理契约破坏对员工工作态度与行为影响的实证研究, 并对研究方法、理论依据存在的不足进行评述, 提出未来的研究应该：(1)基于中国的文化背景, 开发适合中国企业的心理契约量表; (2)从组织-员工双向视角考察心理契约破坏对双方影响的的动态过程。     

Call for Papers: National Conference in Sales Management

As the lines blur between when work ends and home life begins, employees, working longer hours and multitasking, increasingly report feeling overwhelmed by their work. This research note investigates the effect of work overload and self-effcacy on important job outcomes—capability rewards and pay satisfaction. Utilizing social cognitive theory, the job demands control model, and the psychological contract notion, this paper provides evidence that role stress and work overload mediate the effect of self-effcacy on capability rewards and pay satisfaction. An empirical study is presented that includes 138 responses from boat and marine products salespeople. Study results and future research are discussed.     

Different temporary work status, different behaviors in organization

This study examined the contributions of the psychological contract framework to an understanding of the effects of different work statuses on employees’ behavior. We compared temporary firm workers (n=71) with core workers (n=268) and direct-hire temporary workers (n=149) with core workers (n=42) in two different samples. As expected, temporary firm workers consider that they receive fewer socio-emotional inducements from the organization they work for (opportunities for promotion, career development, long-term employment), but direct-hire temporary workers who succeeded in having their contracts extended had a psychological contract in which socio-emotional components predominated. A psychological contract with a predominance of socio-emotional components was important for organizations because it mediated the influence of work status on civic virtue behaviors on the part of temporary firm workers, and directly and positively influenced these behaviors in direct-hired temporary workers (behaviors as assessed by their supervisors). Contrary to the hypothesis, psychological contract had a direct and positive influence on the in-role behavior of direct-hire temporary workers. The implications of the findings for psychological contract research are discussed.     

The role of passion for work and need satisfaction in psychological adjustment to retirement

Two studies tested a model in which passion for work predicts psychological adjustment to retirement through the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. With a sample of 103 French-Canadian retirees from a variety of occupations, the first study used a retrospective cross-sectional design. The second study followed 73 French-Canadian teachers over a 6-year period and examined the relationship between passion for work, assessed when participants were still working, and psychological adjustment to retirement, measured when participants were retired. All participants completed questionnaires on demographics, passion for work, basic psychological needs and psychological adjustment to retirement. Results from structural equation modeling confirmed the hypothesized model, such that both studies confirmed the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction in the passion–psychological adjustment to retirement relationship. Need satisfaction significantly mediated the relationship between harmonious passion for work and psychological adjustment to retirement in Studies 1 and 2. The mediation was also confirmed between obsessive passion and psychological adjustment to retirement in Study 1, but not in Study 2. These findings suggest that passion for work matters in psychological adjustment to retirement. Being passionate about work can thus lead to positive or negative outcomes in retirement, depending on whether the passion is harmonious or obsessive, respectively.     

Relationships of personal needs to managers' perceptions of compensation

This study relates managers' ratings of pay satisfaction, internal and external equity and performance contingency to differences in needs. While risk-takers saw their pay as less externally equitable than their more security-seeking counterparts, risk-takers were more prone to relate pay satisfaction to external comparisons. Security-seekers tended to relate their satisfaction more to internal comparisons. The results are discussed in the context of published models of the determinants of pay satisfaction and suggest a larger role for personally-oriented issues. Results are also discussed from the standpoint of compensation policy and administration.     

员工何以蓬勃旺盛?影响工作旺盛感的组织情境与理论模型

工作旺盛感是个体在工作中同时感受活力和学习一种心理状态。组织情境中领导、组织支持和公平、工作特征和同伴均影响工作旺盛感。基于特质激活和自我决定理论, 构建“组织情境影响工作旺盛感的心理机制”模型：“全景式”和“离散式”组织情境能直接影响基本心理需求的满足, 或者先激活特质, 再影响基本心理需求满足, 进而影响工作旺盛感。未来应加强“全景式”组织情境及其中介机制研究, 开展个体和组织情境变量以及社会层和任务层等多层次整合研究, 并运用动态研究方法研究组织情境与工作旺盛感之间的联动变化规律, 预测工作旺盛感。     

Effects of Internal and External Pay Comparisons on Work Attitudes1

The effects of internal and external pay comparisons on several work attitudes were assessed within an experimental design. Participants responded to hypothetical scenarios in which their pay was greater, less, or equal to an internal and external individual or group referent. As predicted, internal and external pay comparisons predicted pay satisfaction and perceived pay fairness. Also as expected, internal equity was the stronger predictor of work motivation and perceived organizational support, and external equity predicted turnover intention more strongly. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that work attitudes would be impacted more strongly when individuals made pay comparisons with a group referent than with an individual referent other. Implications for the design of compensation systems are discussed.     

What do we measure and how do we elicit it? The case for the use of repertory grid technique in multi-party psychological contract research

ABSTRACT

The psychological contract is a multi-faceted construct and, with the rise of gig work, increasingly the contract extends beyond the conventional employer-employee relationship to encompass multi-party exchanges. Against this backdrop, the question of what should be measured when assessing the contract and how it should be elicited remains a significant issue for scholars. We argue that the potential of psychological contract theory as an explanatory lens in understanding contemporary multi-party working relationships is constrained by two key limitations inherent in conventional measurement approaches. Firstly, such approaches have favoured singular rather than multiparty perspectives, and secondly, they have broadly accorded equal weight and significance to the content dimensions unearthed, despite the fact that they may differ markedly in how they are understood by each party to the employment relationship. In order to remedy these shortcomings, we make the case for adopting repertory grid technique as a methodological framework to address measurement limitations and to more rigorously assess the content of the complex multi-party psychological contract.     

Relationships between work-related characteristics,needs satisfaction,motivation and mental health in midwifery students

The present study examined the relationships between work-related characteristics in internships, psychological needs satisfaction, motivation and mental health using a partial least squares path modeling. Midwifery students (N = 214; M_age = 22.8 years) from three French schools completed different questionnaires online. Results showed (1) the importance of work resources (work control and social support) as protective factors of psychological needs satisfaction; and (2) the role of competence need satisfaction through motivation in the relationships between work resources and mental health. Midwifery schools should pay more attention to these two results, and take them into account in midwifery students’ training.     

The relationship between human resource investments and organizational performance: a firm-level examination of equilibrium theory

It is commonly believed that human resource investments can yield positive performance-related outcomes for organizations. Utilizing the theory of organizational equilibrium (H. A. Simon, D. W. Smithburg, & V. A. Thompson, 1950; J. G. March & H. A. Simon, 1958), the authors proposed that organizational inducements in the form of competitive pay will lead to 2 firm-level performance outcomes--labor productivity and customer satisfaction--and that financially successful organizations would be more likely to provide these inducements to their employees. To test their hypotheses, the authors gathered employee-survey and objective performance data from a sample of 126 large publicly traded U.S. organizations over a period of 3 years. Results indicated that (a) firm-level financial performance (net income) predicted employees' shared perceptions of competitive pay, (b) shared pay perceptions predicted future labor productivity, and (c) the relationship between shared pay perceptions and customer satisfaction was fully mediated by employee morale.     

The influence of social interaction on the dynamics of employees’ psychological contracting in digitally transforming organizations

ABSTRACT

This paper takes a process perspective in exploring the influence of social interaction on the dynamics of psychological contracting throughout organizational change. Although social interaction is a key focus in social exchange theory, this aspect is largely overlooked in the current psychological contract literature. In this qualitative study, we adopt a retrospective design, asking change recipients to recollect events over time in the context of digital transformation in Dutch travel organizations. Our data reveal a sequence of different kinds of social interactions over the course of a change process, from collective-focused interactions (i.e., kindness and sharing) in stable contracts to transactional interactions (i.e., “what is in it for me”) following psychological contract disruption, to relational interactions (i.e., vigilance about equity in social exchange) in psychological contract repair, and to a final return to resonance and alignment with others and a return to psychological contract maintenance. Our results suggest that social interactions play a more potent role in the dynamics of psychological contracting than is currently recognized in the literature. Finally, we discuss a number of implications for dynamic models of psychological contracting.