Perceptions of employment relations and permanence in the organization: mediating effects of affective commitment in relations of psychological contract and intention to quit

Working conditions in call/contact centers influence employees' perceptions of their relations with the organization and their attitudes to work. Such perceptions can be analyzed through the psychological contract. The association between the relational/transactional orientation of the psychological contract and intention to quit the organization was examined, as well as the mediating role of affective commitment in employment relations. Data were collected from 973 employees in a cross-sectional survey. Analysis confirmed that there was a statistically significant relation between the orientation of the psychological contract and intention to quit, which was positive for transactionally oriented and negative for relationally oriented contracts. A mediating role for affective commitment was also confirmed, and a full mediating effect was reported for both orientations.     

Who Cares? The Role of Job Involvement in Psychological Contract Violation

This study examined survey data from full‐time employees employed in a variety of occupations. We empirically examined how psychological involvement with one's job affects reactions to psychological contract violation. Data for control variables (i.e., age, gender, organizational tenure), the independent variable (i.e., psychological contract violation), and the moderator (i.e., job involvement) were taken at Time 1; and dependent variables (i.e., depressed mood at work, turnover intention) were taken at Time 2. Results illustrated that job involvement was an important construct in understanding individuals' negative reactions to psychological contract violations. Implications and limitations are discussed, and suggestions for future research are offered.     

职业生涯高原对员工工作满意度、组织承诺、离职意愿的影响

职业生涯高原是指个体在当前组织中职业生涯发展的停滞。在控制人口统计学变量以及同一方法偏差的基础上,研究发现职业生涯高原的不同维度对不同组织效果变量有不同影响。（1）层级高原对员工工作满意度和组织承诺并没有显著负向影响,但会增加员工离职的可能性。不过,层级高原对员工离职意愿的影响受到工龄的调节;（2）内容高原对员工的工作满意度、组织承诺均具有显著负向影响,并增加员工离开组织的可能性;（3）中心化高原对员工的工作满意度、组织承诺均具负向影响,但对员工离职意愿却没有显著影响     

Adaptation to increased work autonomy: The role of task reflection

Psychological contracts are a powerful concept in research on organizational behaviour. Substantial negative reactions towards perceived breaches to the psychological contract have been reported in many studies. There are sound theoretical arguments for the existence of a point in the continuous perception of contract breach, where sudden changes in attitudes occur in the relationship between breach and outcomes (i.e., thresholds). Using questionnaire data from 592 employees working in more than 30 different organizations across Germany, segmented regression models were tested against curvilinear effects for the relationship between breach of the psychological contract and job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, intention to quit, violation, and trust. This study provides empirical evidence for threshold models of psychological contract breach. The results imply that prior studies have underestimated the impact of psychological contract breach.     

Perceived organizational career management and career adaptability as predictors of success and turnover intention among Chinese employees

Based on the theories of career construction and of social exchange, the current research examined the joint and interactive effects of perceived organizational career management and career adaptability on indicators of career success (i.e., salary and career satisfaction) and work attitudes (i.e., turnover intention) among 654 Chinese employees. The results showed that career adaptability played a unique role in predicting salary after controlling for the effects of demographic variables and perceived organizational career management. It was also found that both perceived organizational career management and career adaptability correlated negatively with turnover intention, with these relationships mediated by career satisfaction. The results further showed that career adaptability moderated the relationship between perceived organizational career management and career satisfaction such that this positive relationship was stronger among employees with a higher level of career adaptability. In support of the hypothesized moderated mediation model, for employees with a higher level of career adaptability, the indirect effect of perceived career management on turnover intention through career satisfaction was stronger. These findings carry implications for research on career success and turnover intention.     

A model for the effects of job insecurity on performance,turnover intention,and absenteeism

This study investigates the effects of job insecurity on four organizationally important outcomes: in‐role behaviour, organizational citizenship behaviour, turnover intention, and absenteeism. A model is tested in which job insecurity is simultaneously a hindrance and a challenge stressor. In particular, job insecurity is proposed to have a predominantly harmful effect on performance, turnover intention, and absenteeism, and it is argued that these effects are mediated by (reduced) work attitudes. In addition, job insecurity is also assumed to affect these behaviours in the opposite way (i.e. a suppressor effect) because job insecurity might motivate employees to make themselves more valuable to the organization by working harder and being less absent. The model is tested with a sample of 136 German non‐managerial employees. Data from supervisors (i.e. in‐role behaviour and organizational citizenship behaviour), the company's personnel files (i.e. absenteeism), and self‐reports (i.e. job insecurity, work attitudes, turnover intention, in‐role behaviour, and organizational citizenship behaviour) were used. Structural equation modelling showed that a model that included both negative and positive effects fitted the data best. The negative effect was stronger than the positive effect. The results show that the effects of job insecurity are more complex than previously assumed. In addition, the results also extend previous research into hindrance and challenge stressors because they show that stressors should not be categorized as either hindrance or challenge. Instead, it might be more appropriate to conceptualize hindrance and challenge as two dimensions.     

Psychological contract breach,affective commitment to organization and supervisor,and newcomer adjustment: A three-wave moderated mediation model

This study examines the relationship of psychological contract breach to newcomer adjustment outcomes using affective commitments to organizations and supervisors as mediators and also looks at the moderating role of affective commitment to supervisors. Drawing from data collected at three points in time among a sample of newcomers (N = 224), we found that Time 2 affective organizational commitment mediated a positive relationship between Time 1 psychological contract breach and Time 3 turnover intention and emotional exhaustion. Moreover, affective commitment to supervisors interacted with organizational commitment such that the latter was more negatively related to Time 3 outcomes at low levels of commitment to supervisors. Similarly, the indirect relationships of psychological contract breach to Time 3 outcomes were stronger and negative at low levels of commitment to supervisors. Affective commitment's role in the psychological contract breach-outcome relationships during the entry period is discussed.     

Psychological contract breach,affective commitment to organization and supervisor,and newcomer adjustment: A three-wave moderated mediation model

This study examines the relationship of psychological contract breach to newcomer adjustment outcomes using affective commitments to organizations and supervisors as mediators and also looks at the moderating role of affective commitment to supervisors. Drawing from data collected at three points in time among a sample of newcomers (N = 224), we found that Time 2 affective organizational commitment mediated a positive relationship between Time 1 psychological contract breach and Time 3 turnover intention and emotional exhaustion. Moreover, affective commitment to supervisors interacted with organizational commitment such that the latter was more negatively related to Time 3 outcomes at low levels of commitment to supervisors. Similarly, the indirect relationships of psychological contract breach to Time 3 outcomes were stronger and negative at low levels of commitment to supervisors. Affective commitment's role in the psychological contract breach-outcome relationships during the entry period is discussed.     

Trust in organization as a moderator of the relationship between self‐efficacy and workplace outcomes: A social cognitive theory‐based examination

Drawing on a social cognitive theory perspective, we contend that an employee's trust in oneself, or self‐efficacy, will interact with the individual's trust in the system, or trust in organization, to predict job attitudes and behaviours. Specifically, we expected that self‐efficacy would have stronger effects on job attitudes (job satisfaction and turnover intentions) and behaviours (task performance and organizational citizenship behaviours) to the degree to which employees perceive high levels of trust in organization. Using data collected from 300 employees and their respective supervisors at a manufacturing organization in Turkey across three waves, we found that self‐efficacy had more positive effects on job satisfaction, task performance, and citizenship behaviours when trust in organization was high. Interestingly, self‐efficacy had a positive effect on turnover intentions when trust in organization was low, indicating that high trust in organization buffered the effects of self‐efficacy on intentions to leave. The results suggest that the motivational value of trust in oneself is stronger to the degree to which employees also have high trust in the system, whereas low trust in system neutralizes the motivational benefits of self‐efficacy.

Practitioner points

• Practicing managers should not only invest in increasing self‐efficacy of their employees, but also invest in building trust to improve employees’ attitudes, behaviours, and performance. This is because when employee trust in organization is high, employee self‐efficacy has greater potential to have a positive influence over job satisfaction, task performance, and organizational citizenship behaviours.
• Self‐efficacy may actually increase an employee's desire to leave the organization when organizational conditions are unfavourable, such as in the case of low trust in the organization. Practicing managers should be aware that employees who have high levels of confidence may be at higher risk of turnover when they are unhappy with the organization.

     

心理契约破坏感对员工工作态度和行为的影响

通过对398名企业员工的问卷调查,探讨了组织支持感(POS)和领导—部属交换(LMX)在心理契约破坏感对员工工作态度和行为影响中的中介作用。结果表明：（1）POS在心理契约破坏感与员工工作态度（组织认同和留职意愿）的关系中起中介作用,但POS只能部分中介心理契约破坏感与留职意愿的关系。（2）LMX在心理契约破坏感与员工组织公民行为（利他行为、个人主动性、人际和谐和保护公司资源）间起完全中介作用。（3）LMX对员工的工作态度（留职意愿和组织认同）不具有直接的影响作用,它主要是通过POS的中介对其产生间接的影响     

生涯适应力的作用：个体与组织层的跨层面分析*

生涯适应力(career adaptability)是生涯建构理论提出的自我职业生涯管理的核心概念,但国外理论和实践一直认为生涯适应力是一把双刃剑(生涯适应力高的员工工作绩效高,但其离职意向也高),本研究将对此进行检验;同时,生涯适应力作为个体职业生涯开发的核心变量,它在组织职业生涯管理跨层面作用中的价值也未曾研究。通过员工在两个时间点自评和管理者他评问卷,获得54家单位的485份有效调查问卷。结构方程模型分析的结果表明,生涯适应力不仅与工作绩效有显著正相关,而且也与离职意向有显著负相关。层次回归分析结果表明,工龄是生涯适应力与离职意向、工作绩效关系的调节变量;也就是说,工龄短员工的生涯适应力与工作绩效呈显著正相关,与离职意向呈显著负相关,但工龄长员工的生涯适应力与二者的关系都不显著。基于跨层面研究设计,多层线性模型(HLM)分析的结果表明,生涯适应力是组织职业生涯管理与个体工作绩效之间的完全中介变量,但在组织职业生涯管理与离职意向之间的中介作用不显著。这不但回答了生涯适应力对组织价值的管理困境问题,也解决了组织职业生涯管理与个体工作绩效的连接纽带问题。     

Identification as an organizational anchor: how identification and job satisfaction combine to predict turnover intention

The article examines the role of organizational identification and job satisfaction in relation to turnover intentions in seven organizations. Two models are proposed in which either job satisfaction or organizational identification was treated as a mediator of the other's relationship with turnover intention. The organizations varied in terms of culture (Japan vs. UK), and institutional domain (academic, business, health, mail, legal). Within each organization, and meta‐analytically combined across the seven samples (N = 1392), organizational identification mediated the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention more than job satisfaction mediated the relationship between organizational identification, and turnover intention. Organizational identification also had the larger overall relationship with turnover intention. This pattern remained true when gender, age, type of organization, culture, and length of tenure were accounted for, although the direct relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention was stronger in private than public organizations and when the ratio of men was higher. The findings are consistent with a social identity theory (SIT) perspective and with the idea that identification is a more proximal predictor of turnover intention. Over and above job satisfaction, organizational identification offers a strong psychological anchor that discourages turnover intention in a range of organizational contexts. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

领导职业支持对组织公民行为的影响:心理资本的作用

本研究探讨领导职业支持对工作团队成员组织公民行为的影响机制,研究采用问卷调查法,以10个地市的66个工作团队303名成员为调查对象,在控制被试的教育程度、工作经验及人口统计学变量之后,运用多层线性模型分析领导职业支持与团队成员心理资本及其组织公民行为的关系。结果发现：（1）领导职业支持对团队成员心理资本和组织公民行为有积极促进作用;（2）无论在团队层次还是员工层次,领导职业支持对成员组织公民行为有积极促进作用,成员心理资本在二者之间起完全中介作用。     

Job Insecurity and Turnover Intentions: Gender Differences and the Mediating Role of Work Engagement

The present study tests an integrative model that considers differential gender effects for the mediating role of work engagement on the relationship between job insecurity and turnover intentions in a predominantly Muslim country. Job insecurity was divided into two aspects: general concerns about losing one’s job and concerns about losing the privileges (such as career advancement, stimulating work, competence, and pay development) that come from one’s specific job. Data were collected from 309 private banking employees (107 women, 202 men, with a mean age of 33.58) in Marmara region, Turkey. The results of multi-group path analysis partially support the hypotheses. The differential gender effects for the mediating effect of work engagement were supported only on the concerns about losing job privileges→turnover intention linkage, but not on the concerns about losing the job itself→turnover intention linkage. Moreover, the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between concerns about losing job privileges and turnover intention was found to be stronger for women than for men. For men, work engagement acts only as a partial mediator, suggesting that concerns about the loss of job privileges exerts its effects on turnover intentions both directly and indirectly. Although the direct effect of concerns about losing the job itself on turnover intention is significant, the indirect effect through work engagement turns out to be nonsignificant for both genders. Our findings are discussed considering the business environment in Turkey as a Muslim country.     

Deleterious Consequences of Change in Newcomers’ Employer-Based Psychological Contract Obligations

Purpose

This study examines the issue of change in newcomers’ employer-based psychological contract obligations over time, viewing change as a potentially important determinant of perceived contract breach and subsequent employee attitudes and behaviors.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected using a three-wave longitudinal design from newly hired faculty members (N = 106).

Findings

Newcomers’ perceptions of employer-based relational obligations significantly decreased during their first year on the job. Newcomers reacted negatively to these changes, subsequently reporting increased contract breach and more negative work attitudes (i.e., increased turnover intentions and reduced job satisfaction and organizational loyalty).

Implications

This study provides evidence of the negative effects of perceived changes to a newcomer’s psychological contract. Practitioners should implement interventions to ensure a realistic set of psychological contract obligations are developed from the start in order to minimize the likelihood that newcomers will modify these obligations downward; and, therefore, experience these negative attitudes toward the organization.

Originality/Value

Drawing from the realistic job preview and socialization literatures, this study examines a topic that has received little empirical attention in the extant psychological contract research, yet has important implications to the management of employees’ psychological contracts. Using both a three-wave longitudinal field design and a more rigorous statistical analysis for assessing change (i.e., latent growth curve modeling), we add a unique contribution to the extant research by identifying the negative consequences of psychological contract change on newcomers’ subsequent work perceptions and attitudes.     

Person–Job Fit and Work-Related Attitudes Among Chinese Employees: Need for Cognitive Closure as Moderator

The current research examined the moderating role of employees' need for cognitive closure in the relationship between their perceived person–job fit and their work-related attitudes. In Study 1, a survey was conducted among 176 Chinese employees from various organizations, and the results confirmed that both demand–ability fit and need–supply fit were positively related to employees' job satisfaction; moreover, these relations were stronger among people with higher need for closure than those scoring lower in need for closure. In Study 2, a survey was conducted among 242 employees from a Chinese city government, and the results replicated the findings of Study 1, but also found that need for closure moderated the relation between demand–ability fit and turnover intention. These results have important implications for research in organizational psychology and human resource management.     

Psychological contracts and innovative behavior: a moderated path analysis of work engagement and job resources

This study explored the relationships between psychological contract types and innovative behavior. We focused on the mediating effect of work engagement and the moderating effect of job resources (organizational and social resources). Participants were 267 dyads of research and development engineers and their supervisors from 30 high‐tech companies. Moderated path analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings showed that: (a) work engagement fully mediated the negative relationship between transactional contracts and innovative behavior; in addition, it also fully mediated the positive relationship between relational contracts and innovative behavior; and (b) job resources attenuated the former and strengthened the latter mediating effects. These findings contribute to understanding how, why, and when psychological contract types lead to innovative behavior via work engagement.     

Psychological contract breach and job attitudes: A meta-analysis of age as a moderator

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of age in the relation between psychological contract breach and the development of job attitudes. Based on affective events, social exchange, and lifespan theory, we hypothesized that (1) psychological contract breach would be related negatively to job attitudes, and (2) that age would moderate these relations. The hypotheses were tested by means of a meta-analysis of k = 60 studies, using Weighted Least Squares estimation. Our results supported both hypotheses for the outcomes trust and organizational commitment. However, for job satisfaction the moderating influence of age was in the unexpected direction. The relations between contract breach and trust and organizational commitment were indeed stronger for younger workers, whereas the relation between contract breach and job satisfaction was stronger for older workers. The implications are discussed, and a research agenda is presented.     

The Moderating Effect of Machiavellianism on the Psychological Contract Breach–Organizational Identification/Disidentification Relationships

Purpose

We explore whether Machiavellianism—a personality trait which describes the extent to which individuals ignore values and ethical considerations when the ends justify the means—will influence their responses to their employing organizations’ failure to fulfil promised obligations (psychological contracts). Specifically, we draw on psychological contracts theory and the group value model to argue that Machiavellianism will moderate the relationships between psychological contract breach and (1) organizational identification; and (2) organizational disidentification.

Design/Methodology/Approach

We tested our hypotheses in a study of 262 employees from various organizations at two points in time.

Findings

We found that psychological contract breach was negatively related to organizational identification and positively related to organizational disidentification. Furthermore, employees with higher levels of Machiavellianism tended to disidentify with their organizations to a greater extent (at Time 2) in response to psychological contract breach (at Time 1) than did employees with low levels of Machiavellianism. Machiavellianism did not moderate the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational identification.

Implications

Our study contributes to extant research exploring the importance of Machiavellianism in the workplace. Specifically, we show that employees with high levels of Machiavellianism are more likely to disidentify in response to psychological contract breach but do not tend to identify to a lesser degree.

Originality/Value

This study builds on the extant research exploring individual differences in the psychological contract dynamics by considering Machiavellianism as a moderator of the breach–outcome relationship.     

本土心理资本与职业幸福感的关系

职业幸福感是国内外学者和管理实践者关注的重要问题, 本文综合资源保存理论、工作要求-资源模型和本土心理资本理论, 构建并检验了本土心理资本对职业幸福感的影响模型。研究一通过访谈、问卷调查等方法研制了信效度较好的问卷, 1566名教师的调查结果表明, 本土心理资本包含事务型心理资本(希望、乐观和坚韧)与人际型心理资本(自谦、感恩、利他、情商/情绪智力和信心/自我效能)。研究二使用2280名教师的有效数据, 通过控制了其他变量影响后进行结构方程建模及交叉验证分析, 结果表明：(1)职业幸福感(工作投入、工作倦怠、离职意愿和工作满意度)的积极情感体验(工作投入)与认知评价(工作满意度)存在增益螺旋过程; (2)心理资本通过能量补充和动机激发双过程促进职业幸福感; (3)人际型心理资本通过一级、二级能量补充与动机激发过程影响职业幸福感; 事务型心理资本也通过一级、二级动机激发过程影响职业幸福感, 但是只通过二级能量补充过程影响职业幸福感。在中国文化背景下, 人际型心理资本对职业幸福感的作用更大。