The effects of psychological contract breach on union commitment

This research investigates the relationship between psychological contract breach and union commitment among 109 union employees. As expected, psychological contract breach is positively related to commitment to the union. The results also suggest that union instrumentality moderates the relationship between psychological contract breach and union commitment. Specifically, the findings indicate that the relationship between psychological contract breach and union commitment is stronger when individuals perceive that their union is highly instrumental in protecting their rights and benefits. Implications of this study are discussed and recommendations for future research are offered.     

Testing the differential effects of changes in psychological contract breach and fulfillment

Rousseau (1989 and elsewhere) argued that a defining feature of psychological contract breach was that once a promise had been broken it could not easily be repaired and therefore that the effects of psychological contract breach outweighed those of psychological contract fulfillment. Using two independent longitudinal surveys, this paper investigated whether changes in breach and fulfillment differentially affected work-related attitudes and affective well-being outcomes. Results generally supported differential effects, where increases in reported breach had greater effects on outcomes than increases in fulfillment, for the outcomes of affective wellbeing, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The present study underlined the importance of breach as a determinant of negative affect and attitudes. However, fulfillment had a lesser impact, in that it maintained (i.e., had no effect) or had only a modest positive effect on wellbeing and attitudes.     

Employees' reactions to psychological contract breach: A moderated mediation analysis

This study examined the mediating role of acquiescent silence in the relationship between psychological contract breach and employee job satisfaction, as well as the moderating roles of perceived ethical climate on that relationship and on the mediation effect of acquiescent silence. Survey data were collected from a sample of 273 full-time employees from nine high-tech firms in Taiwan. The results showed that acquiescent silence partially mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and job satisfaction. Moreover, the results from the moderation analysis showed that perceived ethical climate moderated the influence of psychological contract breach on acquiescent silence and the results from the moderated mediation analysis revealed that this mediation of acquiescent silence was moderated by perceived ethical climate such that at the lower level of perceived ethical climate, the mediation effect of acquiescent silence became stronger. Implications for managerial practices and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Conscientiousness and reactions to psychological contract breach: a longitudinal field study

The authors examined the role of employee conscientiousness as a moderator of the relationships between psychological contract breach and employee behavioral and attitudinal reactions to the breach. They collected data from 106 newly hired employees within the 1st month of employment (Time 1), 3 months later (Time 2), and 8 months after Time 1 (Time 3) to observe the progression through contract development, breach, and reaction. Results suggest that conscientiousness is a significant moderator for 4 of the 5 contract breach-employee reaction relationships examined (turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, job satisfaction, and 1 of 2 facets of job performance). Specifically, employees who were lower in conscientiousness had more negative reactions to perceived breach with respect to turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, and job satisfaction. In contrast, employees who were higher in conscientiousness reduced their job performance to a greater degree in response to contract breach. Future research directions are discussed.     

Toward a better understanding of psychological contract breach: a study of customer service employees

Experiences of psychological contract breach have been associated with a range of negative behavior. However, much of the research has focused on master of business administration alumni and managers and made use of self-reported outcomes. Studying a sample of customer service employees, the research found that psychological contract breach was related to lower organizational trust, which, in turn was associated with perceptions of less cooperative employment relations and higher levels of absenteeism. Furthermore, perceptions of external market pressures moderated the effect of psychological contract breach on absenteeism. The study indicated that psychological contract breach can arise when employees perceive discrepancies between an organization's espoused behavioral standards and its actual behavioral standards, and this can affect discretionary absence.     

Perceptions of the organizational context and psychological contract breach: Assessing competing perspectives

This study examines how employees’ perceptions of specific features of the organizational context—organizational politics and procedural justice—are related to their evaluations of psychological contract breach and subsequent attitudes and behaviors. Across three studies, we examined the appropriateness of four models for describing relationships among the focal constructs. Results of these studies support (a) an environmental responsiveness model in which psychological contract breach mediates the effects of politics and justice on employee outcomes, and (b) a general fairness evaluation model where politics, justice, and psychological contract breach serve as indicators of a higher order factor that predicts employee attitudes and behavior. Implications and directions for future research are presented.     

The moderating effect of power distance on employee responses to psychological contract breach

Understanding how employees’ cultural values are related to their responses to promises broken by their organizations (i.e., psychological contract breach) is important given today’s global workplace. Although past research has found that psychological contract breach is positively associated with employee exit, voice and neglect and negatively associated with loyalty, we know little about the role that cultural values play in this process. We explore the role that power distance orientation—an employee’s acceptance of power differentials in society—plays in employee responses to breach. We argue that employees with high power distance orientations will be more likely to respond passively to breach (loyalty and neglect), whereas employees with low power distance orientations will be more likely to exhibit active responses to psychological contract breach (exit and voice). We tested our notions using a sample of 265 employees from different cultures across two points in time. Employees with high power distance orientations were less likely to respond to psychological contract breach with exit and voice than employees with low power distance orientations. However, power distance orientation did not significantly moderate the relationships between psychological contract breach and neglect or loyalty, respectively. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings.     

Relationships among perceived psychological growth,resilience and burnout in physicians

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived growth as a physician (i.e., positive psychological changes experienced as a result of the professional experience) and burnout after controlling for the effects of perceived family support, dispositional resilience, age, and marital status among physicians. Physicians (n = 289) rated perceived support from family and completed the short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, the Resilience Scale, and Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the addition of perceived growth significantly improved prediction of resilience and perceived family support for burnout, showing that higher growth, resilience, and family support all were associated with lower levels of burnout. Moreover, the effects of growth on depersonalization, a domain of burnout, were stronger for physicians who perceived a lower level of family support, whereas the effects of growth on personal accomplishment, another domain of burnout, were stronger for physicians who showed a lower level of dispositional resilience. Current results have clinical implications for understanding protective factors for burnout, that is, a sense of personal growth may be a key factor for physicians who may be less resilient or may not perceive strong family support.     

When employees behave badly: the roles of contract importance and workplace familism in predicting negative reactions to psychological contract breach

In this paper, we examine the influence of contract importance, feelings of violation, and workplace familism on the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational deviance. Results from a study of 168 supervisor–employee dyads in a pharmaceutical organization suggest that (a) feelings of violation mediated the relationship between perceived breach and supervisor‐rated organizational deviance; (b) relational and transactional contract importance influenced the relationship between breach and feelings of violation such that the relationship was stronger under conditions of high relational and transactional importance; and (c) high levels of workplace familism mitigated the effects of feelings of violation on supervisor‐rated organizational deviance.     

When employees strike back: investigating mediating mechanisms between psychological contract breach and workplace deviance

In this article, psychological contract breach, revenge, and workplace deviance are brought together to identify the cognitive, affective, and motivational underpinnings of workplace deviance. On the basis of S. L. Robinson and R. J. Bennett's (1997) model of workplace deviance, the authors proposed that breach (a cognitive appraisal) and violation (an affective response) initiate revenge seeking. Motivated by revenge, employees then engage in workplace deviance. Three studies tested these ideas. All of the studies supported the hypothesized relationships. In addition, self-control was found to be a moderator of the relationship between revenge cognitions and deviant acts; the relationship was weaker for people high in self-control.     

Effects of psychological contract breach on performance of IT employees: The mediating role of affective commitment

In this study, we investigated the relationships between psychological contract breach, affective commitment, and two types of employee performance (i.e. civic virtue behaviour and in‐role performance). It was predicted that an experience of contract breach can severely hurt the affective commitment of the employees and this, in turn, results in poor in‐role performance and less civic virtue behaviours. Results revealed that affective commitment had differential mediating effects on the two types of employee performance. That is, affective commitment mediated the relationship between breach and self‐reported and supervisor‐rated civic virtue, but not the relationship between breach and in‐role performance.     

Investigating the role of psychological contract breach on career success: Convergent evidence from two longitudinal studies

The current study extends past research by examining leader–member exchange as a mediator of the relationship between employee reports of psychological contract breach and career success. In addition, we tested a competing perspective in which we proposed that performance mediators (i.e., in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors) will mediate the breach–career success relationship. Subjective and objective indicators of career success were assessed using supervisor-rated promotability and archival data on actual promotion decisions, respectively. In Sample 1, we found that supervisor-rated leader–member exchange (T1) mediated the relationship between breach (T1) and objective career success after 2 years. In sample 2, we replicated and extended these results using a three wave measurement over three years. Specifically, we found that leader–member exchange (T2) mediated the relationship between relational breach (T1) and subjective (T2) and objective (T3) career success. Performance-based mediators at T2 were no longer significant when regressed together with leader–member exchange and relational breach, ruling out alternative mediator explanations.     

辱虐管理与员工创造力：心理契约破坏和中庸思维的不同作用

近年来, 辱虐管理与员工创造力的关系受到越来越多研究者的关注。在以往研究的基础上, 本研究构建了一个有调节的中介作用模型, 以探讨中国文化情境下辱虐管理影响员工创造力的中介心理机制及边界条件。采用多阶段-多来源的策略, 以93名主管和369名员工为对象, 通过多水平结构方程建模技术对三阶段主管-员工配对调查所获取的数据进行分析, 结果表明：主管的辱虐管理行为会通过心理契约破坏的中介作用, 对员工创造力产生间接的消极影响; 但该负向的间接关系的强度对高中庸思维者而言较弱。本研究有助于揭示辱虐管理影响员工创造力的心理机制及边界条件, 研究结果对企业员工创造力及创新行为的管理实践也有一定启示。     

The relationship between psychological contract breach and employee deviance: The moderating role of hostile attributional style

This study investigated the main effects and the interaction effects of psychological contract breach and hostile attributional style on employee deviance (i.e., interpersonal deviance and organizational deviance). Data were collected from 233 employees and their supervisors in eight electronic companies in Taiwan. Results demonstrate that psychological contract breach related positively to both interpersonal and organizational deviance. Psychological contract breach did not have a stronger effect on organizational deviance than on interpersonal deviance. Hostile attributional style had interactive effects on the relationships between psychological contract breach and the two forms of employee deviance. Specifically, the higher the hostile attributional style, the stronger the positive relationship between psychological contract breach and employee deviance. This study contributes to the existing literature on reactions to psychological contract breach. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the study results and future research directions.     

The relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational commitment: Exchange imbalance as a moderator of the mediating role of violation

This study tested the mediating role of violation in the relationship between breach and both affective and continuance commitment and the extent to which this mediating role is moderated by exchange imbalance amongst a sample of 103 sales personnel. Results suggest that violation mediated the relationship between breach and commitment. Also, results suggest that perceived exchange imbalance moderates this mediating pathway: Low exchange imbalance increases the mediating role of violation in the case of affective commitment. On the other hand, exchange imbalance failed to moderate the mediating influence of violation in the case of continuance commitment. Results are discussed in view of the importance of a) including both measures of violation and breach in future studies and b) the role of social exchange in explaining psychological contract violation.     

Social comparison as a predictor of changes in burnout among nurses

Abstract

This study addressed the question whether the affect evoked by social comparisons and individual differences in social comparison orientation (SCO) may predict the development of burnout over a period of one year. The participants were 93 nurses (25 males and 68 females) who filled out a questionnaire twice, with an interval of about one year. Comparisons with others performing better than oneself (upward comparisons) were reported to occur more often, to evoke more positive affect, and to invoke less negative affect than comparisons with others performing worse than oneself (downward comparisons). Those who responded at Time 1 (T1) with more positive affect to upward comparison and with less negative affect to downward comparisons, showed a decrease in burnout at Time 2 (T2). In addition, those who responded with relatively more negative affect to upward comparisons at T1, showed an increase in burnout at T2, but only when they were high in SCO. It is concluded that in this population upward comparisons were more prevalent than, and evoked more favorable responses than, downward comparisons. The most important conclusion is that the affect evoked by social comparisons may predict future changes in burnout.     

Phase analysis of burnout and other psychological phenomena

Phase analysis appears to have the potential to increase knowledge and improve ameliorative solutions for burnout. This article explored potential uses of the phase models of burnout and social and practical implications of the phases. The use of phase analysis to increase understanding of other psychological phenomena such as anxiety, citizenship behavior, and hardiness is introduced.