Towards a social-cognitive theory of multiple psychological contracts

ABSTRACT

Psychological contracts are typically conceptualized as an employee’s perceived terms of exchange with an employer. However, more and more researchers recognize that defining psychological contracts in such a unitary manner does not adequately reflect the complex nature of modern organizations and work. Most individuals likely maintain numerous work-related exchange relationships that are not necessarily confined within the boundaries of a single organization nor characterized by a traditional employment relationship. Contributing to this emerging body of research, we draw on social exchange and social cognition theories to begin developing a theory of multiple psychological contracts. Towards this end, we generate a series of propositions predicting that the relative likelihood of an individual holding a psychological contract with a particular individual, group, or organization as a counterparty is contingent upon degrees of perceived dependence, accountability and trust. We further predict the dynamic nature of the contents (relational, transactional, balanced or ideological) of these contracts and how it may evolve over time. As a whole, these propositions help explain how an individual’s attitudes and behaviours differ across psychological contracts and the exchange relationships they govern. This work provides an introductory foundation on which a more comprehensive body of future research can be built.     

儒道禅文化的自我觉解与心理和谐修养

心理和谐是社会和谐的基本要素之一,而不同层次的自我意识间的和谐又是心理和谐的核心。通过对当代中国人心理现状的分析,发现在自我意识的层次中缺乏高层精神性自我对各层自我的整合,是影响个体心理和谐因素中最根本的。儒道禅文化对宇宙自我的觉解及其对各层自我的关照,对增进当代中国人心理和谐具有极大理论意义和可操作性价值。     

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.     

Facets of the NEO-PI-R and smoking cessation

Knowing more about the personality of smokers may help to increase the effectiveness of smoking cessation treatments and can contribute to relapse prevention. The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of 30 specific facets of the Five-Factor Model of personality on the outcomes at the end of treatment and at 12-month follow-up, in a sample of 281 smokers seeking psychological treatment to stop smoking. Personality facets were assessed with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Results showed that nicotine dependence and several facets of personality (Self-discipline, Depression, Aesthetics, Trust, and Modesty) contribute to explain short- and long-term outcomes after smoking cessation. These findings support the need of integrate information about individual smoker’s personality facets into smoking cessation programs.     

ON AGGRESSION TURNED AGAINST THE SELF

Deliberate self‐harm is a common presenting problem suffered by young people. Several patients referred to the NHS outpatient clinic where I work have been able to stop harming themselves during intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In this paper, I shall discuss a variety of motives for persistent cutting by one adolescent girl. I am most interested to show how the healthier part of her personality overcame her motives for harming herself, and eventually allowed her to make use of my understanding of a sadomasochistic internal object that worked against us.