Psychological contract breach, organizational justice and emotional well-being

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Cassar ◽  
Sandra C. Buttigieg

Purpose – Psychological contract breach, which represents instances when organizations fail to fulfil their side of the employment bargain, has been associated with salient concepts in strategic human resources management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate moderated mediated relationships involving breach, organizational (procedural and interactional) justice and emotional well-being. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws upon quantitative data collected by means of a questionnaire that was administered to 620 full-time technical and shop-floor employees in an automobile-parts company in Malta. The questionnaire included psychometrically validated scales on breach, justice and well-being. Findings – Breach partially mediated the relationship between justice and well-being while justice levels did not differentiate this mediating effect except for interactional justice. Finally, the interaction between procedural and interactional justice failed to explain the mediating role of breach over and above their single contributions although interactional justice seemed to make a bigger impact. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes towards a better understanding of the relationships between breach, justice and well-being. The major limitation is that because of its cross-sectional nature, causality cannot be inferred. Practical implications – Given that managing the employment relationship impacts on how people feel and hence perform, understanding how breach, justice and well-being are related, is strategically important to human resources management. Originality/value – To the authors’ knowledge, there is no previous research that links breach, justice and well-being in one study.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Alan Lewis ◽  
Ewa Maria Mottier

Subject area Human resources management, international human resources management. Study level/applicability The case is suitable for undergraduate or graduate/training programmes specialised in international dimensions of HRM. Case overview The study aims to evaluate the experiences of hotel employees at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok's new employee centre. This centre, called the “O-Zone”, is an example of the hotel's commitment to the well-being of its staff. On a larger scale, it is an illustration of a method to maintain employee motivation and commitment in the luxury hotel industry. The case is particularly useful to investigate as the hotel has created a unique approach to employee well-being in a large urban setting where employees experience a stressful living environment, including long commutes. This is supported by studies in the literature which reveal that burnout and stress are important factors to consider for hotel employees. Expected learning outcomes The case study allows students to discover the following key learning points: an example of a well-being initiative for employees of a luxury hotel in the Thai context; an investigation of the need for employers in luxury hotels in Thailand to attract and retain talent; and an understanding of the use of incentives at work for employee motivation in the Thai luxury hotel industry. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anushree Karani ◽  
Revati Deshpande ◽  
Sunita Mall ◽  
Mitesh Jayswal

PurposeThe study investigates the impact of psychological contract breach on employees' innovative behavior and well-being (happiness, work engagement and mental well-being) who are working from home during this COVID-19 pandemic situation. Drawing on social information processing (SIP) and job-demand resource (JD-R) theory, job stress was proposed as a mediator explaining this relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were collected via a structured questionnaire through Google Docs from 258 respondents working at different capacity in Indian organizations. The study includes those respondents who are working from home during COVID-19 pandemic situation. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsPsychological contract breach was negatively impacting innovative behavior and well-being. Job stress mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and innovative behavior as well as well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic situation and especially for those who are working from home only.Research limitations/implicationsThe data for the study were collected from the employees working from home during this COVID-19 pandemic situation was cross-sectional. The study implied or spoke about the unmet expectations leading to reduced innovative behavior harming the organization's effectiveness and it also reduces well-being which harms the individual in the era of social and financial uncertainty.Originality/valueThe novel contribution of the study is integrating SIP and JD-R theory during the pandemic situation. The results highlighted meticulous empirical evidence which answers the question that how the unmet expectations cause a detrimental effect on the employees as well as the organizations in this COVID-19 pandemic situation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 595-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Ma ◽  
Shanshi Liu ◽  
Hermann Lassleben ◽  
Guimei Ma

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of psychological contract breach on the relationship between job insecurity and counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB) and the moderating effect of employment status in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 212 supervisor–subordinate dyads in a large Chinese state-owned air transportation group. AMOS 17.0 software was used to examine the hypothesized predictions and the theoretical model.FindingsThe results showed that psychological contract breach partially mediates the effect of job insecurity on CWB, including organizational counterproductive workplace behavior and interpersonal counterproductive workplace behavior. In addition, the relationships between job insecurity, psychological contract breach and CWB differ significantly between permanent workers and contract workers.Originality/valueThe present study provides a new insight into explaining the linkage between job insecurity and negative work behaviors as well as suggestions to managers on minimizing the harmful effects of job insecurity.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thushel Jayaweera ◽  
Matthijs Bal ◽  
Katharina Chudzikowski ◽  
Simon de Jong

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the macroeconomic factors that may moderate the psychological contract breach (PCB) and work outcome relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted a meta-analysis based on data from 134 studies.FindingsThe study revealed that the inflation rate and the unemployment rate of a country moderated the association among employee PCB, job performance and turnover.Research limitations/implicationsThe availability of more detailed macroeconomic data against the PCB and outcome relationship for other countries and studies examining the impact of micro-economic data for PCB and outcome relationship would provide a better understanding of the context.Practical implicationsThe authors believe that the results highlight the importance of the national economy since it impacts individual outcomes following a breach.Social implicationsEmployment policies to capture the impact of macroeconomic circumstances as discussed.Originality/valueOne of the valuable contributions made by this paper is that the authors capture the current accumulative knowledge regarding the breach and performance and breach and turnover relationship. Second, the study examines how the inflation rate and unemployment rate could moderate the association between PCB and job performance and turnover.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Serwaa Amoah ◽  
Francis Annor ◽  
Maxwell Asumeng

PurposeThe study examined the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational commitment and whether leader-member exchange and job embeddedness mediate this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a quantitative approach and is based on a sample of 298 teachers in basic schools in Accra, Ghana. Participants completed surveys with standardized measures on psychological contract breach, job embeddedness, leader-member exchange and organizational commitment. Hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling in AMOS 21.0.FindingsPsychological contract breach had a direct negative relationship with affective and normative commitment but had no significant direct relationship with continuance commitment. Psychological contract breach was indirectly related to affective and normative commitment through both job embeddedness and leader-member exchange, and indirectly related to continuance commitment through only job embeddedness.Practical implicationsFindings from the study suggest that employers' failure to fulfill their obligations to employees has significant potential cost to the organization, and underscore the need for managers, particularly in educational institutions, to institute measures to eliminate or minimize the occurrence of psychological contract breach.Originality/valueThe study contributes to research examining antecedents of organizational commitment as well as the mechanisms linking psychological contract breach to organizational commitment in the educational context.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naveen Jain ◽  
Danilo Le Sante ◽  
Chockalingam Viswesvaran ◽  
Rakesh Belwal

Purpose The psychological contract breach (PCB) literature has documented the negative effects of PCB on employee job attitudes and the variables that moderate (accentuate or mitigate) this relationship. Given that multiple variables together influence a subordinate’s PCB – job attitudes relationship, this paper aims to investigate a three-way interaction between corporate reputation, supervisor’s and subordinate’s PCBs on the job attitudes of the latter. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected a dyadic sample of 227 employees and their 79 supervisors from some of the well-known companies in Oman. The authors used SPSS (version 25) to examine the three-way interaction of focal employee PCB, supervisor PCB and corporate reputation on employee job attitudes. Findings The results indicated that depending on the perception of corporate reputation, the extent of the supervisor’s PCB perception has a differential influence on the employee PCB – job attitudes relationship. Originality/value By investigating the joint (sometimes conflicting) influences of multiple moderators which enhances the ecological validity, this paper makes an original and important contribution to the PCB literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 986-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-chun Lin ◽  
Angela Shin-yih Chen ◽  
Yu-ting Lai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of career plateau (hierarchical and job-content plateau) on internal employability, and to investigate psychological contract breach as a moderator on the relationship between career plateau (hierarchical and job-content plateau) and internal employability. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected by distributing paper-based questionnaires to 521 workers in private banking sectors in Taiwan. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the results of the relationships. Findings The results supported the idea that career plateau (hierarchical and job-content plateaus) could be a significant antecedent of internal employability. Psychological contract breach significantly moderated the negative relationship between career plateau (hierarchical and job-content plateau) and internal employability. Specifically, the negative relationship between career plateau and internal employability will be stronger for employees who perceive a higher level of psychological contract breach. Practical implications These findings can help human resource practitioners gain a better understanding of the value of applicable approaches as an influence on a plateaued employee’s perception of internal employability, and to facilitate a positive employer–employee relationship, which could foster both a successful career for an individual and a prosperous performance for the organization that employs them. Originality/value Career plateau have been aroused variety issues in HR practice, but employability and psychological contract breach have barely been discussed with career plateau. This study empirically establishes the correlation between career plateau and internal employability as well as shown that psychological contract breach would decrease the plateaued individual’s willingness to stay in the current organization. Thus, the career plateau may provide organizations with a helpful perspective on one’s career development. Building substantial relationships between employees and employers lead to better human capital for organizations as it deals with rapidly changes in the real world.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 789-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Upasnaa A. Agarwal ◽  
James B. Avey

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effects of abusive supervision on cyberloafing behavior, to test the mediating role of PsyCap in this relationship and the extent to which these relationships are moderated by psychological contract breach.Design/methodology/approachA total of 394 full-time managers across different Indian organizations served as the sample for this study.FindingsThe results revealed that the abusive supervision and PsyCap are significantly correlated with cyberloafing, the relationship between abusive supervision and cyberloafing is partially mediated by PsyCap and the impact of abusive supervision and PsyCap on cyberloafing is moderated by psychological contract breach such that the effects of abusive supervision and PsyCap on cyberloafing are stronger when employees perceive high psychological contract breach.Research limitations/implicationsA cross-sectional design and use of self-reported questionnaires are a few limitations of this study.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies examining cyberloafing in response to abusive supervision and one of the few attempts to examine the effects of abusive supervision on individual resources (PsyCap) in response to workplace mistreatment. This study is also the first to examine these phenomena in the Indian context.


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