scholarly journals What Happens to Others Matters! An Intraindividual Processual Approach to Coworkers’ Psychological Contract Violations

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-185
Author(s):  
Sandra Costa ◽  
Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Psychological Contracts ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Psychological Contract Violation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sensemaking Process ◽  
Psychological Contract Violations ◽  
Practical Implications

Drawing on recent research highlighting the dynamic and social properties of psychological contracts, we propose a framework that examines socially embedded triggers and their impact on psychological contract change. Our model accounts for the social context in which individuals’ sensemaking process about their employment relationship occurs. The model specifies how individuals make sense of coworkers’ psychological contract violation and integrate that information into the creation of a plausible convergent or divergent account. These accounts have the potential to reinforce or initiate a review of the terms of the individual’s psychological contract schema, or they may leave the schema intact. Research and practical implications of this conceptual framework are discussed.

Walking the talk

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 654-677
Author(s):  
Andrea M. Scheetz ◽  
Timothy J. Fogarty
Keyword(s):  
Internal Control ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Psychological Contracts ◽  
Detection Mechanism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Unethical Conduct ◽  
Psychological Contract Violation ◽  
Psychological Contract Violations ◽  
Reporting Intentions ◽  
Contract Violation

Purpose Based on exchange theory and the generalized norm of reciprocity, psychological contracts perceived by employees are believed to have dysfunctional consequences for organizations if breached. This paper aims to study the willingness of employees to report fraud, as such is an important aspect of internal control for organizations. Design/methodology/approach A 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted in which 99 participants with diverse accounting backgrounds were first asked questions about their preconceived beliefs (psychological contract) regarding how reports of unethical conduct would be managed, and their reaction if these beliefs were broken (psychological contract violation). Participants were given a hypothetical situation of fraud and then asked to indicate their likelihood of reporting fraud to a supervisor. Findings The main hypotheses are that employees will be less likely to report fraud when the organization fails to signal the presence of a positive ethical environment or when management reacts weakly to previous reports of unethical activity. The data and findings support these hypotheses. Additional testing also reveals that a psychological contract violation mediates the relationship between the outcome of previous reports and the intention to report fraud. Research limitations/implications As with any experimental study, this study’s results come with limitations. Reading an overly simplistic scenario that omits real world details and providing intention to report is very different from actually reporting fraud in one’s own place of employment. Therefore, reporting intentions may vary from actual reporting behavior. Further, reporting motivation (self-defense, altruism, etc.) and concern over retaliation are not measured. Practical implications Employees have expectations surrounding ethical corporate environments. Psychological contract violations occur as a result of broken expectations and are common in the workforce. In this study, a breakdown in the internal control environment because of a poor ethical culture, caused an even greater breakdown in internal controls because of employees’ decreased reporting intentions. Social implications Psychological contract violations impact employees’ intention to report fraud. These violations need to be understood so that additional measures and safeguards can be instituted when employees are not acting as a fraud defense or detection mechanism. During such times when there is a breakdown in this type of internal control (that is, when employees might be hesitant to report fraud), extra safeguards against fraud, additional procedures to detect fraud, and enhanced employee training encouraging reporting of suspected unethical conduct, become even more important. Originality/value Strong experimental methods provide a rigorous way to evaluate a problem of our day: job insecurity caused by rampant organizational turbulence. The hidden cost is expressed in terms of how less can be expected of employees as a first line of defense against fraud.

scholarly journals Constructing and Validating Students’ Psychological Contract Violation Scale

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yariv Itzkovich
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Psychological Contracts ◽  
Psychological Contract Violation ◽  
Faculty Incivility ◽  
Violated Expectations ◽  
Psychological Contract Violations ◽  
Contract Violation

For two and a half decades, psychological contracts are researched mainly in work organisations as drivers of the attitudes and behaviours of employees, overlooking the importance of understanding the nature of the psychological contracts of students in higher education. This study constructs and validates a new scale for measuring the perceived psychological contract violations of students in the context of faculty incivility. A mixed-method approach was applied to study the issue in three phases. First, a qualitative method was used to capture and analyse the perceived entitlements of students, as described by 78 college students, resulting in 37 items or elements identified by students as reflecting their psychological contracts. Second, a sample of 244 students was studied to identify the perceptions of violated expectations of students. In the final phase, items were rephrased as expectations and were given to the third sample of 154 undergraduate college students to determine the level of fulfilment of these expectations. Additionally, to ascertain discriminate and convergent validity measures, students were asked about the extent to which they experienced faculty incivility (discriminant validity) and frustration with the quality of interaction with their faculty (convergent validity). From these results, students’ psychological contract violation scale was constructed and validated.

Perceived organizational support: the interactive role of coworkers’ perceptions and employees’ voice

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Stinglhamber ◽  
Marc Ohana ◽  
Gaëtane Caesens ◽  
Maryline Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Organizational Support ◽  
Perceived Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a focal employee’s perception of organizational support (POS) is shaped by the social context or, more specifically, by his/her coworkers’ POS. The authors further aim to identify the conditions under which coworkers’ POS may have more influence or, on the contrary, less or even no influence. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from questionnaires distributed among a sample of 195 employees and among their supervisors. Findings Coworkers’ levels of POS are positively related to the focal employee’s POS with positive consequences in terms of job satisfaction and, finally, organizational citizenship behaviors. This influence of coworkers’ POS is strengthened when the focal employee experiences low voice in the workplace. Research limitations/implications Overall, this research contributes to organizational support theory by showing that POS may also develop based on a socially constructed process and not only on an individual-level psychological process. Practical implications Our findings have practical implications for HR policies employed by practitioners to socialize newcomers and to manage perceived support in a context of organizational change. Originality/value Building on a few recent studies suggesting that the social context may influence employees’ perceptions of organizational support, the present study is the first to show that the influence of the social context is more likely to occur under specific conditions, i.e. when employees experience low voice.

scholarly journals Same words, different worlds: Exploring differences in researcher and participant understandings of promise and obligation in the psychological contract

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-109
Author(s):  
Guoxin Ma ◽  
John Blenkinsopp ◽  
Steve Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Psychological Contracts ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Contract Research ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
Chinese Workers ◽  
Key Features

AbstractThis paper addresses longstanding questions about how promise and obligation, two of the key conceptual building blocks for psychological contract research, are conceptualized and operationalized: How do employees understand these concepts? Would their understandings be congruent with the researchers’ and how would this knowledge inform future psychological contract research? Drawing on interviews with 61 Chinese workers from diverse backgrounds, our results suggest the concepts have distinct meanings for participants in terms of three criteria (defining characteristics, key features and manifestations in employment). We argue that promise and obligation are likely to serve different functions in employment relationship and have different meanings for researchers versus participants, and accordingly we highlight the challenges of using them to conceptualize and operationalize psychological contracts in China and beyond.

scholarly journals Unpacking differences in psychological contracts of organizational and self-initiated expatriates

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Yue Zhang ◽  
Bart Rienties
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Psychological Contracts ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Cultural Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Global staffing has remained a main focus within the field of international human resource management (IHRM) since the 1970s. However, research in the psychological contract (PC) of expatriates is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in PC breach and violation for organisational expatriates and self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire was developed covering 52 organisational expatriates and 119 SIEs from 35 countries/regions working in China. Four follow-up focus group interviews including four organisational expatriates and 12 SIEs were conducted to further explain the findings of the survey. Findings The findings indicate that organisational expatriates experience significantly lower levels of PC breach and violation than SIEs. Three broad thematic areas arose from the triangulation of focus group interviews, including uncertainties in functioning of contracts, differences in job securities and career development opportunities, and cultural differences. Practical implications Employers should give a comprehensive orientation and cultural training to meet the needs of SIEs. Moreover, long-term career advancement paths should also be provided to SIEs to alleviate their vulnerability and insecurities working abroad. Originality/value The study contributes to the scholarship of self-initiated expatriation and PCs and give implications to IHRM strategies.

Customer-dominant logic and the need for exploring app usage in different customer contexts

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos Lemmink ◽  
Iva Franzelova ◽  
Maria Säaksjärvi ◽  
Kristina Heinonen
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Customer Behavior ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Dominant Logic ◽  
Digital Service ◽  
The Past ◽  
App Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Dynamic Context

PurposeNowadays, customers have big chunks of information on their smartphones and can acquire information and make decisions rapidly, oftentimes with the use of specific apps. Most of the research on this topic to date has been conducted from the perspective of the provider, or the company, therefore missing the value that is created with these apps in the customer’s own domain according to the customer-dominant logic (CDL) approach.Design/methodology/approachAs compared with prior research, CDL requires a different type of research that is much more inclined towards customers and specific circumstances. This paper is positioned within CDL (Heinonen and Strandvik, 2015) and aims to quantitatively explore app usage in different customer contexts.FindingsSeven apps were tested in two different usage contexts: a social vs an individual context and a calm vs dynamic context. It was found that for the social vs individual context there was no difference; thus, managers should not pay too much attention to whether the user of the digital service is in a social context. For the calm vs dynamic social context, it was found that customers’ satisfaction, enjoyment, pleasure and their overall rating of an app were higher when the customer as in a tranquil vs dynamic context.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed method provides a highly relevant way to approach app development from a CDL perspective.Practical implicationsThese findings provide evidence that context matters and that we should study customer behavior from a more integral and detailed perspective as has been advocated by CDL.Social implicationsApp research should incorporate a customer focused approach. This means that not only the customers’ needs need to be considered. The circumstances and context in which apps are used are highly relevant as well.Originality/valueThis research uses a CDL approach to provide evidence about the consequences for app usage and satisfaction and shows the necessity of incorporating specific circumstances, customer experience and usage variables to a larger extend than has been advocated in the past.

Mutuality or mutual dependence in the psychological contract: a power perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haris Ali
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Psychological Contracts ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mutual Dependence ◽  
Working Environments ◽  
Power Asymmetries ◽  
Template Analysis

Purpose There have been increasing calls to explore the psychological contract from the lens of power. By addressing this gap, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the assumption of mutuality in relation to power dynamics in the employment relationship. Design/methodology/approach A total of 43 in-depth interviews are conducted with 6 managerial and 37 non-managerial respondents in three major call center organizations in Pakistan. Template analysis is used to analyze the data. Findings By undermining the assumption of implicit mutuality, the analysis reveals indeterminacy, an issue that has been frequently underplayed in the psychological contract research. The results further suggest that – in reality – employability, flexibility and employee training do not promote mutuality to the extent that is theoretically assumed because of the employers’ manipulation of these issues in their own favor. Research limitations/implications The focus on call centers limits the generality of findings with further qualitative research needed in other industries to explore how power asymmetries impact upon mutuality in different working environments. Practical implications The research implications suggest the significance of timely and explicit communication in order to curtail indeterminacy in the employment relationship. This will not only reduce the development of breach perceptions among employees but will also reinforce their psychological contracts with the organization. Originality/value This research contributes by highlighting the significance of mutual dependence rather than mutuality in the psychological contract. The mutual dependence approach efficiently acknowledges the implications of power asymmetries which remain largely under-researched in the psychological contract theory.

scholarly journals Absence Culture

2004 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderick D. Iverson ◽  
Donna M. Buttigieg ◽  
Catherine Maguire
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Union Membership ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Implications

Summary Drawing from Nicholson and Johns (1985) typology of absence culture (N = 460 from 43 work groups), we found that greater similarity in union membership status between co-workers was associated with a lowering of a member’s absence culture, as was a more harmonious union-management (UM) climate. In addition, greater similarity in union membership was related to a lowered absence culture when the UM climate was perceived to be positive. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for understanding the social context in which the absence culture of union members is engendered are discussed.

scholarly journals Engineering the Future: A Conceptual Framework for Evolving Engineering Education

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai Hua Zhuang ◽  
Franc Newland
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Engineering Education ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Social Agency ◽  
Educational Initiatives ◽  
Current Perspective ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future

Today, we live in a world of unprecedented challenges, opportunities, and complexities, where advances in technology are transforming the very fabric of our culture, economy, and environment. Engineering education is responsible for preparing students for the unprecedented challenges, opportunities, and complexities of this emerging future. Here, we share our current perspective on the evolution needed in engineering education via a conceptual model we have developed. In particular, we highlight the need for engineers to engage in social agency over technology, which requires them to understand the social context in which they live and work, and explore the kind of ingenuity needed to create a future where technology meets society’s need. We use the model to analyze a number of educational initiatives we have developed at the Lassonde School of Engineering.

scholarly journals Psychological contract violation and turnover intention

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-169
Author(s):  
Havana Sevcan Kurt
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Turnover Intention ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
Call Centre ◽  
Contract Breach ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Psychological Contract Violation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Contract Violation

The purpose of this research was to examine the role of loyalty where employees perceive the effect on their psychological contract breach of the bank’s intention to leave the call centre operating in Turkey. For this purpose, the literature was examined and a research questionnaire was prepared based on the psychological contract violation (PC), intention to quit and perception of loyalty. This survey was used to collect data of 634 banking call centres operating in Turkey using the sampling method. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 25 and LISREL 8.7 statistical package programmes were applied in the analysis of the research data. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypothesis. In the relationship between (PC) and turnover intention, employee-perceived loyalty has a partial mediating role. This result is considered important for bank managers and human resources specialists who want to improve their success and the quality of the service they offer to their customers. In this study, only the perceptions of the employee were examined. It is also recommended to examine the perceptions of managers working in different sectors.   Keywords: Loyalty, psychological contract violation, turnover intention.

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