Constructing and Validating Students’ Psychological Contract Violation Scale

Faculty Incivility ◽

Violated Expectations ◽

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.

Walking the talk

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change ◽

10.1108/jaoc-06-2018-0047 ◽

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 ◽

Reporting Intentions ◽

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.

Consumers’ CSR boycott: the mediating role of psychological contract violation

Nankai Business Review International ◽

10.1108/nbri-12-2018-0076 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 23-43

Author(s):

Xinming Deng ◽

Xianyi Long

Keyword(s):

Psychological Contract ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Psychological Contracts ◽

Research Field ◽

Central China ◽

Corporate Management ◽

Content Type ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Purpose Consumers may boycott firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, but little is known about when, why and how they would respond in this way. Based on psychological contract violation and discount principles, the purpose of this paper is to argue that timing and fit of CSR activities are the main dimensions of consumers’ psychological contract. It is posited that CSR activities would be boycotted if consumers perceived violation of their psychological contract, and their altruistic tendency would have a moderating effect on this mechanism. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes the form of an empirical study using a sample of 434 respondents through scene-questionnaire survey in central China. Findings It is found that (1) low fit or reactive CSR activities would induce consumers’ psychological contract violation, and the latter has a more significant influence; (2) perceived CSR is negatively related with consumers’ boycott behaviors, but CSR activities would be boycotted if consumers’ psychological contracts are violated; (3) the negative relationship between perceived CSR and consumers’ boycott behaviors would be strengthened by consumers’ altruistic tendency, and the positive relationship between consumers’ psychological contract violation and their boycott behaviors would also be strengthened by their altruistic tendency. Research limitations/implications This paper has significant theoretical implications, as it answers the question that when, why and how CSR activities would be boycotted. Besides, it contributes to literature on psychological contract for applying it to CSR research field. Furthermore, the double-edged effect of consumers’ altruistic tendency extends literature on pro-social behaviors. Social implications This paper is of interests to corporate management and academics who wish to understand when and why consumers would boycott CSR activities and the factors that would relax consumers’ negative responses. Originality/value This is the first paper that investigates when, why and how CSR activities would be boycotted from the perspective of consumers’ psychological contract violation.

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

Group & Organization Management ◽

10.1177/1059601121994016 ◽

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 ◽

The Social ◽

Sensemaking Process ◽

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.

Psychological Contract Violation and The Escalating Cycle of Mistrust

Journal of Business Strategies ◽

10.54155/jbs.37.1.29-43 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 29-43

Author(s):

Juliana Lilly

Keyword(s):

Disruptive Behavior ◽

Psychological Contract ◽

Current Understanding ◽

Psychological contract violations in the workplace can lead to disruptivebehavior, but few studies have examined why the disruptive behavior may persistover time. This paper extends the current understanding of psychological contractsby proposing a model that illustrates an escalating cycle of mistrust resulting from aperceived contract violation. The model proposes that after a psychological contractviolation has occurred, an escalating cycle of mistrust is created that feeds on itselfthrough transactional cost behaviors of both the victim and the perpetrator of theviolation. Once the cycle of mistrust has begun, it can only be broken if one partyexhibits specific behaviors that focus on resolving the issue rather than perpetuatingthe cycle.

Similar or different? When Cross-Strait employees face psychological contract violations

Chinese Management Studies ◽

10.1108/cms-12-2020-0555 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Chao-Hsing Lee ◽

Chien-Wen Chen

Keyword(s):

Psychological Contract ◽

Turnover Intention ◽

Cultural Difference ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Mainland China ◽

Content Type ◽

Chinese Context ◽

Purpose Though there are still political turbulences, the economic cooperation between mainland China and Taiwan is inseparable. Cooperation between enterprises on both sides has become more frequent. Studying the similarities and differences between employees in Cross-Strait enterprises can contribute to human resource management. This paper aims to study the cultural difference between employees of mainland China and in Taiwan when facing psychological contract violations. Design/methodology/approach A total of 811 valid sample questionnaires were taken from Cross-Strait private enterprise employees. This research adopted partial least squares-structural equation model statistical analysis as an empirical research evaluation. Findings This study finds that psychological contract violation has a significant positive impact on turnover intention and a significant negative impact on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in the Chinese context. There exist cultural differences between the employees of mainland China and Taiwan. When facing psychological contract violation, it is found that employees from Taiwan are more likely to have a strong turnover intention but still keep higher job performance. Employees from mainland China are found to be more likely to have higher OCB. Originality/value The originality of this research lies in establishing a stronger theoretical model to understand employee behavior. This paper verifies the validity of this model under the Chinese context. Moreover, this paper verifies the cultural difference between Cross-Strait employees.