주재원의 심리적 계약 내용과 계약 위반 사건의 원인에 대한 질적연구

Abstract

Drawing on psychological contract theory, this qualitative study aims to identify Korean expatriates’ psychological contract contents and investigate the main causes of their psychological contract breach(PCB). Findings from the in-depth individual interviews with 14 expatriates and repatriates show the followings. First, Korean expatriates’ psychological contract contents include 7 categories: compensation, benefits, living support, family-oriented support, performance management, career management, and work support. Compared with Korean whitecollar workers’ psychological contracts, those of Korean expatriates feature detailed compensation and benefits contents, broader contract coverage, and longer contract duration. Second, the majority of expatriates’ PCBs come from obligation incongruence, which shows a high possibility that expatriates and employers have different understandings of their mutual obligations and implicit expectations. Third, All PCBs do not necessarily lead to strong negative emotions such as a feeling of betrayal, or psychological contract violation. Instead, the contextual factors and expatriates’ interpretation of PCBs are critical to evaluating contracts’ fulfillment. Fourth, a few expatriates who are merely experienced PCBs have several features: a high understanding of the international assignment, a high level of career satisfaction from host country experiences, and perceived organizational support. This research advances the psychological contract theory by enhancing an understanding of Korean expatriates’ psychological contract contents, complementing a mechanism to explain the negative effects of expatriates’ PCB, and highlighting areas in need of future research that help a more complete understanding of expatriate performance and management.