Psychological Contract: A New Dimension in Preventing Corrupt Behaviour in Customs

Abstract

The fight against corruption in the Customs environment is a major challenge for many countries. It is important to highlight the commendable efforts that have been made by Customs through the implementation of anti-corruption programmes. However, it is difficult to identify cases where these efforts have yielded a positive return on investment. This is partly because they are not sufficient to foster a process of organizational, cultural and behavioural change conducive to Customs integrity. As corruption ultimately results from decisions made by individuals, an understanding of human behaviour is of paramount importance. Behavioural insights that help us understand corruption and make integrity-promoting measures more effective should be applied in consultation with Customs practitioners in the development of workable anti-corruption strategies. Through this article, we aim to explore a new approach (Although previous research studies have examined the effect of the psychological contract on promoting behavioural change in employees at work (e.g., Conway & Briner, 2005; Coyle-Shapiro, 2002; Van de Ven, 2012; etc.), to the best of our knowledge, there has not been any research directly investigating the link between the psychological contract and corruption behaviour in the Customs working environment.) to corruption prevention from the perspective of the psychological contract as a cognitive concept, one that is measurable and that forms the foundations of the employment relationship. This can help to assess the ‘emotional distance’ between the employee and the employer in any given Customs administration, and can thus assist in analysing measures of the level of trust, reciprocity and integrity exhibited by Customs employees in relation to the organization. This article aims to discuss the value of the concept of the psychological contract and, more specifically, the consequences of contract violation in understanding and combating the phenomenon of corruption in the Customs environment. Behavioural insights, psychological contract, psychological contract violation, corruption in Customs, integrity in Customs