Psychological contract breach moderates job satisfaction–citizenship behaviour relationship

Samuel Koomson

doi:10.1108/prr-07-2021-0032

Abstract

PurposeThis study finds out if a satisfied physician will show citizenship behaviour (OCB) in a work environment where psychological contract breach (PCB) exist.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative data from 214 physicians across 26 health-care units were analysed. Research philosophy was positivism, research design was explanatory and study design was cross-sectional. Preliminary tests were conducted. Reflective measurement and structural models were examined. PLS algorithm tool and bootstrapping procedure were utilised. Control variables were sex, age, employment type and tenure. A significant level was set at 5%. Smart PLS 2.0M.3 software was employed.FindingsThe scientist found support for a significant moderating effect of PCB on the nexus between job satisfaction (JST) and OCB, such that PCB demoralised a satisfied physician in showing OCB. In contrast, a fulfilled psychological contract motivated satisfied physicians to exhibit OCB.Practical implicationsPCB, if not addressed, may lead satisfied physicians to show low OCB, which has devastating effects for health-care organisations and their patients. Creating balanced, fulfilled and harmonious relationship within physicians will transform the workplace into a more meaningful and purposeful atmosphere.Originality/valueThis study offers empirical health-care literature on the moderating effect of PCB, a psychosocial stressor, on the direct relationship between JST and OCB, integrating and lengthening the social exchange theory, resource-based theory and activation theory.

Highlights

The notion of a psychological contract (PC) implies that there is an unwritten set of anticipations operating always between every member of an organisation and the various managers and others in that organisation (Huy and Takahashi, 2018)
Descriptive statistics Since the data for all the three constructs were not normally distributed, median was used as the measure of central tendency and interquartile range (IQR) was employed as the measure
This study concludes that psychological contract breach (PCB) may have disturbing effect on the level of job satisfaction (JST) of physicians, and stifle their tendency to be organisational citizens

Summary

Introduction

The notion of a psychological contract (PC) implies that there is an unwritten set of anticipations operating always between every member of an organisation and the various managers and others in that organisation (Huy and Takahashi, 2018). On the other hand, may expect to be treated fairly as humans, to be offered assignments that uses their abilities, to be rewarded equitably in accordance with their contribution, to be able to display competence, to have opportunities for further growth, to know what is expected of them, to be given feedback-preferably positive-on how they are doing, to be involved in decision making and to trust in the management of the organisation to keep their promises (Guest et al, 1996) This assertion is comparable to the 8th and 16th UN Sustainable Development Goal, which seeks to provide decent work and economic. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

Methods

Results

Conclusion