Social comparison in Pakistan: Impacts on psychological contract breach and organizational citizenship behaviors

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore how social comparison influences organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) directed at individuals (OCB-I) and organizations (OCB-O) through the perceptions of a psychological contract breach. By integrating self-consistency theory and social exchange theory, the research intends to contribute to the analysis of social influences on OCB and psychological contract evaluation. The data, composed of 305 supervisor-subordinate dyads from several Pakistani organizations, is analyzed through a moderated mediation analysis. Results indicate that negative social comparisons decrease OCB through the mediation of psychological contract breach. When the content of a psychological contract is perceived as important, the effects of psychological contract breach on OCB-I are increased. Positive social comparison increases OCB through reduced psychological contract breach. Therefore, to remain consistent with their self-image, employees adjust their OCBs according to the positive or negative self-evaluation resulting from the social comparison process. The perception of a psychological contract breach constitutes a cognitive process which intervenes before the results of a social comparison are transformed into increased or decreased efforts at work. This perception is socially influenced. Managerial implications are hence oriented toward creating an environment that promotes positive social comparisons and discourages negative social comparisons. As the psychological contract evaluation was conceptualized only in terms of breach, the fulfillment or over-fulfillment of the psychological contract represents a research perspective. In addition, future research could investigate how employees’ orientation toward positive or negative social comparisons can be influenced by individual characteristics or contextual factors.