The relationship between contract type and job satisfaction in a mediated moderation model: The role of job insecurity and psychological contract violation

Abstract

In the last decades, research on the relationship between contract type, job insecurity and outcomes has been constantly increasing. Previous evidence indicated that job insecurity moderates the impact of contract type (permanent vs temporary) on job satisfaction. The present study aims to investigate these relationships considering two facets (intrinsic and extrinsic) of job satisfaction and psychological contract violation as mediator, in the mediated moderation model. Participants were 638 employees of different Italian organizations, with open-ended or fixed-term contract. As hypothesized, results indicated that job insecurity moderates the relationship between contract type and intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction differently for contract type. The job insecurity effects were more negative for permanent workers regarding intrinsic job satisfaction and more negative for temporary workers regarding extrinsic job satisfaction. The mediated moderation analyses supported the study’s main hypothesis, pointing out that psychological contract violation negatively mediated the interaction effects.