Abstract
BackgroundWorkplace stress carries considerable costs for the employees’ wellbeing and for the organization’s performance. Recent studies demonstrate that perceptions of psychological contract breach are a source of stress for employees. That is, when employees notice that their employer does not fulfil certain obligations, they will perceive that certain resources are threatened or lost, which in turn translates into increased stress. In this study, we zoom in on how stress unfolds in the aftermath of breach, dependent on the organization’s reaction to the breach. More specifically, we examined the influence of different types of social accounts (i.e., denial, apology, blaming and exonerating justification) on individuals’ stress resolution process using physiological (i.e., heart rate) and psychological (self-report) data.MethodWe used an experimental design in which we manipulated psychological contract breach and social account type. To test our hypotheses, we performed two sets of functional Principal Component Analyses: first to examine the effects of breach and second to examine the effects of social accounts.ResultsOur results indicate that breach elicits a physiological stress reaction, reflected in a short-lived increase in heart rate. However, no increase in the self-reported stress measure was found. Further, we did not find a significant effect of social accounts on the psychological and physiological recovery process.ConclusionsThe current research allows us to demonstrate that psychological contract breach will trigger a short-lived increase in heart rate. Further research is needed to better understand unfolding trajectories of physiological reactions to contract breach and the effect of social accounts as organizational recovery efforts.
Highlights
Workplace stress carries considerable costs for the employees’ wellbeing and for the organization’s performance
Our results indicate that breach elicits a physiological stress reaction, reflected in a short-lived increase in heart rate
We argue that some people may recover from a Psychological contract breach (PCB) and return to pre-PCB stress levels, whereas others may become trapped in a prolonged state of stress
Summary
Workplace stress carries considerable costs for the employees’ wellbeing and for the organization’s performance. Recent studies demonstrate that perceptions of psychological contract breach are a source of stress for employees. We zoom in on how stress unfolds in the aftermath of breach, dependent on the organization’s reaction to the breach. Achnak et al BMC Psychol (2021) 9:5 research has been predominantly contemporaneous and, in doing so, has overlooked the temporal context in which perceptions of PCB are formed, and in which employee reactions unfold over time Prior research has mainly focused on the relationship between PCB and employee attitudes or behaviors, far fewer studies have investigated its influence on employee wellbeing in terms of stress. Previous research has demonstrated that PCB triggers stress reactions [2] because employees may consider a PCB as a (potential) loss of valued resources A better understanding of the relationship between PCB and stress is imperative to avoid the detrimental consequences resulting from stress reactions associated with PCB
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