Psychological Contract Violation Research Articles

Casually cynical or trapped? Exploring gig workers’ reactions to psychological contract violation

PurposeDrawing on psychological contract (PC) theory and platform labor research, the purpose of our study was to explore gig workers’ reactions to perceived PC violation. Our study was set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought workplace health and safety issues into much sharper focus, even in nonstandard employment arrangements like gig work.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a mixed-methods design. In Study 1, we tested a conceptual model of US-based ride-hail drivers’ (n = 202) affective and cognitive reactions to Uber’s (lack of) commitment to safe working conditions. In Study 2, we conducted interviews with 32 platform workers to further explore an unexpected finding from Study 1.FindingsIn Study 1, we found that drivers’ perceptions of PC violation were related to decreased trust in Uber and higher intentions to leave this line of work; however, cynicism toward Uber only predicted withdrawal intentions for those drivers who did not believe that they had job alternatives available outside of gig work. We explored this further in Study 2, where we found that workers with low economic dependence on gig work could afford to be casually cynical toward the platform, while high-dependence workers felt “trapped” in this line of work.Originality/valueWe contribute to the social/relational theoretical approach to gig work more broadly and to the literature on PC in platform work more specifically. We also add to the emerging literature on how economic dependence shapes workers’ experience of platform work. Our findings around low-dependence gig workers experiencing a more indifferent form of cynicism – which we have termed casual cynicism – highlight the importance of treating the context of gig work as unique, not merely an extension of traditional management research.

Performance Appraisal System as a Blessing in Disguise: An Empirical Study of Academics’ Perceptions, Psychological Capital, and Psychological Contract Violation

Performance Appraisal System as a Blessing in Disguise: An Empirical Study of Academics’ Perceptions, Psychological Capital, and Psychological Contract Violation

Abusive Supervision as a Trigger for Resentment: Do Envy and Psychological Contract Violation Matter?

This study examines the direct and indirect effects of abusive supervision on resentment, psychological contract violation, and envy and investigates the importance and performance of the three antecedent variables on resentment. The research is quantitative, explanatory, and cross-sectional. The sample was non-probabilistic and comprised employees of the Mexican export manufacturing industry. A PLS structural equation model and an importance-performance map were used. It was identified that abusive supervision generates envy and psychological contract violation and indirectly leads to resentment through these variables. The importance-performance map showed that envy is the variable that most leads to resentment, and given its effect on performance, opportunities for improvement were identified.

Human-Computer Interaction Perspective on Investigating the Impact Mechanism of Psychological Contract Violation on Business Model Innovation with CAD Technology

Human-Computer Interaction Perspective on Investigating the Impact Mechanism of Psychological Contract Violation on Business Model Innovation with CAD Technology

Effects of Technostress on Psychological Contract Violation and Organizational Change Resistance.

This study investigates the effects of technostress perceived by employees on psychological contract violations and resistance to organizational change, as information and communication technology is applied to various tourism industry work sites. This study's sample consisted of employees working in the Korean tourism industry in June 2023, who were surveyed using snowball sampling. Four hypotheses were proposed. First, technostress is associated with psychological contract violations. Second, psychological contract violations are associated with organizational change resistance. Third, technostress is associated with organizational change resistance. Fourth, psychological contract violations may play a mediating role in the relationship between technostress and organizational change resistance. All hypotheses in this study were adopted. Therefore, organizations and management in the tourism industry should identify and improve the factors that cause employee technostress arising from expanding information and communication technology to provide psychological stability.

Illegitimate tasks and knowledge hiding: the mediating role of psychological contract violation and moderating role of optimism

PurposeBased on social exchange theory (SET), the current research aims to investigate the relationship between illegitimate tasks (ITs) and employees’ knowledge-hiding behavior (KHB), incorporating the mediating role of psychological contract violation (PCV) and the moderating role of optimism.Design/methodology/approachA two-wave time-lagged survey was conducted to collect data from 196 adult Chinese full-time employees.FindingsITs were positively related to KHB, and this relationship was mediated by PCV. Furthermore, optimism buffered the connection between ITs and PCV as well as the mediating effect of PCV on the relationship between ITs and KHB.Practical implicationsFor managers, this study made them aware of the hidden costs of ITs; that is, employees may respond by concealing knowledge in the organization.Originality/valueThis study provides a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between ITs and employees’ subtle deviant behavior, KHB and hitherto unspecified mediating and moderating factors that explain this process.

No More the Nice Guy: Coping with Abusive Supervision through Service Sabotage Behaviours

‘Atithi Devo Bhav’, implying that guests must be treated as Gods, is the philosophical belief of Indian society indicating the importance of treating the customers with utmost respect and courtesy. The current study examines service sabotage behaviours by utilizing time-lagged method to collect data in three waves from 332 employees from Indian hotel industry. The study highlights the effects of abusive supervision on the employees who perceive disrespect, public humiliation or rude supervisory behaviours towards them as breach of psychological contract, and they retaliate by displaying deviant workplace behaviour such as service sabotage. The unique proposition of the research is to investigate the sequential mediating role of psychological contract violation and retaliation intention on the relationship between abusive supervision and service sabotage. The research utilizes psychological contract theory and frustration–aggression theory to draw logical inferences from the findings. Findings indicate that when employees perceive mistreatment or injustice, they experience psychological contract violation that instigates an urge to retaliate against the unfair treatment by engaging in negative service behaviours, for example, sabotage. Therefore, the hospitality organizations must implement practices and processes to take care of any unjust, unfair or hostile behaviour at play in the organization, as the success of the industry is dependent on the service quality and frontline employees’ encounters with the customer. The study provides some interesting and useful managerial and theoretical implications.

Stay or Leave? The Role of Psychological Contract Violation of Entrepreneurial Founder Team Members

Stay or Leave? The Role of Psychological Contract Violation of Entrepreneurial Founder Team Members

Impact of Psychological Contract Violation on Turnover Intentions among Project Employee, Mediating role of Burnout and Moderating role of Self-Efficacy

Impact of Psychological Contract Violation on Turnover Intentions among Project Employee, Mediating role of Burnout and Moderating role of Self-Efficacy

Interplay of paradoxical virtual leadership and psychological contract violation – impact on organizational citizenship behavior

PurposeThe daunting task of managing knowledge workers virtually has not always yielded positive results. This empirical work discusses the impact of Virtual Leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior. The study investigated how Psychological Contract Violation moderates the relationship between Virtual Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior.Design/methodology/approachData was collected from 392 IT engineers working in software companies in India. The cross-sectional data was analyzed using Warp-PLS software, IBM SPSS and IBM Amos.FindingsThe results support the proposition that virtual leadership is negatively associated with Organizational citizenship behavior, at sub-dimension levels except obedience. The moderating role of psychological contract violation is also established by the results.Practical implicationsVirtual leaders should demonstrate collaborative behaviors to generate organizational citizenship behavior among team members. Leaders should be imparted training to enable them to adapt themselves to virtual environment. This study highlights the paradoxical nature of virtual leadership and opens the possibilities for future research.Originality/valueThe study is one of the first to report a negative association between Virtual leadership and Organization citizenship behavior. There is uniqueness in the use of the “Contingency theory of leadership” to explain the difficulties faced while managing a virtual team.

It is not a vacation of leisure: The effect of maternity-leave stigma on fertility intentions in China

In response to the public's puzzle about why maternity leave has unexpectedly failed to improve fertility problem in the Chinese context of a widespread extension of maternity leave, our study concentrates on a prevailing stigmatization phenomenon of maternity leave in the workplace, proposes the construct “maternity-leave stigma”, operationalizes it, and examines its probable detrimental effect on working individuals' fertility intentions drawing on conservation of resources theory, self-verification theory, and research on stigma and psychological contract violation. Conceptually, maternity-leave stigma is a kind of workplace stigma that primarily depicts the extent to which working individuals in the reproductive period view maternity leave or the event of taking maternity leave in a biased way. It mainly consists of four subdimensions called cognitive stigma, emotional stigma, moral stigma, and consequence stigma. Based on multiple analyses of the three-stage questionnaire survey data from working individuals of childbearing age in China, Study 1 (N1 = 296, N2 = 340) acquires a 12-item maternity-leave stigma scale with good reliability and validity and Study 2 (N2 = 340) substantiates that, working individuals' maternity-leave stigma tends to directly and indirectly inhibit their fertility intentions and their anticipatory psychological contract violation from organization is the crucial mediator. Moreover, working women are inclined to display a much stronger inhibiting effect of maternity-leave stigma on fertility intentions compared to working men. Our findings therefore resolve the public's puzzle, enrich workplace stigma, deepen the implementation effectiveness research of maternity leave policy, and are of practical implications for building a fertility-friendly society.

Understanding and Addressing Consumer Post-Purchase Dissonance in E-commerce: Influential Factors and Effective Measurements

With the rapid development of technology and the widespread adoption of the Internet, e-commerce has become an integral part of people's daily lives. In e-commerce scenarios, consumers can browse and purchase goods anytime and anywhere, enjoying unprecedented convenience. However, at the same time, the issue of post-purchase dissonance has gradually become prominent. This paper aims to explore the influencing factors and management measures of consumer post-purchase dissonance psychology in e-commerce scenarios. The article first reviews the theory of post-purchase dissonance and the theory of perceived psychological contract violation-, providing a theoretical foundation for subsequent research. Then, through a literature review, it identifies multiple factors affecting consumer post-purchase dissonance, including customer service quality, costs incurred from returns, and uncertainties in online shopping. To effectively manage post-purchase dissonance, enterprise managers should focus on improving service quality, optimizing the return process, and reducing shopping uncertainties. Additionally, strengthening consumer education and enhancing their cognitive ability regarding product information and decision-making skills in shopping are also important ways to reduce post-purchase dissonance.

Understanding and Addressing Consumer Post-Purchase Dissonance in E-commerce: Influential Factors and Effective Measurements

With the rapid development of technology and the widespread adoption of the Internet, e-commerce has become an integral part of people's daily lives. In e-commerce scenarios, consumers can browse and purchase goods anytime and anywhere, enjoying unprecedented convenience. However, at the same time, the issue of post-purchase dissonance has gradually become prominent. This paper aims to explore the influencing factors and management measures of consumer post-purchase dissonance psychology in e-commerce scenarios. The article first reviews the theory of post-purchase dissonance and the theory of perceived psychological contract violation-, providing a theoretical foundation for subsequent research. Then, through a literature review, it identifies multiple factors affecting consumer post-purchase dissonance, including customer service quality, costs incurred from returns, and uncertainties in online shopping. To effectively manage post-purchase dissonance, enterprise managers should focus on improving service quality, optimizing the return process, and reducing shopping uncertainties. Additionally, strengthening consumer education and enhancing their cognitive ability regarding product information and decision-making skills in shopping are also important ways to reduce post-purchase dissonance.

Avoiding Imprudent Commitments to Fast Dispatch: The Influence of Platform-Issued Quick-Seller Certificates on Postpurchase Behavior

ABSTRACT This study investigates the impact of platform-issued “quick-seller” certificates (indicating sellers with faster dispatch than others) on buyers’ postpurchase behavior. Drawing upon the theoretical lens of psychological contract violation (PCV), we hypothesize the effects of quick-seller certificates on order cancelations, as well as the subsequent impacts of cancelations associated with the quick-seller certificates on buyers’ future purchase frequency and search behavior. Using a comprehensive transaction dataset, the study reveals that quick-seller certificates increase the likelihood of cancelation of an order. Furthermore, we also find that an order cancelation from a certified quick seller results in decreased purchase frequency and a higher incidence of product comparisons through search engines.

Drivers of geographical indication food supply chain performance: a B2B network perspective

PurposeThis study aims to examine the role relational dynamics, grounded in the theories of social exchange and social capital, play within the context of geographic indication (GI) food supply chain network (FSCN) performance.Design/methodology/approachA total of 30 qualitative interviews were undertaken with key informant stakeholders across a variety of organizations within Turkish GI FSCNs. An open, axial and selective grounded theory coding process was used for the analysis, teasing out critical themes that underpinned the conceptual framework.FindingsThe findings identify the formal and informal mechanisms which govern GI FSCNs. These two forms of governance mechanisms influence network performance, which was found to comprise logistics, production, business and socio-economic performance dimensions. Transparency, GI traceability, trust and psychological contract violations were found to mediate the link between governance and network performance outcomes.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore GI FSCNs from the perspective of relationship marketing and through the lens of social exchange and social capital theory. Accordingly, both academics and practitioners can benefit from the study, as it unveils relevant relational factors underpinning such networks.

Why does leadership non-contingent punishment lead to bystander workplace deviance behavior? – Dual path perspective of cognition and affection

Purpose Based on the cognition-affection personality system theory, this study constructs and tests a mediation model of leadership non-contingent punishment on bystander workplace deviance behavior through bystander affective rumination and bystander psychological contract violation, as well as a chain mediation effect of bystander affective rumination and bystander psychological contract violation, and explores the moderation role of bystander performance pressure in this model.Design/methodology/approach This study takes 454 employees and their colleagues from several Chinese enterprises as the research subjects and conducts a paired survey at three-time points using Mplus 7.4 to analyze the empirical data.Findings The research results are as follows: Bystander affective rumination and bystander psychological contract violation play a mediation role between leadership non-contingent punishment and bystander workplace deviance behavior, respectively. Bystander affective rumination and bystander psychological contract violation play a chain mediation role in the positive role of leadership non-contingent punishment on bystander workplace deviance behavior. Bystander performance pressure moderates the chain mediation path by enhancing the positive role of leadership non-contingent punishment on bystander affective rumination.Originality/value This study comprehensively explores the internal path of the impact of leadership non-contingent punishment on bystander workplace deviance behavior from the perspective of bystanders through dual paths of cognition and affection. It enriches the result variables of leadership non-contingent punishment, expands existing research on the mediation mechanism of leadership non-contingent punishment and deepens the understanding of the mechanism of leadership non-contingent punishment. At the same time, it has practical guidance significance to promote the suppression of leadership non-contingent punishment in organizations, reduce the occurrence of employee workplace deviance behavior, help employees better integrate into the organization and build a harmonious organizational environment.

조직 리더의 착취적 리더십이 조직구성원의 직무소진과 이직 의도에 미치는 영향

Recently, the rise in exploitative leadership within restaurant companies has led to increased job exhaustion and turnover intentions among organizational members. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between a leader's exploitative leadership and organizational members' job exhaustion and turnover intention, examining the mediating effects of job stress and psychological contract violation in the relationship between exploitative leadership, job exhaustion, and turnover intention. Additionally, the study sought to verify the moderated mediating effect of organizational members' self-efficacy on job stress and psychological contract violation. For this purpose, a survey was conducted among 364 employees who had experienced or observed exploitative leadership while working in restaurant companies, with the analysis conducted using structural equation modeling and process macro analysis techniques. The analysis revealed that the leader's exploitative leadership positively affects organizational members' job exhaustion and turnover intention. Specifically, all relationships with the variables of stress, psychological contract violation, and emotional damage were found to be significant. To examine the moderating effect, self-efficacy was shown to influence the intensity of stress and psychological contract violation. The significance of this study lies in its examination of the variables affecting organizational members' job exhaustion and turnover intentions and in comprehensively modeling the process through which exploitative leadership interacts with emotional damage via dual mediating paths. The study aims to inform managers and staff of restaurant companies about the negative impact and importance of addressing harmful leadership, such as exploitative leadership, emphasizing the need for genuine leadership that resonates with organizational members.

Do workplace practices really matter? Role of ostracism and dehumanization at the workplace and psychological well-being of employees

PurposeThis study aims to explore the dynamics of workplace ostracism and dehumanization behavior and its impact on employees’ psychological contract violation, their revenge intention and psychological well-being.Design/methodology/approachThe study has collected data from 329 IT sector employees working in the northern part of India using standard measures for various constructs utilized in the study. For the purpose of testing the proposed hypothesis, partial least square structural equation modeling is used.FindingsThe results show that all the hypotheses were supported, meaning employees experiencing ostracism and dehumanization at the workplace feel stressed and anxious and develop feelings of revenge, leading them to experience irrational feelings.Practical implicationsIn the presence of workplace dehumanization and workplace ostracism, employees may experience stress, anxiety and depression. Managers must ensure a psychologically safe environment because if individuals experience ostracism or dehumanization at the workplace, they are going to affect their well-being through revenge intention behavior. Hence, it is important that managers should provide adequate resources to the employees so that they can feel psychologically safe in the workplace and hence can enhance psychological well-being.Originality/valueThis study is unique in terms of its contribution to the existing literature by understanding the nuances of workplace ostracism and dehumanization on employee’s well-being. The study also contributes to highlighting the advantages of using tools to establish psychological safety.

An employee–employer relationship gone bad? Examining the double‐edged effect of psychological contract violation on employees' helping behaviors

AbstractAn important concept that depicts the nature of employee–employer relationship is the psychological contract. Prior research has argued that all forms of extra‐role behaviors suffer once employees' psychological contracts are violated. Helping behaviors are a specific form of extra‐role behaviors that may suffer due to psychological contract violation. We argue that this predominantly negative relationship between psychological contract violation and helping behaviors is because the literature has not adequately examined the different types of helping behaviors. Using the latent moderated structural equation approach with multiwave and multisource data from a survey of 269 full‐time employees and their coworkers from the hospitality industry in Ghana, we show that psychological contract violation is positively related to reactive helping behaviors and negatively associated with anticipatory helping behaviors through anticipatory anxiety.

Investigating Turnover Intentions During Organizational Change: The Role of Negative Appraisals, Psychological Contract Violation, and Resistance to Change

COVID-19 has been regarded as environmental disruption that catalyzed a multitude of organizational changes in nonprofit organizations. This study centers on the nonprofit workers’ experience of change. Specifically, this study investigates to what extent and how negative appraisals in the midst of the pandemic are related to intentions to leave the organization about a year after the start of the pandemic, at a point in time when the initial shock had settled into a sense of the “new normal.” Findings indicate that harm but not threat appraisals predict psychological contract violation and that psychological contract violation is related to behavioral resistance to change as well as intentions to leave. Unexpectedly, neither threat appraisal nor resistance to change was related to turnover intentions. We discuss contributions to theory, research, and practice.