A daily diary study of affective responses to psychological contract breach and exceeded promises

Abstract

SummaryThe psychological contract has been viewed as an explanatory framework for understanding the employment relationship, and is regarded by some researchers as central in understanding employee attitudes and behavior. Despite the importance ascribed to the psychological contract, it remains theoretically underdeveloped and has received limited empirical attention. This study takes a new approach to researching the psychological contract, through the use of daily diaries, and addresses a number of fundamental questions regarding its nature. Results show that both broken and exceeded promises occur regularly and in relation to virtually any aspect of work, that the importance of the promise contributes significantly to emotional reactions following broken and exceeded promises, and that the psychological contract is an important concept for understanding everyday fluctuations in emotion and daily mood.

When I'm 64: Psychological contract breach, work motivation and the moderating roles of future time perspective and regulatory focus

“…For future research it could, for example, be interesting to ask participants to keep a diary of perceived breaches (cf. Conway & Briner, 2002), in order to minimize method variance and to better understand why and how people perceive contract breach.…”

Workplace emotion through a psychological contract lens

“…As previously noted, a commonly studied promise experience is perceived non-fulfilment, specifically contract breach -an event that is generally accepted as being linked to negative outcomes and emotion (Conway and Briner, 2002). The extent of negativity perceived in the outcome of a contract breach has been found to depend upon both the nature of the promise and also justice perceptions (Kickul et al, 2002).…”

“…Building on extant literature (e.g., Conway and Briner, 2002;Parzefall and Coyle-Shapiro, 2011) by extending the contexts within which emotion is investigated (to include over-fulfilment and emotion regulation). Thus, the aims of the study were to:…”

“…over-fulfilment) are linked to both positive and negative outcomes (Conway and Briner, 2002;. The expanded view proposes that contract over-fulfilment can be interpreted differently, in terms of being perceived more positively or negatively, dependent on what the promise comprises of (Lambert, 2011;Montes and Irving, 2008).…”

What’s Next after Psychological Contract Violation?

“…Dulac et al, 2008;Raja et al, 2004;Zhao et al, 2007), and increased intentions to quit, cynicism, burnout, and workplace deviance (Bordia et al, 2008). Consequently, several studies have explored the processes employees use to repair the relationship with the employer following PCV (Bankins, 2015;Conway and Briner, 2002;Tomprou et al, 2015). However, these studies have concentrated on the coping strategies and self-regulation processes used to repair trust and justice with the organization, and have neglected the more sustainable effects of emotions of betrayal or anger on the individual's well-being.…”