Perceived psychological contract violation explained

Perceived psychological contract violation (PPCV) is a construct that regards employees’ feelings of disappointment (ranging from minor frustration to betrayal) arising from their belief that their organization has broken its psychological contract of work-related promises,[1] and is generally thought to be the organization's contribution to a negative reciprocity dynamic, as employees tend to perform more poorly to pay back PPCV.[2] [3]

Differentiation from perceived organizational support

Both PPCV and perceived organizational support (POS) are based on the norm of reciprocity. Both POS and PPCV are types of social exchanges and therefore involve implicit obligations, rather than economic exchanges, which involve explicit obligations. Perceived organizational support is focused on favorable treatment and the degree to which employees engage in positive reciprocity with the organization, whereas PPCV is focused on unfavorable treatment and the degree to which employees engage in negative reciprocity with the organization.[4] [5]

Recent research

David R. Hekman and colleagues in 2009 found that professional employees (e.g. doctors, nurses, lawyers) were less likely to reciprocate PPCV when they strongly identified with the organization and weakly identified with the profession.[6] Such workers' organizational identification and professional identification combined to alter the influence of PPCV on performance behaviors. The results suggested that PPCV had the most negative influence on professional employees' work performance when employees strongly identified with the profession and weakly identified with the organization.[7]

Measurement items

PPCV is typically measured with the four-item PPCV scale developed by Robinson & Morrison in 2000.[8] This scale has been recommended by Freese and Chalk (2008) in their critical criteria-based reviews of all the different measures of the psychological contract.[9] Respondents are asked to indicate the extent to which they agree with the following statements on a seven-point scale.

  1. I feel a great deal of anger toward my organization.
  2. I feel betrayed by my organization.
  3. I feel that my organization has violated the contract between us.
  4. I feel extremely frustrated by how I have been treated by my organization.

These "contract breach" items are less commonly used:[2]

  1. Almost all the promises made by my organization during my recruitment have been kept so far.
  2. I feel that my organization has come through in fulfilling the promises made to me when I was hired.
  3. So far my organization has done an excellent job of fulfilling its promises to me.
  4. I have not received everything promised to me in exchange for my contributions.
  5. My organization has broken many of its promises to me even though I've upheld my side of the deal.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Morrison . Elizabeth Wolfe . Robinson . Sandra L. . 1997 . When employees feel betrayed: A model of how psychological contract violation develops. . Academy of Management Review . 22 . 1 . 226–256. 10.5465/amr.1997.9707180265. 259230 .
  2. Robinson . Sandra L. . 1996 . Trust and breach of the psychological contract. . Administrative Science Quarterly . 41 . 4 . 574–599 . 10.2307/2393868. 2393868 . 10983/26213 . free .
  3. Robinson . Sandra L. . Kraatz . Matthew S. . Rousseau . Denise M.. 1994 . Changing obligations and the psychological contract: A longitudinal study. . Academy of Management Journal . 37 . 1 . 137–152 . 10.2307/256773 . 256773 . 3 March 2020.
  4. Book: Exchange and power in social life . Peter Blau . 1964 . Wiley . New York . 88–97 . 3 March 2020.
  5. Book: Emerson . R. M. . 1972 . Exchange theory, part I: A psychological basis for social exchange . Berger . Joseph . Zelditch Jr . Morris . Anderson . Bo . Sociological theories in progress, vol. 2 . Boston . Houghton Mifflin . 38–57 . 0803935250 .
  6. Hekman . David R.. Steensma . H. Kevin . Bigley . Gregory . Hereford . James F. . 2009 . Combined Effects of Organizational and Professional Identification on the Reciprocity Dynamic for Professional Employees . Academy of Management Journal . 52 . 3 . 506–526. 10.5465/amj.2009.41330897.
  7. Hekman . David R.. Steensma . H. Kevin . Bigley . Gregory . Hereford . James F. . 2009 . Effects of Organizational and Professional Identification on the Relationship Between Administrators' Social Influence and Professional Employees' Adoption of New Work Behavior . Journal of Applied Psychology . 94 . 5 . 1325–35 . 10.1037/a0015315 . 19702374. 25231576 .
  8. Robinson . Sandra L. . Morrison . Elizabeth Wolfe . 2000 . The development of psychological contract breach and violation: A longitudinal study . Journal of Organizational Behavior . 21 . 5 . 525–546 . 10.1002/1099-1379(200008)21:5<525::AID-JOB40>3.0.CO;2-T. free .
  9. Freese . Charissa . Schalk . René . June 2008 . How to Measure the Psychological Contract? A Critical Criteria-Based Review of Measures . South African Journal of Psychology . en . 38 . 2 . 269–286 . 10.1177/008124630803800202 . 0081-2463.

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