psychological contract thesis pdf

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Int J Environ Res Public Health

Psychological Contract Breach and Outcomes: A Systematic Review of Reviews

Gabriela topa.

1 Faculty of Psychology, UNED—Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, 28040 Madrid, Spain

2 Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago 7500912, Chile

Mercedes Aranda-Carmena

3 Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychology, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Madrid, Spain

Berta De-Maria

Associated data.

Not applicable.

A psychological contract is a set of individual beliefs that a person has about the reciprocal obligations and benefits established in an exchange relationship, such as an employment relationship in an organizational setting. A psychological contract breach is a subjective experience referred to the perception of one of the parties that the other has failed to adequately fulfill its obligations and promises. Breaches have been systematically connected to employees’ attitudes and behaviors that hamper the employment relationship. Despite its apparent clarity, some relevant topics about psychological contract breach, psychological contract fulfillment and the relationships with their consequences still remain unclear. The main objective of this review of reviews is to conduct a review of reviews on psychological contract breaches, considering both systematic reviews and metanalytical papers with the purpose of synthesizing the evidence to date under the psychological contract theory. Using the SPIDER tool, our systematic review of reviews focuses on: (a) Sample; (b) Phenomenon of Interest; (c) Design; (d) Evaluation; and (e) Research type. Finally, only eight systematic reviews and meta-analyses met the inclusion criteria. Of the eight reviews included, seven were meta-analyses while the other was a systematic quantitative review. This study describes the available empirical research on psychological contract breaches and fulfillment and summarizes the meta-analytical evidence on their relationships with attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, as well as the role of potential moderator variables. Due to the methodological caveats of the reviews themselves and of the primary studies they were based on, our conclusions about the impact of psychological contract breaches on outcomes still remain tentative.

1. Introduction

Psychological contract theory has its roots in social exchange theory [ 1 ] and it has been extensively applied to understanding employment relationships since the seminal works of Rousseau [ 2 , 3 ]. While empirical research increased in the first decades of the XXI century [ 4 ], some contradictory findings on its relationships with work-related attitudes and behaviors deserve additional attention. For example, recent counterintuitive findings showed that the relationships between psychological contract breaches and both work engagement and in-role performance were absent, while the relationships with Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs) were positive, when the behaviors were directed to the individuals, but were negative when they were focused on the organization [ 5 ]. This increasingly number of empirical studies promoted the publication of meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and critical revisions, but there is still a debate about the usefulness of psychological contract, the strength of the relationships between psychological contract breaches or fulfillment and outcomes, as well as the potential moderators under which these relationships are manifested.

In the last decade, different comprehensive models of the psychological contract have been proposed [ 6 ], but, at the same time, some criticisms arose, such as the psychologization of employment relationships [ 7 ]. These critiques pointed out that a psychological contract reduces the analysis to the individual level, highlighting the role of individual differences in explaining work-related outcomes, instead of including the collective factors that affect employment and HRM areas. Given that a systematic review of reviews could help us in revealing trends, beyond the data of a specific empirical synthesis [ 8 ], we present a global assessment of the findings of meta-analytical studies and reviews focused on psychological contract breaches and fulfillment. The purpose of this systematic review of reviews is to provide an up-to-date synthesis of the empirical evidence, evaluate the quality of the systematic reviews included, and map the advancements and caveats of the psychological contract theory.

Conceptualizing Psychological Contracts: Content, Type, Breaches, Fulfillment, and Aftermath

In recent decades, the psychological contract has emerged as a broad theoretical model that contributes to the explanation of complex and changing employment relationships. However, the empirical studies that apply it contain some variable and inconsistent findings, for whose interpretation quantitative syntheses would be useful.

A psychological contract is a set of individual beliefs that the person has about the reciprocal obligations and benefits established in an exchange relationship [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Although there is no absolute consensus regarding its definition, most authors point out that a psychological contract focuses on the promises that the parties have exchanged in the constituent phases of said contract, and therefore a resulting balance is required to compare what has been promised and what is actually fulfilled. The content of psychological contracts includes a wide range of exchanges as well as financial compensations, career opportunities, security at work, and work–life balance. Most empirical research has focused on two dimensions of psychological contracts, namely relational and transactional contracts, which can be distinguished as a function of their focus on long-term exchanges of socioemotional resources vs. short-term economic exchanges [ 13 ]. These two main types of psychological contracts are rarely pure, and Rousseau developed the concept of balanced psychological contracts as exchanging relationships with a mix of economic and social features [ 14 ]. Further explorations about the psychological contracts of volunteers or civil servants highlighted that ideological-related psychological contracts could exist, and inducements and fulfillments could be perceived in a different way by these employees [ 13 ]. The evolution of the psychological contract theory has later been enriched by a processual perspective, where the organizational socialization, the influences of veteran coworkers as well as newcomers’ emotions have been integrated in a model psychological contract creation [ 15 ].

From these theoretical definitions, the operationalizations of the various components of the model follow two main paths. One of them focuses on the fulfillment of the psychological contract and the other on the breach or perceived violation, exploring in both cases their effects on the attitudes and behavior of the workers. Psychological contract fulfillment is defined as the perception that the reciprocal exchanges between the employee and the organization conform to previous promises and such exchanges are considered the key features of the relationship’s quality. Freese and Schalk [ 16 ] proposed the first questionnaire on compliance with the various dimensions of the contract based on previous lists of job expectations and values. This approach, which used attitudinal criteria, such as commitment or identification with the organization, and behavioral criteria, such as absenteeism, originated different ways of operationalizing the measures of the fulfillment of psychological contracts. However, it seems to lose prominence to the other line of research that focused on psychological contract breaches or violation.

A psychological contract breach is a subjective experience that refers to the conception by one of the parties that the other has failed to adequately fulfill their obligations and promises. Associated to the perception of psychological contract breaches, violation refers to an intense and negative emotional reaction of anger and distress and feelings of having been betrayed [ 14 , 17 ]. Following these conceptualizations, a wide range of personal and organizational outcomes of both breaches and violation have been explored. Different studies have explored the consequences of violation on the subsequent psychological contracts of victims that do not abandon the firm [ 18 ], as well as proposing a dynamic model where the building blocks of contracts (promises, inducements, contributions, and obligations) change over time and play a different role as a function of the creation, maintenance, renegotiation, or repairing phase of the contracts [ 19 ]. Moreover, one of the most recent research developments focused on the comparison of the differential impact of algorithmic management vs. human agents on perception of breaches and later employees’ outcomes [ 20 ]. Finally, considering the third parties’ information and the coworkers’ cues regarding violation, Costa and Coyle-Shapiro [ 21 ] recently proposed that social influence on an individual’s fulfillment evaluation could affect focal individuals’ psychological contracts. Despite the updates of these theoretical models [ 6 , 15 , 18 , 21 ], some relevant topics about psychological contract breaches, psychological contract fulfillment, their measurement, the relationships with their consequences, and the potential moderator variables still remain unclear.

Firstly, in the empirical research, the terms breach and violation of psychological contracts are often used in an equivalent and sometimes confusing way. Rousseau clearly established that a breach is one of the basic forms of the violation of the contract, but later a conceptual distinction was proposed between the cognitive component—the disagreement—and the affective or emotional aspect—the violation—that constitute the experience of the overall perceived breach of the psychological contract. At first glance, it seems clear that psychological contract fulfillment is associated with an increase in desirable results and a decrease in undesirable ones for both the person and the organization, while breach follows an inverse relationship pattern. However, when explored more closely, we find highly variable and even contradictory findings among the meta-analyses and reviews [ 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Hence, there is not conclusive evidence on the differences or the overlapping between fulfillment and breach, and this lack of clarity justifies the present systematic review of reviews.

Secondly, there is also no consensus as to how to operationalize the various measures, both for fulfillment and for breaking a psychological contract. It is as common to ask people to what extent they believe that their employers comply with the promises made at the beginning of the employment relationship as it is to ask them to indicate whether such levels of compliance are sufficient for them or to request a comparison between what was promised and what was received. Therefore, lacking broadly accepted instruments for assessing psychological contract is a recurrent concern in the reviews [ 25 ], showing that this topic also justifies further attention.

Thirdly, a wide range of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes was explored as a consequence of both breaches or fulfillment of psychological contracts, but solid empirical evidence was only found for a limited number of dimensions. Therefore, the most relevant discrepancies among the empirical findings have been examined by reviews and meta-analyses, claiming further synthesis.

Fourthly, due to the fact that employment relationships are usually embedded in particular work contexts, they are affected by different potential moderator variables. Previous meta-analyses have already pointed out that there are a number of variables that can affect the results of empirical studies, especially those more closely related to individual features or specific characteristics of the context of the employment relationship. As Raja, Johns and Ntalianis [ 26 ] pointed out, personality traits might affect psychological contracts via the type of contract negotiated, the perception of breach, and the subsequent impact of this perception on work-related attitudes and behaviors. Among the demographic characteristics of employees, age, organizational tenure, and occupational categories seem the most relevant moderators explored by reviews. More recently, national cultural factors and macro-economic trends have been proposed as moderators for the meta-analyses [ 27 , 28 ]. Hence, some clarification is needed about the impact of moderator variables in the relationships between psychological contract breaches and outcomes.

Fifthly, some methodological caveats of empirical research have been consistently highlighted by reviews and meta-analyses. As the quality of the empirical studies was a recurrent concern of the reviews, we evaluate the methodological quality of the included reviews using AMSTAR (Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews) [ 29 ], a measurement tool for the assessment of systematic reviews, in order to reach more valid conclusions.

Finally, most of the systematic reviews follow the PICO tool, focused on the Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcomes as the relevant concepts in the research question. Despite its wide use, the PICO search tool was developed in epidemiology and some of their categories are difficult to apply to correlational primary studies and to qualitative research. Hence, Cooke and colleagues [ 30 ] developed a new search strategy tool named SPIDER (Sample, Phenomenon of interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research type). The addition of the Design and Research type categories was intended to increase the ability of identifying relevant articles. Most of the research about psychological contract breaches and fulfillment conducted in the Work and Organizational Psychology field is correlational, and this fact renders Comparison group or Intervention irrelevant categories. Therefore, following the SPIDER tool, our systematic review of reviews focuses on: (a) Sample: workers, volunteers, or students currently working in any type of organization; (b) Phenomenon of interest: psychological contract breach or violation, and psychological contract fulfillment; (c) Design: systematic reviews or meta-analyses, including primary studies that reported at least one quantitative assessment of psychological contract breach or violation, or psychological contract fulfillment; (d) Evaluation: perceptions of psychological contract breach or psychological contract fulfillment by self-informed questionnaires; and (e) Research type: quantitative systematic reviews and meta-analytical syntheses of empirical evidence.

To sum up, the main objective of this study is to conduct a review of reviews on psychological contract breach, considering both systematic reviews and metanalytical papers with the purpose of synthesizing the evidence to date under the psychological contract theory. The specific objectives of this review of reviews are the following: to provide an up-to-date synthesis of the empirical evidence, evaluate the quality of the systematic reviews included, and map the advancements and caveats of the psychological contract theory.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. study design and literature search.

The following English and non-English language electronic databases were used to retrieve systematic reviews and meta-analyses on Psychological Contracts without any language or time restriction: Web of Science, Scopus, PsychArticles, Psicodoc, PsychINFO, Social Science Citation Index, ERIC, Medline, and Google. Reference lists of review articles and the most relevant journals in the Work and Organizational Psychology area (such as Journal of Organizational Behavior , Human Resource Management Journal , and Journal of Vocational Behavior ) were consulted. The keywords were psychological contract , psychological contract breach , psychological contract fulfillment, psychological contract violation , AND review . We retrieved a total of 320 references. Because of the small number of reviews retrieved, international experts on the topic were contacted, but unfortunately nobody provided us with other reviews or meta-analyses. This systematic review entailed a critical analysis of articles in the literature and was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement (see Supplementary Tables S1 and S2 ). The approval of the Research Ethics Committee was not required because the study was a systematic review. The main search was performed in June 2022 and the updated search in September 2022. A total of 45 published studies were retrieved in full text.

2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

To be included, reviews had to evaluate empirical studies on psychological contract breaches or fulfillment using organizational samples, such as workers, volunteers, or students currently working in any type of organization, but not students that are not working. The reviews and meta-analyses had to include at least one of the following quantitative measures: psychological contract, psychological contract breach, violation, or psychological contract fulfillment. Only peer-reviewed published literature was included; hence, theses, dissertations, and conference proceedings were excluded. Reviews considered not systematic, such as theoretical papers or position papers , book reviews, commentaries, and editorials, were also excluded. The most relevant reason for excluding theoretical and critical reviews was the absence of enough information on the criteria used to include or exclude the primary synthesized papers. No articles were excluded based on language. The inclusion and exclusion criteria are summarized in Table 1 .

Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

2.3. Study Selection

Based on the above-mentioned criteria of inclusion and exclusion ( Table 1 ), two independent authors screened the list of titles and abstracts retrieved through electronic and manual searches. Any discrepancy was solved by discussion in order to reach a consensus. A total of 45 potentially relevant systematic reviews were retrieved in full text. The further full-text examination of the retrieved papers allowed us to exclude the following: six duplicates, ten book reviews, one empirical study [ 31 ], one review focused on other work-related topics [ 32 ], one corrigendum article, one review focused on students’ psychological contract [ 33 ], and 17 theoretical reviews [ 6 , 23 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ]. Finally, only 8 systematic reviews and meta-analyses met the inclusion criteria [ 22 , 24 , 27 , 28 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. The included studies are marked in the reference list with an asterisk. Figure 1 is a flow diagram charting the process followed for retrieving the relevant works. The process begun by specifying the number of references extracted from the databases searched. The diagram also specifies the number of documents obtained in the two phases of the process. Firstly, the results for the initial phase (reading of the titles and abstracts) are shown, indicating how non-relevant references (due to either type of document or topic) were removed. Secondly, the diagram specifies the number of references recovered during the final phase (i.e., the reading of the full texts), which allowed us to exclude duplicates, book reviews, corrigendum, empirical studies, reviews focused on students’ psychological contract, and 17 theoretical reviews. The complete list of records retrieved and examined in full text, but that were finally excluded, is in Appendix A .

Flow diagram of the information through the different phases.

2.4. Data Extraction and Analysis

First, after screening the full text, data collection was conducted in order to identify information on the type of studies included in the reviews, the instruments used, and the outcome or moderator variables analyzed. Other items such as geographical coverage of the review, the time frame of included studies, type of measures, and theoretical background were also identified. Second, we conducted a thorough quantitative analysis of the articles included in this systematic review of reviews using the free software VOSwiever version 1.6.18 (Centerfor Science and Technology Studies, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands) [ 53 ]. It was used to create a network-based map using the titles, keywords, and the abstracts to enrich the quantity of eligible terms. Given that the number of reviews included in this systematic review of reviews was small, with this analysis, we intended to identify the main variables, participants’ features, and studies’ characteristics of the field, and the relationships among them.

2.5. Quality of Systematic Reviews

The methodological quality of the systematic reviews was evaluated with AMSTAR, a measurement tool including 11 criteria. The instrument asks reviewers to answer yes, no, cannot answer, or not applicable. The following criteria were considered relevant to our assessment: research question and inclusion criteria established before conducting the review, duplicate study selection, and data extraction by at least two independent researchers, comprehensive literature search, exclusion or inclusion based on the status of publication, or language, publication of a full list of included and excluded studies provided, full information about characteristics of the included studies provided, scientific quality of the included studies assessed, documented, and used in formulating the conclusions, methods used to combine the findings of the studies, the likelihood of publication bias assessed, and conflicts of interest clearly acknowledge. AMSTAR accumulated strong evidence of its reliability and validity. This measurement tool to assess the methodological quality of systematic reviews showed satisfactory inter-observer agreement, reliability, and construct validity in the study conducted by Shea et al. [ 54 ]. Items in AMSTAR displayed levels of agreement ranging from moderate to perfect. The global reliability was also adequate.

The relevant information of the eight titles finally considered for inclusion is summarized in Table 2 , Table 3 , Table 4 , Table 5 and Table 6 . Of the eight reviews included, seven were meta-analyses, while the other was a systematic quantitative review. Three reviews were published before 2010, one in 2010, and three in or after 2021.

Information about the process of retrieving the primary studies, publication search, and other study characteristics.

Participant characteristics of the included reviews and meta-analyses.

PCB: Psychological Contract Breach; PCF: Psychological Contract Fulfillment.

Quality assessment of the included reviews and meta-analyses using AMSTAR.

Note: 1 The first-dimension ranges between 0 and 4. 2 The second ranges between 0 and 7, with a maximum quality value of 11. 3 The maximum possible quality is 9 instead of 11, due to 2 criteria not being applicable. * 0.5: Only the list of included studies is provided, but not the list of excluded studies. N.a.: not applicable.

Antecedent, outcome, and moderator variables analyzed by the included reviews and meta-analyses.

PCB: Psychological Contract Breach; PCF: Psychological Contract Fulfillment. N.a.: not applicable.

Mean effect size for the psychological contract breach–Outcome relationship reported by the included meta-analyses.

n.a.: not applicable.

3.1. Description of Included Reviews

The majority of reviews did not provide information about the gender of participants in their primary studies, and those that did offer it provided neither all the descriptive results nor standard deviations [ 49 ], perhaps due to the absence of these data in the primary studies that they summarized. Only four reviews included information about the age of primary studies’ participants [ 22 , 49 , 50 , 51 ], and only three about participants’ organizational tenure [ 22 , 49 , 50 ]. In relation to the geographical distribution of the samples participating in the primary studies, only one review did not mention it [ 24 ], while the others offered information divided into different categories (e.g., USA vs. North America, including the USA and Canada). The status of publication of the primary studies was mentioned by the majority of the reviews, except two [ 22 , 49 ]. The risk of bias was assessed only by four reviews [ 22 , 24 , 27 , 50 ], and all of them used the fail-safe N as indicator. Due to the fact that, when calculating the Orwin’s fail-safe N, it is necessary to specify a value that is considered a “trivial” size, information about the value specified by the researcher is useful for readers, but this information was not provided in any review. Hence, the researcher concludes that publication bias is not a significant problem due to the fact that the fail-safe value was relatively large. Two reviews did not mention the language of the primary studies [ 50 , 52 ]. Most of the reviews included primary studies written in English, with a minor number of studies written in Dutch, Chinese, and other languages. Full information is provided in Table 2 and Table 3 .

3.2. Quality of the Included Reviews

The methodological quality of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses included was evaluated using AMSTAR, a reliable and valid measurement tool. Two dimensions of the methodological quality of included reviews were assessed: the internal validity of the design (a priori design and clear inclusion criteria; two independent extractors and consensus procedures applied; status of publications explicitly recognized as inclusion criteria or not) and the quality of the information provided by the published review or meta-analysis. The last dimension includes the following features: provision of the complete list of included and excluded studies, information about the features of the primary studies included related to participants, interventions, and outcomes; quality of the included studies assessed and documented; scientific quality of the primary studies used to formulate the conclusions; appropriate methods for combing the finding of studies; likelihood of publication bias informed; and acknowledgement of potential conflicts of interest. The first dimension ranges between 0 and 4, while the second ranges between 0 and 7, with a maximum quality value of 11. The quality of the included meta-analyses ranged from 4.5 to 6.5, and the most frequent failure was the absence of the quality assessment of the primary studies included. The systematic review published by Kutaula et al. [ 52 ] had a lower value due to two criteria not being able to be applied (adequacy of the methods used to combine the findings and assessment of the likelihood of publication bias). Full information about the criteria fulfilled by each meta-analysis or systematic review is provided in Table 4 .

3.3. Antecedent, Outcome, and Moderator Variables

Four meta-analyses included only psychological contract breaches as antecedents, while the other reviews combined this measure with psychological contract fulfillment, psychological contract violation, or assessment of the psychological contract’s content, operationalized as employer’s obligations or relational vs. transactional contract. The outcome evaluations mainly included attitudes such as organizational commitment, job satisfaction, organizational trust, and turnover intention, behavioral outcomes as well as job performance (assessed both globally and separately as in-role performance and OCB), deviant behavior, and actual turnover. The range of potential moderator variables was wide, due to some meta-analyses including the characteristics of the job, the contract, the organization, and studies’ features as moderators [ 22 , 49 , 52 ], while others were more focused on psychological contracts’ features, employees’ personality and HRM practices, and contextual factors (labor market characteristics or cultural values).

The individual features of participants in the primary studies were included as potential moderator variables. Mainly, the participants’ age was considered as a moderator in four meta-analyses as a categorical variable, as well as organizational tenure, which was included in three meta-analyses. Full information is provided in Table 5 .

3.4. Strenght of the Relationships between Psychological Contract Breaches and the Outcomes

Considering psychological contract breach as an antecedent, the relationships (average effect sizes) with desired attitudinal outcomes ranged from r = −0.45 to r = −0.38 for job satisfaction, from r = −0.38 to r = −0.32 for organizational commitment, and r = −0.53 to −0.36 for organizational trust. Related to the desirable behavioral outcomes, the average effect sizes for the relationships between psychological contract breach ranged from r = −0.20 to r = −0.07 for in-role performance, while it ranged from r = −0.31 to r = −0.11 for OCB. Undesirable outcomes such as intention to quit, neglect, and turnover were included in a small number of reviews, with their average effect sizes ranging from r = 0.36 to r = 0.30 for turnover intention. Neglect behavior was only included in two meta-analyses with an average effect size of r = 0.21, while actual turnover was included in two meta-analyses, with the average effect size ranging from r = 0.13 to r = 0.05.

3.5. Moderator Variables in the Relationships between Psychological Contract Breach Antecedents and Outcomes

Despite the fact that researchers have hypothesized a wide range of moderators in some meta-analyses (as can be seen in Table 5 ), few hypotheses have been confirmed. Using categorical moderator variables, Topa and Palaci [ 50 ] only confirmed that both the type of employment contract and the occupational category significantly moderate the relationships between psychological contract breach and neglect. Zhao and colleagues [ 48 ] confirmed that the content of the psychological contract breach (relational vs. transactional) significantly moderates the relationships with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions, and OCB. Topa, Morales, and Depolo [ 22 ] showed that the type of employment contract also moderates the relationships between psychological contract breach and organizational trust.

Using continuous variables, organizational tenure has been shown as the best predictor for attitudinal (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and behavioral outcomes (OCB and job performance). Specifically, two meta-analyses showed that tenure was the best predictor into the weighted regression analyses predicting job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and OCB, while it fails to predict job performance [ 22 , 50 ]. In the meta-analysis conducted by Bal and colleagues [ 51 ], organizational tenure showed a significant predictive power both on job satisfaction and affective commitment, beyond the effect of the employees’ age.

Topa and colleagues’ [ 22 ] meta-analysis showed that the quality of studies has a stronger β-value for undesirable, desirable, attitudinal, and behavioral outcomes. Bal and colleagues [ 49 , 51 ] showed a significant moderator effect of the participants’ age on the relationships between psychological contract breach and organizational trust, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.

Considering contextual economic factors, inflation rate has been a significant moderator of the relationships between psychological contract breach and in-role performance, turnover intention, and actual turnover [ 27 ], while the unemployment rate only significantly moderates the relationships between psychological contract breach and in-role performance and turnover intention [ 27 ].

The relationships between psychological contract breach and in-role performance are more efficiently moderated by institutional collectivism, power distance, future society, and gender equality practices. The relationships between psychological contract breach and OCB are only more efficiently moderated by institutional collectivism and performance-oriented practices [ 28 ]. The relationships between psychological contract breach and intention to quit are only more efficiently moderated by institutional collectivism, future society, and gender equality practices [ 28 ]. Finally, the actual turnover–psychological contract breach relationship is only moderated by the future society practices [ 28 ].

3.6. Clustering Analysis of the Relevant Terms

Psychological contract breach was the central and most frequently used word in the analysis of the relevant terms, as displayed in Figure 2 . In the map created from the relevant terms using titles, keywords, and abstracts, breach had the highest value and was clustered with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and performance (Cluster 1, green), and was directly connected with development, perception, and workplace terms. In cluster 2 (red), development plays a central role and was strongly connected with perception and workplace terms. This network map depicted in Figure 2 reflects a high weight of psychological contract breach as well as its strong connections with attitudinal outcomes and job performance.

Network map created from the review articles included in this systematic revision using VOSwiever software. Titles, keywords, and abstracts were employed to extract the significant terms.

4. Discussion

This review of reviews on the psychological contract breach and its outcomes had five objectives. First, clarification was needed about the differences or the overlaps between psychological contract fulfillment and breach. Second, the identification of a broadly accepted instrument for assessing psychological contract was also needed. Third, the most relevant discrepancies between primary empirical findings were synthesized. Fourth, clarification about the impact of moderator variables on the relationships between psychological contract breach and outcomes also were needed. Fifth, the quality of the quantitative reviews needed to be evaluated using a measurement tool for the assessment of the methodological quality of the systematic reviews in order to reach more valid conclusions. Based on the above-presented results, we can affirm that some of these objectives were fulfilled, but further research is still needed.

First, the potential differences or overlaps between the measures of psychological contract breach and psychological contract fulfillment still deserve further attention. A separate evaluation of fulfillment versus breach was only reported in one meta-analysis [ 49 ]. The other quantitative reviews collapsed both measures into one indicator by reversing the sign of the Pearson’s correlation between fulfillment and outcomes, as Jayaweera and colleagues did [ 27 ]. On the one hand, this method combined the data provided by the primary studies and seems theoretically well justified, but precludes us from comparing the strength of the relationships obtained by each one of the evaluation procedures. On the other hand, in the only meta-analysis in which it was included as a predictor, psychological contract fulfillment shows relationships with OCB and organizational commitment, similar to those obtained using psychological contract breach as antecedent, but somewhat smaller. Perhaps, as a consequence of this procedure that collapses fulfillment into breach, our VOSwiever network map, displayed in Figure 2 , only included psychological contract breach as a central term.

As some authors recently pointed out [ 55 ], reciprocity should be considered as a significant link between psychological contract fulfillment, breach, and violation. Psychological contract fulfillment displays positive reciprocity where employer–employee obligations are respected. Breach highlights the lack of reciprocity and violation that can lead to negative reciprocity in the search of compensation from unfair mistreatment. These relationships between the perceptions of fulfillment, breach, or violation—on the one hand—and outcomes—on the other—could be mediated by attributional processes blaming the firm or its representatives [ 56 ], but our findings suggest that fulfillment should not be simply considered as a reversed facet of breach. Moreover, considering that psychological contract fulfillment is an event at work that could exert positive emotions and trigger positive reciprocity, their uncertain role on the relationships between fulfillment and employee’s outcomes should be clarified. However, there is still insufficient information available to comment on the appropriateness of using psychological contract breach or psychological contract fulfillment measures.

Second, the data supported the hypothesized relationships in most of the included meta-analyses and reached a large or medium effect size, except in the case of in-role performance and actual turnover. On the one hand, this finding verifies that the psychological contract breach has very consistent negative consequences on both employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Similarly, the lack of detailed information about the questionnaires used in the primary studies precludes us from reaching any conclusion about the differences between them or their adequacy. Only one review [ 24 ] conducted a moderator analysis based on the type of assessment of psychological contract breach (global vs. composite by dimensions). Following their findings, it is possible to conclude that global assessment was less frequent than dimensional assessment, but it renders higher effect size values. Due to the fact that respondents could balance lack of reciprocity in one dimension with its presence in other dimension (e.g., job security vs. payment), when the participants evaluated breaches according to dimensions, they mentioned less discrepancies between promises and fulfillments than when conducting a global assessment of breaches. Given that the standardization of measures remains as a caveat in this area of research [ 6 , 25 ], renewed attempts to develop valid and reliable questionnaires are recommended [ 57 ].

Third, this review supports the firm conclusion that psychological contract breaches have a negatively impact on employee outcomes. The effect sizes obtained by the seven meta-analyses seem reasonable and consistent with the theoretical proposals about psychological contract breaches. However, a breach does not reveal an identical level of impact on all outcomes. On the one hand, four attitudinal outcomes were assessed in the majority of the meta-analyses, and three of them reached higher effect sizes: organizational trust, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The other attitudinal outcome included in five meta-analyses was turnover intention and showed a positive, but lesser, effect size. Neglect was only assessed in two meta-analyses and showed a lesser effect size. Hence, attitudinal outcomes showed a consistent pattern of effect sizes and low variability was shown between the different meta-analyses. On the other hand, three behavioral outcomes were assessed, in-role performance, OCB, and actual turnover, but the last was only included in three quantitative reviews. Behavioral outcomes only reached low or medium effect sizes, and specifically, the range of the obtained values was higher than that of attitudinal outcomes. Perhaps, actual turnover or decrease in job performance is more related to contextual factors, such as available employment options or financial resources.

To sum up, the impact of psychological contract breaches on attitudes seems to be stronger than the influence exerted on behaviors, but the underlying process remains unclear. In short, one possible explanation is that attitudes appear to be closer to the psychological contract breach than behaviors. As Robinsson, Kraatz, and Rousseau [ 58 ] described earlier, a psychological contract breach involves feelings of disloyalty and profounder psychological distress, whereby the victim experiences anger, dislike, a sense of injustice, and unfair damage. Another reason is that the relationship between psychological contract breach and behavior is mediated by behavioral intentions, as the theory of planned behavior suggests. In this sense, these indirect relationships are weaker than the direct ones, which connects psychological contract breach and attitudinal outcome variables. Moreover, another underlying mechanism that could clarify the influence of psychological contract breach on outcomes is provided by the affective events theory [ 59 ]. Some authors [ 60 , 61 ] have empirically shown the mediating role of affect in the relationships between different adverse work-related events and employee outcomes. The generation of intense negative psychological states can explain the negative influence of psychological contract breach on employee well-being, operationalized as job satisfaction, organizational trust, and other attitudes. The lower relationship between psychological contract breach and in-role performance can perhaps be attributed to the direct impact that the decline in performance may have on the work situation, an impact that is not as direct in the case of attitudes. While the employer may not perceive a decline in OCBs, they will surely sanction declines in performance, although this process is also moderated by the type of company in which the work activity takes place. Finally, a more recent view on the underlying processes between breach, violation, and subsequent outcomes has been proposed by Tomprou and her colleagues [ 18 ] based on self-regulatory processes. When the victim does not have the option of abandoning the employment relationship, they behave in a way that evolves from their coping strategies to four possible outcomes, namely as reactivation, thriving, impairment, or dissolution. Although the mechanisms are complex, interacting with organizational and societal factors, the post-violation model offers a map for investigating the aftermath of violation.

Fourth, some clarification is provided by this review on the impact of moderator variables. On the one hand, organizational tenure as a continuous variable has a positive regression value on all the results. That is, the longer the tenure in the organization, the lesser the impact of psychological contract breach on employee attitudes and behaviors. These results could be due to the fact that a permanent employee may, in the face of psychological contract breaches, weigh the benefits derived from the employment relationship that a temporary worker does not have. It is also possible that those who hold an indefinite contract or are state employees are not willing to relinquish their employment status easily, even if they perceive that some promises have not been adequately fulfilled. This could explain the small effect sizes achieved for the relationship between psychological contract breaches and turnover intention in some meta-analyses. This pattern of relationships seems to be repeated in meta-analyses relating psychological contract breach to job satisfaction. Four meta-analyses [ 22 , 40 , 50 , 51 ] included age as continuous variable in order to test its impact on the relationships between psychological contract breaches and outcomes, but their findings were not consistent. While the two meta-analyses carried out by Topa and colleagues [ 22 , 50 ] found only a negligible impact of age in the relationships between psychological contract breach and outcomes, Bal and colleagues [ 49 , 51 ] reached statistically significant effects of age on the relation between psychological contract breach and some outcomes (organizational trust, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment), despite that the percentage of explained variance is very small. Hence, we believe that the literature based on psychological contract breach could gain insights into the processes it investigates if it took into account the idiosyncratic nature and contextual influences that affect psychological contracts in different latitudes, expanding the findings based on employee age, gender, or organizational tenure, as well as the studies of Jayaweera and colleagues [ 27 , 28 ].

Finally, our findings assessing the methodological quality of reviews allow us to affirm that our conclusions about the impact of psychological contract breaches on outcomes remain still tentative. On the one hand, a common criticism of the meta-analyses is related to their procedures of combing empirical findings obtained from primary studies with very different levels of methodological quality [ 62 ]. While some authors recommended the inclusion only of those studies with high methodological rigor, others decided to categorize the primary studies based on their methodological quality [ 63 ]. It seems probable that the relationships between psychological contract breach and outcomes differ as a function of the rigor of primary studies. In this sense, if those primary sources with lower methodological quality provide effect sizes highly discrepant from the majority of the values, we suppose that this high variability is related to the lower reliability or validity of the primary studies.

Despite its recognized relevance, the quality of the systematic review and the seven meta-analyses included in this review of reviews only reached a mean AMSTAR score that indicates that the quality of the reviews is only moderate. The main weaknesses were the failure of all of the reviews to provide an a priori design, to offer a full list of excluded studies, and to recognize any potential conflicts of interest. Based on the fact that four of the meta-analyses were conducted by the authors of some of the included primary studies, we assume that any conflicts of interest should have been acknowledge. Due to the methodological caveats of the reviews themselves and of the primary studies they are based on, our conclusions about impact of psychological contract breaches on outcomes still remain tentative.

In spite of this caveat, some suggestions for the further development of the research field can be obtained from our findings. First, related to the measurement topic, current proposals of new scales are valuable, but, at the same time, some studies try to conduct experimental research. These designs would allow us to demonstrate causal relationships between psychological contract breaches and their consequences [ 20 , 64 , 65 ] as well as the impact of orientation programs in the prevention of future breaches [ 66 ]. Second, several new ways of research and application of psychological contract breaches have been recently proposed, such as its impact on customer sexual harassment [ 67 ], workplace bullying behaviors [ 68 ], and expatriates’ psychological contracts [ 69 ]. Third, as past research on psychological contract breaches and fulfillment and their outcomes has primary focused on employment relationships, currently, some proposals are trying to apply the psychological contract approach to other not work-related relationships, as the link between students and universities [ 70 ] or doctoral supervisory relationships [ 71 ]. These attempts of widening the application of the psychological contract to higher education contexts would prove its usefulness as well as provide new research insights. Fourthly, following the directions opened by some of the reviews included in this systematic revision [ 28 ], empirical articles continue to explore the potential moderator effect of national cultures on psychological contracts. The exploration of the dimensionality of psychological contracts in Islamic cultures [ 72 ] or the role of interpersonal influences as Wasta (Middle East) [ 73 ], Guanxi (China), Jeitinho (South America), and Blat/Svyazi (Russia) [ 74 ] provide valuable findings on the relevance of cultural features and expand the research field from its initial Western-oriented view. To sum up, the psychological contract seems to be still “alive and kicking” considering its potential usefulness to explain complex relationships in workplaces and other contexts as well as its predictive power on personal wellbeing and valuable organizational outcomes.

5. Conclusions

Despite the general findings of this review, it should be noted that the psychological contract appears is a broad and comprehensive theoretical model that can account for an important set of personal and organizational outcomes.

Supplementary Materials

The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijerph192315527/s1 , Table S1: PRISMA 2020 Checklist for Systematic Reviews; Table S2: PRISMA 2020 Checklist for Abstract.

This appendix contains the complete list of excluded articles.

Full list of excluded studies, all of them retrieved and examined in full text.

1 Year or publication; 2 Volume number; 3 Issue number; 4 First Page; 5 Page Count.

Funding Statement

This research received no external funding.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, G.T. and M.A.-C.; methodology, G.T.; software, G.T.; validation, G.T., M.A.-C. and B.D.-M.; formal analysis, G.T.; investigation, G.T.; resources, M.A.-C.; data curation, M.A.-C.; writing—original draft preparation, G.T.; writing—review and editing, G.T., M.A.-C. and B.D.-M.; visualization, B.D.-M.; supervision, G.T.; project administration, G.T.; funding acquisition, M.A.-C. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Advertisement

Psychological contract, career concerns, and retention practices satisfaction of employees: Exploring interaction effects

• Published: 24 February 2020
• Volume 39 , pages 1990–1998, ( 2020 )

Cite this article

• Alda Deas   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3034-781X 1 &
• Melinde Coetzee 2  

1574 Accesses

15 Citations

Explore all metrics

Retaining employees is a major concern for higher education institutions which are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative ways of retaining knowledge workers. Previous research has highlighted compensation, training and development opportunities, supervisor support, and career opportunities as important retention factors, especially in the context of higher education (Deas 2017 ). This study consequently explored the interaction effect between employees’ perceptions of the psychological contract and their career concerns in predicting their satisfaction with organizational retention practices relevant to the higher education context (career opportunities, compensation, supervisor support, training and development opportunities). A cross-sectional sample of 579 participants from a higher education institution in South Africa was used. A hierarchically moderated regression analysis subsequently showed that the influence of negative perceptions of the psychological contract on dissatisfaction with training and development practices are conditional on high levels of career development concerns. Thus, career development concerns act as a moderating variable in the relationship between psychological contract perceptions and satisfaction with training and development opportunities as retention practice. The results of this study bring new insight and valuable knowledge to retention theory that could potentially inform human resource practices for retaining valuable employees.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Managing Diversity in Talent Retention: Implications of Psychological Contract, Career Preoccupations and Retention Factors

Human Resource Management Practices Toward Job Satisfaction and Employee Intention to Leave Academic Institutions

Knowing me is the key: implications of anticipatory psychological contract for millennials’ retention.

Agarwal, P. (2016). State of psychological contract in India: Managing the ‘new deal’. Global Business Review, 16 (4), 623–631. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150915581107 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Aguinis, H., & Pierce, C. A. (2006). Computation of effect size for moderating effects of categorical variables in multiple regression. Applied Psychological Management, 30 (5), 440–442. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146621606286314 .

Akhtar, C. S., Aamir, A., Khurshid, M. A., Abro, M. M. Q., & Hussain, J. (2015). Total rewards and retention: Case study of higher education institutions in Pakistan. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 210 , 251–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.365 .

Alcover, C.-M., Rico, R., Turnley, W. H., & Bolino, M. C. (2017). Multi-dependence in the formation and development of the distributed psychological contract. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 26 (1), 16–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2016.1197205 .

Al-Emadi, A. A. Q., Schwabenland, C., & Wei, Q. (2015). The vital role of employee retention in human resource management: A literature review. The IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior, XIV (3), 7–32.

Google Scholar  

Anvari, R., Mansor, N. N. A., Rahman, S. A., Rahman, R. H. B., & Chermahini, S. H. (2014). Mediating effects of affective organizational commitment and psychological contract in the relationship between strategic compensation practices and knowledge sharing. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 129 , 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.655 .

Bergiel, B. E., Nguyen, V. Q., Clenney, B. F., & Taylor, G. S. (2009). Human resource practices, job embeddedness and intention to quit. Management Research News, 32 (3), 205–219. https://doi.org/10.1108/01409170910943084 .

Bernard, O. N., & Appolonius, K. S. (2014). To assess the relationship between motivation and retention of academic staff in selected public higher institutions of learning in Dar es-Salaam. International Journal of Advancement in Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Science, 1 (4), 54–61 ISSN: 2349-3224.

Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life . New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Bordia, S., Bordia, P., & Restubog, S. L. D. (2015). Promises from afar: A model of international student psychological contract in business education. Studies in Higher Education, 40 (2), 212–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2013.823935 .

Bordia, P., Restubog, S. L. D., Bordia, S., & Tang, R. L. (2017). Effects of resource availability on social exchange relationships: The case of employee psychological contract obligations. Journal of Management, 43 (5), 1447–1471. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206314556317 .

Bushe, B. (2012). Factors that determine academic staff retention and commitment in private tertiary institutions in Botswana: Empirical review. Global Advanced Research Journal of Management and Business Studies, 1 (9), 278–299 ISSN: 2315-5086.

Cheung, M. F. Y., Wong, C.-S., & Yuan Yuan, G. (2017). Why mutual trust leads to highest performance: The mediating role of psychological contract fulfilment. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 55 , 430–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12117 .

Coetzee, M. (2014). Exploratory factor analysis of the Career Preoccupations Scale: A preliminary analysis of its reliability and construct validity (unpublished research report) . Pretoria: University of South Africa.

Coetzee, M. (2015a). Employees’ psychosocial career preoccupations in relation to their work-related commitment. South African Business Review, 19 (3), 30–47 ISSN: 1998-8125.

Coetzee, M. (2015b). Adaptive behaviour in the workplace: Psycho-social career preoccupations and openness to technological change. In V. Martin (Ed.), Career development: Theories, practices and challenges pp. in press. New York: Nova Science.

Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112 (1), 155–159.

De Cuyper, N., Van der Heijden, B. I., & De Witte, H. (2011). Associations between perceived employability, employee well-being, and its contribution to organizational success: A matter of psychological contracts? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22 (7), 1486–1503. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.561962 .

De Vos, A., & Meganck, A. (2009). What HR managers do versus what employees value: Exploring both parties’ views on retention management from a psychological contract perspective. Personnel Review, 38 (1), 45–60. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480910920705 .

Deas, A. J. (2017). Constructing a psychological retention profile for diverse generational groups in the higher education environment (unpublished PhD dissertation). University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.

Döckel, A. (2003). The effect of retention factors on organizational commitment: An investigation of high technology employees (unpublished MCom dissertation). University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Dube, L., & Ngulube, P. (2013). Pathways for retaining human capital in academic departments of a South African university. South African Journal of Information Management, 15 (2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajim.v15i2.560 .

Eisenberger, R., Stinglhamber, F., Vandenberghe, C., Sucharski, I. L., & Rhoades, L. (2002). Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87 (3), 565–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.87.3.565 .

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Erasmus, B. J., Grobler, A., & Van Niekerk, M. (2015). Employee retention in a higher education institution: An organisational development perspective. Progressio, 37 (2), 33–63. https://doi.org/10.25159/0256-8853/600 .

Ferreira, N., & Potgieter, I. L. (2018). Career-related dispositional factors in relation to retention within the retail sector: An exploratory study. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 28 (5), 400–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2018.1527545 .

George, C. (2015). Retaining professional workers: What makes them stay? Employee Relations, 37 (1), 102–121. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-10-2013-0151 .

Ghaffar, A., Ameer, B., Arshad, N., & Urooj, F. (2013). Factors affecting job satisfaction level of academic staff in Pakistan. Journal of Education and Practice, 4 (6), 181–203 ISSN: (online)2222-288X.

Guchait, P., Cho, S., & Meurs, J. A. (2015). Psychological contracts, perceived organisational and supervisor support: Investigating the impact of intent to leave among hospitality employees in India. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism, 14 , 290–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2015.1002070 .

Hailu, A., Mariam, D. H., Fekade, D., Derbew, M., & Mekasha, A. (2013). Turn-over rate of academic faculty at the College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University: A 20-year analysis (1991 to 2011). Human Resources for Health, 11 (61), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4491-11-61 .

Hall, D. T. (2013). Protean careers in the 21st century. In K. Inkson & M. L. Savickas (Eds.), Career studies, Vol. I: Foundations of career studies . London: Sage Publications.

Herriot, P., Manning, W. E. G., & Kidd, J. M. (1997). The content of the psychological contract. British Journal of Management, 8 (2), 151–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.0047 .

Joāo, T. F., & Coetzee, M. (2012). Job retention factors, perceived career mobility and organisational commitment in the South African financial sector. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 22 (1), 69–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2012.10874523 .

Kang, H. J., Gatling, A., & Kim, J. (2015). The impact of supervisory support on organizational commitment, career satisfaction, and turnover intention for hospitality frontline employees. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality and Tourism, 14 , 68–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2014.904176 .

Katou, A. A. (2013). The link between HR practices, psychological contract fulfilment, and organisational performance in Greece: An economic crisis perspective. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 6 (2), 568–594. https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.501 .

Lesabe, R. A. F., & Nkosi, J. (2007). A qualitative exploration of employees’ views on organisational commitment. South African Journal of Human Resource Management, 5 (1), 35–44. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v5i1.106 .

Low, C. H., Bordia, P., & Bordia, S. (2016). What do employees want and why? An exploration of employees’ preferred psychological contract elements across career stages. Human Relations, 69 (7), 1457–1481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726715616468 .

Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1997). Commitment in the workplace: Theory, research and application . London; Thousand Oaks; New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Ngobeni, E. K., & Bezuidenhout, A. (2011). Engaging employees for improved retention at higher education institution in South Africa. African Journal of Business Management, 5 (23), 9961–9970 ISSN: 1993-8233.

Persson, S., & Wasieleski, D. (2015). The seasons of the psychological contract: Overcoming the silent transformations of the employer-employee relationship. Human Resource Management Review, 25 , 368–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2015.02.003 .

Piccoli, B., De Witte, H., & Reisel, W. D. (2017). Job insecurity and discretionary behaviours: Social exchange perspective versus group value model. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 58 , 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12340 .

Potgieter, I. L., Coetzee, M., & Ferreira, N. (2018). The role of career concerns and workplace friendship in the job embeddedness – retention practices satisfaction link. South African Journal of Industrial Psychology, 44 , a1519. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v44i0.1519 .

Presbitero, A., Roxas, B., & Chadee, D. (2016). Looking beyond HRM practices in enhancing employee retention in BPOs: Focus on employee-organisation value fit. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27 (6), 635–652. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2015.1035306 .

Rathi, N., & Lee, K. (2017). Understanding the role of supervisor support in retaining employees and enhancing their satisfaction with life. Personnel Review, 46 (8), 1605–1619. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2015-0287 .

Robinson, S. L. (1996). Trust and breach of the psychological contract. Administrative Science Quarterly , 574–599. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393868 .

Rousseau, D. M. (1995). Psychological contracts in organizations: Understanding written and unwritten agreements . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Savickas, M. L. (2013). Life design: A paradigm for career intervention in the 21st century. Journal of Counselling & Development, 90 , 13–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-6676.2012.00002.x .

Schlechter, A., Thompson, N. C., & Bussin, M. (2015). Attractiveness of non-financial rewards for prospective knowledge workers: An experimental investigation. Employee Relations, 37 (3), 274–295. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-06-2014-0077 .

Stoltz, E. (2015). Employability attributes and career adaptability as predictors of staff satisfaction with retention factors . Unpublished master’s dissertation, University of South Africa, Pretoria.

Sullivan, S. E. (2013). The changing nature of careers: A review and research agenda. In K. Inkson & M. L. Savickas (Eds.), Career studies, Vol I: Foundations of career studies (pp. 271–302). London: Sage Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639902500308 .

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Suutari, V., Tornikoski, C., & Mäkelä, L. (2012). Career decision making of global careerists. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23 (16), 3455–3478. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.639026 .

Takawira, N. (2017). Constructing a psychosocial profile for enhancing the career success of South African professional women (unpublished doctoral thesis), University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.

Takawira, N., Coetzee, M., & Schreuder, D. (2014). Job embeddedness, work engagement and turnover intention of staff in a higher education institution: An exploratory study. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 12 (1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v12i1.524 .

Theron, M., Barkhuizen, N., & du Plessis, Y. (2014). Managing the academic talent void: Investigating factors in academic turnover and retention in South Africa. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 40 (1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v40i1.1117 .

Van Dyk, J., Coetzee, M., & Takawira, N. (2013). Satisfaction with retention factors as predictors of the job embeddedness of medical and information technology services staff. Southern African Business Review, 17 (1), 57–75 ISSN: 1561896X.

Waseem, M. (2010). Relative importance of pay level satisfaction, career development opportunities, and supervisor support in perceived organizational support. Journal of Yasar University , 3264–3277.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Human Resource Management, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Melinde Coetzee

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alda Deas .

Ethics declarations

The authors also declare that all procedures performed in the writing of this article were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants by the authors.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

We declare that the paper is original and our own work and has not been submitted elsewhere.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Deas, A., Coetzee, M. Psychological contract, career concerns, and retention practices satisfaction of employees: Exploring interaction effects. Curr Psychol 39 , 1990–1998 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00660-0

Download citation

Published : 24 February 2020

Issue Date : December 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00660-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Psychological contract
• Career concerns
• Retention practices
• Career opportunities
• Compensation
• Supervisor support
• Training and development opportunities
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

• Browse by Year
• Browse by Subject
• Browse by Division
• Browse by Author
• Advanced Search

The Mediating Effects of Psychological Contract on Human Resource Practices and Employee Retention Relationship: An Employer-Employee Perspective.

Stephen, Shaun Anthony (2024) The Mediating Effects of Psychological Contract on Human Resource Practices and Employee Retention Relationship: An Employer-Employee Perspective. Doctoral thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

The importance of retaining employees is emphasized by the negative outcomes of employee turnover such as the costs in finding a replacement, as well as the valuable knowledge, skills and connections that employee has. The psychological contract plays a crucial role as a framework in understanding the fundamentals of the employee-employer relationship, as it deals with the fulfilment of obligations and promises an organization has made to the employee, and vice versa. With the use of the psychological contract in employee retention, the gaps between what is promised and the extent of how the promises are met can be determined. Based on these gaps, employers can strategize employee retention practices accordingly. In this thesis, practices of the organization (HR practices) are used as contents of the psychological contract of which its importance to the employees and the extent of its fulfilment (psychological contract) is identified, which would result in employee retention. A crosssectional study using survey questionnaires were distributed to organizations within the Event Management industry. These organizations are those registered under the Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) where 50 employee-employer dyads returned the completed questionnaires. The data obtained were then analysed using descriptive, correlational, independent samples t-tests, and regression analysis to determine the relationship between the variables of this study. This research found that there is a positive significant relationship between HR practice and psychological contract fulfilment (Employee: β = 0.355, p-value < 0.001; Employer: β = 0.456, p-value = 0.001), psychological contract fulfilment and employee retention (Employee: β = 0.236, p-value = 0.019; Employer: β = 0.384, p-value = 0.016), as well as a full mediation of the psychological contract fulfilment towards the relationship between HR practices and employee retention. This study also found that there is no significant difference between the perceptions of both parties in regards to HR practices (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference between employee and employer regarding the psychological contract (p = 0.00) and employee retention (p = 0.013). These findings contribute to the HRM domain and offers a valuable connection between HR practices and the psychological contract, and also the link between psychological contract and social exchange theory. Additionally, matched data of employee and employer provides valuable and corresponding information regarding the perceptions of the psychological contract.

Administrator Actions (login required)

• Bibliography
• More Referencing guides Blog Automated transliteration Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Automated transliteration
• Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Referencing guides

The Clarity and Validity of the Concept of Psychological Contract

2017, International Journal of scientific research and management

Researchers have argued that the construct of psychological contract in its current form and application lacks clarity and validity. However the debate has stagnated but the research has continued being carried out without considering the diverging views on the subject. This article aims at bridging the gap on the operational definition of the construct, the content of the contract relevant for workplace and the influence on attitudes and behavior. This is articulated through knowledge blending of the theories of law, linguistic and social psychology. The foundation of the construct stems from the assumption that for two parties to draw maximum benefits from their relationship they have to develop commitment and cooperation. The process begins when the party processing the power and effect undertakes to satisfy the needs or interest of the referent other who in turn reciprocate with increased trust and loyalty. In a relationship the psychological contract is the feelings or beliefs ...

Related Papers

Anna Rogozińska-Pawełczyk

This paper focuses on the review, analysis and synthesis of literature on the psychological contract. The main purpose of the synthesis in the extensive literature review is to delineate the scope in which interpersonal relations and employment relations can be created in an organisation. The article is part of broader theoretical considerations aimed at exploring and explicating the foundations of the psychological contract as a concept, and at conducting a chronological analysis of its development. Tracing this evolution provides a basis for exploring the significance of psychological contract as a regulator of employment relationships between employers and employees. The analysis and synthesis of the findings constitutes a contribution to efforts aimed at identifying gaps in existing reflection, and indicates implications for future research. To date, no comprehensive attempt has been made to present a systematic chronology and to capture changes in the terminology of psychologic...

Journal of Social Science Studies

Renier Steyn

Background: Psychological contracts, and particularly the honouring of these contracts – are central to employee behaviour and organisational success. The interest of academics and practitioners in this construct is therefore understandable. However, due to the immense amount of information on the topic, a comprehensive review of the literature is necessary. Aim: The aim of this article is to present a critical review on the conceptualisation of the psychological contract, distilling and operationalising the concept, to ensure that debate and future research are linked to a dominant body of knowledge. Setting: Present literature on psychological contracts is fragmented as no conceptual standardisation exists. Method: A comprehensive literature review was conducted to obtain a large quantum of conceptualisations of the construct and evaluate these for breadth of adoption, consensus, and operationalisation. Results: After reviewing reputable sources published between 1960 and 2020, a ...

isara solutions

International Res Jour Managt Socio Human

This review paper discusses the origin and development of the psychological contract between the organisations and their employees. The paper explores the journey of the concept of psychological contract from its origin to the present day position it holds in the organisation. It has undergone many revisions to the original concept and has a new identity as a psychological contract as tool for the benefit of the employees. The paper concludes with the gaps for future research.

Society and Business Review

Yvon Pesqueux

Psychological contract (PC) has emerged as a construct to deal with complex relationship between the employees and employers (Pate, 2006). The research in the area of PC has grown significantly due to its link with favorable organizational outcomes. PC refers to the expectations which employee and employer have from each other and what they owe to each other. The traditional PC between the employee and employer is breaking. In a fiercely competitive environment employer is no longer obliged to provide lifelong job security, guaranteed pay increases, and assured career opportunities (Singh, 1998; Herriot et al., 1997). The old PC is altered and both employee and employer are equally concerned about the new PC (Rousseau,1995; Welch & Hood, 1992). The new PC has resulted in emergence of new factors and outcomes. A healthy employee-employer relationship has become fundamental aspect for survival of the organization. The examination of its factors is necessary in order to understand and predict the consequences of PC. There are various individual and organizational factors which influence PC. Therefore, there is need for comprehensive framework to understand the PC to take it to another level in the current era.

International Journal of Scientific Research and Management (IJSRM)

Dr Francis Ndirangu

Although the concept of psychological contract was introduced in organization behavior more than fifty years ago, the proliferation of writings on the subject has yielded many definitions and measurements which threaten its explanatory power in social sciences. Indeed authors have evaded attempts on theory building including the phenomenology of the contracting process which would render validity to the construct. This article explains a model for the psychological contract process which aids us develop an epistemic definition as well as how the construct related to other concepts in the horizon. The approach involved knowledge blending of the disciplines of psycho-linguistics, law and social psychology. In psycholinguistic there are three conceptual fields such as perceptions, mind and thoughts. The mind sub-stream has language (communicative actions) as one of the components with language processing as sub component that yields the speech production for example performative acts. ...

International Journal of Management Reviews

Tony Dundon

Archives of Business Research

Faisal Arshad

Expectation is the pedestal for every aspiration. From having a luxurious life to be the best employee and working with the best organization is the spirit of every professional. Human mind thinks it all and plans it all and wants it all. The tacit expectation at the time of making an application for a role profile elevates hopes on getting selected & binds every individual with his expectation. On the other hand organizations standing as forte of well defined rules & culture norms ready to pay the labor cost but expecting every penny back with good interest from its own resources. Where organizations focus on employee's effective performance, employees intend to nurture their aspirations under the aegis of their organization. Hence a tussle between employee expectation and organizational expectations is best solved by the concept of psychological contract, where the exchange partners (employer & employees) have a scope to cast a best deal. This research article endeavors to explore the relevance of psychological contract especially in terms of human emotions, social exchange theory, with special usage of relational contract and contriving it for effective performance management.

Applied Psychology

David Guest

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

RELATED PAPERS

European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology

Nele Cuyper , Hans Witte , Claudia Bernhard-oettel

Vincent Dadi

Human Resource Management Journal

Journal of Management Studies

J. Coyle-shapiro

Journal of Organizational Behavior

René Schalk

Beritan tak

Journal of Industrial Relations

Bilqees Ghani

Karen Windle

IAEME PUBLcation

IAEME Publication

Lina Fortes-ferreira

Organization Management Journal

Janet Smithson , Suzan Lewis

Suzan Lewis

Academy of Management Executive

Denise Rousseau

Raymond Noe

Maddy Janssens

Economia: Seria Management

International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science (IJLTEMAS)

MADIGHI JACOB , Nwiyii B L E S S I N G Joseph

Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior

Chiachi Chang

Journal of Management & Organization

Sarah Bankins

Kelly Windle

Handbook of Research on the Psychological Contract at Work

Claire Pekcan

Journal of Applied Social …

Lee Hopkins

International Journal of Human Resource Management

Hans Witte , Thomas Rigotti

jiahao zhang

RELATED TOPICS

•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024