Psychological contracts and OCB: The effect of unfulfilled obligations on civic virtue behavior

TLDR

A psychological contract is a set of beliefs regarding mutual obligations between employee and employer. This study examines the relationship between violation of an employee's psychological contract and civic virtue behavior. One hundred twenty‑six MBA alumni were surveyed at the time of hire (T1), and after 18 months (T2) and 30 months (T3) on the job. When employees felt that their employers had failed to fulfil employment obligations at T2, they were less likely to engage in civic virtue behavior at T3, a relationship partly mediated by trust, underscoring implications for OCB research and managerial practices.

Abstract

Abstract This study examines the relationship between violation of an employee's psychological contract and civic virtue behavior. A psychological contract is a set of beliefs regarding mutual obligations between employee and employer. One hundred twenty‐six MBA alumni were surveyed at the time of hire (T1), and after 18 months (T2) and 30 months (T3) on the job. When employees felt that their employers had failed to fulfil employment obligations at T2, they were less likely to engage in civic virtue behavior at T3. There was evidence that this relationship was partly mediated by trust. These findings have implications for research on OCB and for managers seeking to maintain employee citizenship behavior.