Psychological contract formation: The influence of demographic factors

Abstract

The study surveyed 292 respondents from Tema (a major urban municipality and manufacturing hub in Ghana) to examine the determinants of psychological contract. The study sought to examine whether demographic factors (age and gender) mediate the formation and the effect of a psychological contract. Using a Structural Equation Modeling estimation technique, the results indicate a positive relationship between employees’ expectations and the obligations of employers. Further, the findings show that older employees perceive higher relational obligations than younger employees, whereas younger employees perceive higher transactional obligations than older employees. Also, while men score higher on transactional expectations, women score higher on relational expectations. There was no difference, however, in the expectations of employees concerning the obligations of the employers.