| The purpose of this study was to explore three processes used to define psychological contracts: exchange relationship, breach, and violation. Seventeen hypotheses were proposed that examined the interrelationship among these areas and their relationships with employee technical and contextual performance. Eight hundred and fifty-six professional, clerical, and technical employees in a large, international firm were surveyed. Of those contacted, 244 completed surveys were gathered making for a response rate of 29%. Across the supported hypotheses, procedural fairness emerged as an important moderator in the relationship between relational exchange and violation, and between breach and violation. Among the findings of this study were that a number of variables have a unique relationship with all three aspects of the psychological contract. In addition, an identical pattern of relationships between breach and violation and other assessed variables raised concern regarding the extent to which breach and violation are really separate constructs. Future research will need to address not only the differences, if any, between breach and violation, but also the antecedents, correlates, and additional outcomes of these three critical variables. |
