Am I treated better than my co-worker? A moderated mediation analysis of psychological contract fulfillment, organizational identification, and voice

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/PR-04-2016-0090
Published date06 August 2018
Pages1133-1151
Date06 August 2018
AuthorGhulam Ali Arain,Sehrish Bukhari,Imran Hameed,Delphine M. Lacaze,Zahara Bukhari
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM
Am I treated better than my
co-worker? A moderated mediation
analysis of psychological contract
fulfillment, organizational
identification, and voice
Ghulam Ali Arain
Effat College of Business, Effat University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Sehrish Bukhari
Department of Business Administration, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur, Pakistan
Imran Hameed
Lahore Business School, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Delphine M. Lacaze
Aix Marseille University, Graduate School of Management IAE, CERGAM,
Aix-en-Provence, France, and
Zahara Bukhari
Center of Policy Studies, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology,
Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and conditional indirect effects of employees
perception of psychological contract fulfillment on their positive voice, i.e., promotive voice and prohibitive
voice, through the integrated framework of the social exchange theory and the group value model.
Design/methodology/approach Using a two-source data collection from the employee and supervisor,
cross-sectional data were collected from 234 participants working in one of the leading non-profit
organizations in Pakistan. After initial data screening, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test
for the factorial validity of the employed measures with AMOS. The hypothesized relationships were tested in
regression analysis with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.
Findings The results of this study supported the integration of the social exchange theory with the group
value model in explaining the direct and indirect positive effects of employeesperception of psychological
contract fulfillment on their promotive and prohibitive voices through the mediation of organizational
identification (OID). Furthermore, it was also recorded that the indirect effect was conditional on the
employeesperception of the relative psychological contract fulfillment which significantly moderated the
direct relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and OID. However, no such effect was recorded
for the moderating effect of power distance orientation between OID and the both voices.
Originality/value In addressing the recently published research calls, this study broadens the horizon of
existing research on psychological contract and employee positive voice by investigating the mediating and
the moderating factors that influence this relationship.
Keywords Psychological contract, Employee voice, Organizational identification, Social exchange
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In todays dynamic business environment, organizations emphasize employeesupward
communication by encouraging them to voice suggestions for improvement (i.e. promotive
voice) and concerns about work-related problems (i.e. prohibitive voice) to higher authorities
with the intent of improving the overall functioning of the organization (Liang et al., 2012;
Personnel Review
Vol. 47 No. 5, 2018
pp. 1133-1151
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-04-2016-0090
Received 20 April 2016
Revised 18 January 2017
30 June 2017
8 December 2017
Accepted 15 February 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
1133
Psychological
contract
fulfillment
Van Dyne and LePine, 1998; Morrison, 2014). Voice is a form of discretionary extra-role
behavior that employees exhibit to benefit individual, group, and overall functioning of the
organization (Van Dyne et al., 1995; Van Dyne and LePine, 1998; Chamberlin et al., 2017).
Accordingly, the question of why employees do or do not exhibit voice has generated
considerable research attention in recent years. Many factors, such as personality
(Lee, Diefendorff, Kim and Bian, 2014), transformational leadership (Hu et al., 2015), ethical
leadership (Qi and Ming-Xia, 2014; Chen and Hou, 2016), and psychological safety
(Liang et al., 2012), have been identified as critical antecedents of voice. However, more
research is still required, particularly into individual-level contextual (i.e. an employees
relationships with co-workers and the organization) and cultural factors (i.e. power
distance orientation (PDO)) that may influence an employees decision to exhibit or not
exhibit voice (Morrison, 2014). Thus, this study aims to address this research gap by
examining the moderated mediation effect of employeespsychological contract fulfillment
(PCF) on their voice behavior. In doing so, this study makes the following four contributions
to the existing research on employee voice.
First, PCF, which refers to an employees positive evaluation of all perceived obligations
that the organization owes to the employee (Morrison and Robinson, 1997), has been widely
viewed as among the leading frameworks for understanding employee behavior in the
workplace (Conway and Briner, 2009; Zhao et al., 2007; Lee, Chaudhry and Tekleab, 2014).
Surprisingly, only a few studies (i.e. Vantilborgh, 2014; Turnley and Feldman, 1999; Lemire
and Rouillard, 2005; Si et al., 2008) have attempted to investigate the relationship between
psychological contract and voice. In these studies, the effect of psychological contract on
voice has been tested using the traditional exit, voice, and loyaltymodel, proposed
by Hirschman (1970), which defined voice as an employees (self-oriented) discretionary
reaction to unsatisfying work conditions.
However, to the best of our knowledge, the relationship of PCF with the recently
emerged promotive and prohibitive forms of voice (Liang et al., 2012) has still not been
investigated. In comparisons to the traditional dimensions of voice, the promotive and
prohibitive forms of voice focus on an employees (other-oriented) discretionary pro-social
behavior to improve the organizational functioning (Liang et al., 2012; Morrison, 2014).
Considering the expected benefits of promotive and prohibitive forms of voice for
organizations, empirical research on the antecedents of promotive and prohibitive voices
is growing in the voice literature ( for a review, see the meta-analysis by Chamberlin et al.,
2017). To further contribute to the burgeoning literature on promotive and prohibitive
forms of voice, this study examines the effect of employeesperceptions of PCF on their
promotive and prohibitive voices.
Second, prior research on voice, e.g., Vantilborgh (2014), Qi and Ming-Xia (2014), and
Ng et al. (2013) has, mostly incorporated the social exchange theory (Blau, 1964) and
explained voice as a form of employee reciprocation to the organization for its positive
treatment toward the employee. This perspective limits the scope of voice research to two
parties only, i.e., the employee and the employer, and does not fully reveal the work context
that surrounds this relationship (Restubog et al., 2008; Venkataramani et al., 2016).
To address this limitation, we integrate the social exchange theory with the group value
model (Lind and Tyler, 1988; Tyler, 1989; Tyler and Lind, 1992) and explore OID as an
underlying mediating mechanism through which PCF indirectly transmutes into voice.
We argue that an investigation of OID as the underlying mediating mechanism between
PCF and voice would be useful in answering the question of what (i.e. PCF) leads to voice
and how it indirectly (i.e. via OID) leads to voice.
Third, considering that employees evaluation of PCF is a highly subjective assessment
that might be affected by employees social comparison processes and cultural values
(Ho, 2005; Morrison and Robinson, 1997), analysis of the mediation effect of OID between
1134
PR
47,5

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT