Psychological contract breach, organizational justice and emotional well-being
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-04-2013-0061 |
| Date | 02 March 2015 |
| Pages | 217-235 |
| Published date | 02 March 2015 |
| Author | Vincent Cassar,Sandra C. Buttigieg |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM |
Psychological contract breach,
organizational justice and
emotional well-being
Vincent Cassar
Department of Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck College,
University of London, London, UK, and
Sandra C. Buttigieg
Health Services Management, Faculty of Health Sciences,
University of Malta, Msida, Malta
Abstract
Purpose –Psychological contract breach, which represents instances when organizations fail to fulfil
their side of the employment bargain, has been associated with salient concepts in strategic human
resources management. The purpose of this paper is to investigate moderated mediated relationships
involving breach, organizational (procedural and interactional) justice and emotional well-being.
Design/methodology/approach –The study draws upon quantitative data collected by means of
a questionnaire that was administered to 620 full-time technical and shop-floor employees in an
automobile-parts company in Malta. The questionnaire included psychometrically validated scales
on breach, justice and well-being.
Findings –Breach partially mediated the relationship between justice and well-being while justice
levels did not differentiate this mediating effect except for interactional justice. Finally, the interaction
between procedural and interactional justice failed to explain the mediating role of breach over and
above their single contributions although interactional justice seemed to make a bigger impact.
Research limitations/implications –This study contributes towards a better understanding of
the relationships between breach, justice and well-being. The major limitation is that because of its
cross-sectional nature, causality cannot be inferred.
Practical implications –Given that managing the employment relationship impacts on how people
feel and hence perform, understanding how breach, justice and well-being are related, is strategically
important to human resources management.
Originality/value –To the authors’knowledge, there is no previous research that links breach,
justice and well-being in one study.
Keywords Organizational justice, Quantitative, Emotional well-being,Psychological contract breach
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Psychological contract breach, organizational justice and well-being at work are three
distinct yet related areas of research that have attracted the attention of both academics
and practitioners in organizational psychology and human resources management.
Despite the abundant literature, to the knowledge of the authors, no studies have
explored the link between breach, justice and well-being in one study. By means of this
paper, our contribution to the field is not only to focus on the relationship between
breach and well-being, but also to identify why and how justice represents a useful lens
through which to better understand this relationship. Personnel Review
Vol. 44 No. 2, 2015
pp. 217-235
©Emerald Group Publis hing Limited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-04-2013-0061
Received 18 April 2013
Revised 4 November 2013
2 January 2014
Accepted 11 February 2014
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
The authors appreciate the helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers on a previous version
of the paper.
217
Psychological
contract
breach
Psychological contract theory and research has grown systemically (cf. Conway and
Briner, 2005, 2009; Coyle-Shapiro and Conway, 2005; Guest et al., 2010; Rousseau, 1989,
2011). In particular, research on psychological contract breach has burgeoned primarily
in organizational psychology literature but also in HRM literature. Mcdermott et al.
(2013, p. 291) argue that “psychological contracts aligned with strategy translate HR
systems into firm performance via their impact on employees’attitudes and behavior s”.
Sparrow (1998) has emphasized that psychological contract between organizations and
their employees is HRM’s responsibility. Additionally, Sonnenberg et al. (2011) found a
positive influence of commitment HRM practices leading to lower levels of perceived
psychological contract violation for individual employees regardless of individual
characteristics. Breach and violation are often used interchangeably in the literature,
however, Morrison and Robinson (1997) distinguish between the two notions. They claim
that perceived breach refers to the cognitive assessment based on an employee’s
perception that the organization fails to meet the obligations within the psychological
contract in a manner corresponding to his/her contributions, whereas violation refers to
the feelings of anger and betrayal experienced by an employee when s/he believes that the
organization has failed to fulfil one or more of those obligations. In this study, we focus on
and examine psychological contract breach.
Breach is related to perceptions of unfairness and inequity (Rousseau, 1989).
However, what is of relevance in this paper, is to study the relationship of psychological
contract breach with organizational justice as a human resource practice and with
emotional well-being as an outcome. Chen (2010) found that organizational justice has a
positive influence on psychological contract fulfilment, while Tekleab et al. (2005)
reported indirect relationships between forms of justice and contract breach on
organizational support. In addition, research on the relationship between breach and
outcomes has long been on going, but few studies have investigated the relationship
between breach and well-being as an outcome (e.g. Guest, 1987; Guest et al., 2010;
Conway et al., 2011). According to Guest (1987), HRM focuses on the individual needs,
amongst which employee well-being is crucial. Additionally Bal et al. (2013) found that
developmental HRM as applied universally to all employees relates to employee
outcomes by rebalancing the psychological contract between the employee and
organization from a transactional to a more relational contract that focuses more on
employee well-being. As emotions take prominent socio-economic roles in organizational
life, we will focus on the emotional part of well-being, which refers to the way people elicit
emotions to reflect the sense-making processes of their experiences. Emotional states
therefore influence the extent to which people adapt and master their work environments.
Research in this area is warranted, particularly as organizations continue to adopt
strategic HR systems in favour of personnel administration. Furthermore, because of the
influence of emotions in organizations, it is relevant to evaluate the impact that breach and
fairness at work have on well-being. Against this background, thi s study therefore
explores plausible pathways in the relationships between contract breach, organizational
justice and emotional well-being. Unravelling this black box is important for HR managers
as they strive to maintain optimal employment relations, as well as to preserve good
emotional well-being of employees amidst the enormous pressures that organizations are
facing in times of austerity.
Emotional well-being and psychological contract breach
Dodge et al. (2012, p. 230) define well-being as “when individuals have the psychological,
social and physical resources they need to meet a particular psychological, social and/or
218
PR
44,2
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