Effects of ideological and relational psychological contract breach and fulfilment on volunteers’ work effort

Abstract

The ideological psychological contract (PC) describes perceived obligations related to an organization's mission, values, and principles. The lack of research regarding ideological PC breach and fulfilment is surprising, as theory states that this PC type has distinct effects on outcomes. We address this gap in the literature and investigate how ideological PC breach and fulfilment influence volunteers' work effort and whether this effect differs from relational PC breach and fulfilment. We measured promised and delivered ideological and relational inducements on two separate occasions and used polynomial regressions and response surface analyses to test our hypotheses. In the case of ideological PC fulfilment, results indicated that work effort increases in situations of mutual-low and mutual-high obligations. In the case of ideological PC breach, work effort increases in situations of under-and overfulfilment. We conclude that underfulfilment of ideological PCs differed from relational PCs, as work effort decreases in the case of the latter. Hence, our findings demonstrate the importance of considering the unique nature of ideological obligations in the PC literature.

Psychological contract fulfillment and its implication on performance of employees: The case of Asanko Gold Mine, Ghana

“…An organization that upholds and promotes PCF can improve relationship between the various categories of employees including superiors and colleagues in an establishment (Ng et al, 2014). In support of the argument on PCF, Vantilborgh et al (2014) add that an ideological and relational psychological contract breach can adversely impact on the fulfilment of PC such as volunteers' work effort, given that volunteers can freely decide on work schedules and expectations.…”

“…In Bordia et al (2015) promises from afar: a model...business education, it is argued that inadequate higher education can create challenges for the application of quality assurance tenants, a key attribute for the effective application of PCF in an establishment. A breach of PCF as well as the lack of research regarding PC can undermine efforts to motivate workers to fulfil their work obligations, including voluntary services (Vantilborgh et al, 2014). The need to provide a working PCF is critical to the progress of any establishment and most especially, to meet the core needs of employers and employees of any organization.…”

Cause-Fit, Positive Attitudes and Behaviors Within Hybrid Colombian Organizations

“…The procedure was adopted in order to guarantee the fitness of the questionnaire to the organizational context. Bingham's (2005) measure was used to assess organizational and workers' ideological obligations (Vantilborgh et al, 2013). Two self-reported scales compose this measure.…”

“…Up to date, the ideological terms of the PC have been studied in the for-profit, nonprofit, health care and educational organizations (Bal & Vink, 2011;Bingham, 2005;Thompson & Bunderson, 2003). The IPC construct has demonstrated predictive validity in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors (Bingham, 2005;Vantilborgh et al, 2013). Arguably, the IPC construct is suitable to study the effects of the links between ideological obligations within hybrid organizations in terms of positive attitudes and behaviors directed to the organization.…”

Organisational change and the psychological contract at a pharmaceutical company

“…The psychological contract refers to the exchange agreement between the employee and employer (Rousseau, 1990) and involves perceived obligations that centre on seeking agreement on employment terms (Vantilborgh et al, 2014). Psychological contracts are not static and are continuously changing as a result of employee experiences during employment (Aggarwai & Bhargava, 2009;Chaundry, CoyleShapiro & Wayne, 2011).…”