The effects of psychological contract breach and organizational cynicism: not all social exchange violations are created equal

• Published in: Journal of organizational behavior Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 627 - 647
• Main Authors: Johnson, Jonathan L., O'Leary-Kelly, Anne M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.08.2003; John Wiley & Sons; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior; Breach of contract; Cognitive psychology; Contract breaches; Cynicism; Effects; Employee attitude; Employee-Employer relationships; Employees; Employers; Employment; Employment contracts; Exhaustion; Industrial and organizational psychology; Job satisfaction; Occupational psychology; Organizational behavior; Organizational commitment; Organizational psychology; Organizations; Perceptions; Psychological attitudes; Psychological contracts; Psychological research; Psychology; Social exchange; Social exchange theory; Social psychology; Studies; Violations; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 0894-3796; 1099-1379
• DOI: 10.1002/job.207

This research explored the differential effects on employees of two types of social exchange violations: those that generate perceptions of psychological contract breach and of organizational cynicism. We predicted that psychological contract breach and cynicism would result in differential outcomes because of differences in the person specificity of their underlying social exchange relationships. Using a sample of bank employees, we found that cynicism partially mediated the effects of psychological contract breach on work-related attitudes (organizational commitment, job satisfaction), but that only psychological contract breach (not cynicism) predicted employees' behavioral responses (performance, absenteeism). Further, affective cynicism fully mediated the relationship between psychological contract breach and emotional exhaustion, suggesting that cynical attitudes have negative consequences for the attitude holder.