PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT VIOLATION AND THE ESCALATING CYCLE OF MISTRUST

Psychological contract violations in the workplace can lead to disruptive behavior, but few studies have examined why the disruptive behavior may persist over time. This paper extends the current understanding of psychological contracts by proposing a model that illustrates an escalating cycle of mi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of business strategies Vol. 37; no. 1; pp. 28 - 42
Main Author Lilly, Juliana D
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Huntsville Gibson D. Lewis Center for Business and Economic Development 01.04.2020
Subjects
Absenteeism
Behavior
Employees
Employment security
Longitudinal studies
Organizational justice
Perceptions
Procedural justice
Socialization
Violations
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Summary:Psychological contract violations in the workplace can lead to disruptive behavior, but few studies have examined why the disruptive behavior may persist over time. This paper extends the current understanding of psychological contracts by proposing a model that illustrates an escalating cycle of mistrust resulting from a perceived contract violation. The model proposes that after a psychological contract violation has occurred, an escalating cycle of mistrust is created that feeds on itself through transactional cost behaviors of both the victim and the perpetrator of the violation. Once the cycle of mistrust has begun, it can only be broken if one party exhibits specific behaviors that focus on resolving the issue rather than perpetuating the cycle.
ISSN:0887-2058
2162-6901