Balancing psychological contracts: Validation of a typology

Abstract

In this study, a psychological contract typology based on both content and exchange balance was developed. Content was defined along the transactional-relational dimension. Balance was assessed by comparing employees' perceptions on the number of employees' obligations relative to employer's obligations. Furthermore, the typology was related to type of employment contract (temporary versus permanent) as perhaps the most important antecedent of psychological contracts, and to various psychological consequences (job satisfaction, life satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological contract violation). Results were based on Belgian and German data (N = 1267). Latent Class Analyses suggested four psychological contract types which are clearly distinct with regard to content terms and exchange balance: mutual high obligations, employee over-obligation, employee under-obligation and mutual low obligations. Temporary workers were more likely to hold psychological contracts with few employer obligations, such as the mutual low obligations and the employee over-obligation type. Finally, the mutual high obligations type was most beneficial in terms of psychological outcomes. Implications for future research are discussed.

Keywords:

• exchange balance
• job satisfaction
• life satisfaction
• organizational commitment
• psychological contract
• temporary employment
• violation

Acknowledgements

This research is part of the Psycones-project (PSYchological CONtracts across Employment Situations) supported by a grant from the EU, 5th framework programme (HPSE-CT-2002-00121). Further information about the project is available on the web-page: www.uv.es/ ∼ psycon.

This research was supported by a short visit grant from ESF. We would also like to thank Guy Notelaers for his helpful comments on previous versions of this article. The Belgian study was supported by a grant by the FWO (Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek–Vlaanderen).