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Article Excerpt
Psychological contract breach occurs when an employee feels that the organization has failed to deliver satisfactorily on its promises (Rousseau, 1995). For example, an employee may have the expectation that the organization will provide training and development opportunities. This expectation serves as the foundation of the psychological contract and failure on the part of the organization to provide development opportunities results in a contract breach. Psychological contract breach has negative consequences for employees and organizations. For example, breach is negatively related to in-role performance, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs; Kickul & Lester, 2001; Lester, Turnley, Bloodgood, & Bolino, 2002; Robinson & Morrison, 1995; Rousseau, 1990; Turnley, Bolino, Lester, & Bloodgood, 2003). The social exchange theory and the norm of reciprocity have been used as theoretical frameworks in explaining why contract breach results in negative consequences (Robinson & Morrison, 1995; Rousseau, 1995). Social exchange theory argues that when one party provides something to another, it expects the other party to reciprocate by providing some contributions in return (Blau, 1964). This exchange process is governed by the norm of reciprocity which maintains that 'people should help those who have helped them' (Gouldner, 1960, p. 171). In other words, reciprocity involves the repayment of specific benefits to those who have provided help or assistance. Thus, when an organization fails to provide the promised returns (i.e. psychological contract breach) employees may withhold their contributions to the organization. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of affective commitment between psychological contract breach and employee performance.
Organizational commitment refers to the psychological bond that links employees to their organization (Allen & Meyer, 1996). In this study, we focus on affective commitment which refers to the degree to which employees experience an emotional attachment with their organization (Allen & Meyer, 1996), This type of commitment has been differentiated from continuance (i.e. costs of leaving the organization are greater than the costs of staying) and normative (i.e. employees' sense of obligation to stay within their organization) aspects of commitment (Allen & Meyer, 1996). In the context of psychological contracts, the affective dimension appears to be the most relevant because it is influenced by the extent to which individuals' needs and expectations about an organization are matched by their actual experiences (McDonald & Makin, 2000). Along similar lines, if an employer intends to strengthen employees' desire to stay with the organization and continue to support and accept its objectives and values, it requires the creation of a strong relational psychological contract (McDonald & Makin, 2000). Existing research provides strong support for the negative relationship between breach and affective commitment (Bunderson, 2001; Rousseau, 1990).
Employee performance can be conceptualized as comprising two dimensions: in-role performance and extra-role behaviour (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Paine, & Bachrach, 2000). Work behaviours that are formally specified in the employment contract are referred to as in-role performance (Williams & Anderson, 1991), while those which transcend core job requirements and are voluntary in nature are referred to as extra-role behaviours or OCBs (Podsakoff et al., 2000). OCBs consist of social behaviours which are intended to benefit the organization and its constituents,...
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