The role of cultural values, personality disposition and attitudes in influencing psychological contract violation and citizenship behaviours

Abstract

This study assesses the impact of downsizing on psychological contract violation and organisation citizenship behaviours. It examines the role of five antecedents in explaining these outcomes: cultural value orientations, negative affectivity, perceived justice, attitudes to downsizing and perceived employability. Subjects were surveyed at two different points in time: one month and nine months after the downsizing was implemented. Data were collected from 281 employees who responded both at Time 1 and Time 2. Correlational analysis and structural equation modeling were used to examine a causal model that negative affectivity and cultural value orientations predict survivors ' perception of justice, attitude to downsizing, and perception of employability; that perceived justice, attitude to downsizing and perceived employability predict survivors ' psychological contract violation; and psychological contract violation predicts organisational citizenship behaviour. The model is supported in the main with the important finding that cultural value orientations are not significant predictors and indeed their effect can be explained by the individual predisposition of negative affectivity. The implications for cross-cultural study of phenomena such as downsizing are discussed.