Competitive psychological climate, conflict and psychological contract breach

Abstract

The current study adds to existing knowledge by investigating how competitive psychological climate (CPC) is associated with employees' perceptions of the extent to which their employer has failed to appropriately fulfil the psychological contract. To test the research model, we collected information from 247 employees in eight companies. The findings suggest that CPC has a positive indirect relationship with psychological contract breach (PCB) through task and relationship conflict. Additionally, we find that a significant (and negative) direct relationship between CPC and PCP only emerges after partialling out mediation by task and relationship conflict. These findings contribute new insights to the literature with regards the outcomes of CPC and the antecedents of PCB. Furthermore, the results support existing evidence concerning the complex set of outcomes that have been associated with CPC and also generates novel insights into the outcomes for intragroup conflict.