Negative consequences of felt violations: The deeper the relationship, the stronger the reaction

Abstract

Drawing from past research suggesting that high prior commitment leads to stronger reactions to unfairness in the workplace (Brockner, Tyler, & Cooper-Schneider, 1992), we predicted that those forming relational as opposed to transactional psychological contracts would exhibit stronger detrimental effects of felt violation on job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and job performance. We also predicted a combined effect of personality and violation on these outcomes. Self- and supervisor-reported data (N= 331 dyads) collected from a variety of organisations supported our predictions. In general, relational contract terms were associated with stronger violation-outcome relationships, and transactional contract terms were associated with weaker relationships. Similarly, four of the Big Five dimensions (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, and openness to experience) moderated the violation-outcome relationships such that it was stronger for higher levels of these traits. © 2011 The Authors. Applied Psychology: An International Review © 2011 International Association of Applied Psychology.