PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACTS AND OCB - THE EFFECT OF UNFULFILLED OBLIGATIONS ON CIVIC VIRTUE BEHAVIOR

This study examines the relationship between violation of an employee' s psychological contract and civic virtue behavior. A psychological co ntract is a set of beliefs regarding mutual obligations between employ ee and employer. One hundred twenty-six MBA alumni were surveyed at th e time of hire (T1), and after 18 months (T2) and 30 months (T3) on th e job. When employees felt that their employers had failed to fulfil e mployment obligations at T2, they were less likely to engage in civic virtue behavior at T3. There was evidence that this relationship was p artly mediated by trust. Thes findings have implications for research on OCB and for managers seeking to maintain employee citizenship behav ior.