The development of psychological contract breach and violation: a longitudinal study

This study examines factors affecting employees' perceptions that their psy chological contract has been breached by their organization, and factors af fecting whether this perception will cause employees to experience feelings of contract violation. Data were obtained from 147 managers just prior to their beginning of new job (time 1) and 18 months later (time 2). It was fo und that perceived contract breach at time 2 was more likely when organizat ional performance and self-reported employee performance were low, the empl oyee had not experienced a formal socialization process, the employee had l ittle interaction with organizational agents prior to hire, the employee ha d a history of psychological contract breach with former employers, and the employee had many employment alternatives at the time of hire. Furthermore , perceived breach was associated with more intense feelings of violation w hen employees both attributed the breach to purposeful reneging by the empl oyer and felt unfairly treated in the process. Theoretical and practical im plications of these results are discussed. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.