The influence of personality on emotional and behavioral responses to psychological contract breach

Abstract

Purpose

Using Hirschman's Exit–Voice–Loyalty–Neglect (EVLN) framework, this study examines the dual-moderating role of the big five personality traits in shaping workers' behavioral responses to psychological contract breach. Building from calls for research on individual differences in psychological contract dynamics, the current study applies the theory of purposeful work behavior to delineate how the higher-order goals prescribed by one's personality jointly guide interpretation processes in forming emotional and behavioral responses. In doing so, we map how certain big five traits shape felt violation and EVLN responses following breach events, while others seem to only moderate emotional or EVLN responses.

Design/methodology/approach

A scenario-based experimental study asked participants (N = 610) about their reactions to a breach event. We tested a dual moderated mediation model, in which agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism moderated the intensity of felt violation, and the likelihood of each EVLN behavior following from felt violation.

Findings

We found evidence for the dual moderating effect of agreeableness on voice responses to breach. Additionally, neuroticism strengthened felt violation following breach, and extraversion weakened endorsement of neglecting work to cope with felt violation. Our results suggest that certain traits are particularly important for individual differences in emotional responses to breach (e.g. neuroticism), while others are important for shaping differences in behavior (e.g. extraversion). Additionally, results shed light on the importance of taking a person-by-situation perspective in understanding work behavior, such that extraversion, while conceptualized as general emotional tendencies, does not significantly influence felt violation in breach contexts.

Originality/value

While previous research has looked at how personality traits moderate either the breach–felt violation relation or the breach–EVLN relation, research has yet to test the moderating effect of personality simultaneously. Excluding one or the other overlooks important individual differences in the process, as interpretation processes guiding emotional and behavioral responses happen concurrently. In doing so, we examine responses to a specific breach event (rather than general breach perceptions), as this better aligns with the conceptualizations of breach (as specific occasions of broken promises) and felt violation (as an emotional state).

Citation

Saef, R.M., Köhler, T. and Jebb, A. (2024), "The influence of personality on emotional and behavioral responses to psychological contract breach", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-10-2023-0616