The New and Key Roles for Psychological Contract Status and Engagement in Predicting Various Performance Behaviors of Nurses

John Rodwell (), Andre Gulyas and Dianne Johnson
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John Rodwell: Department of Management & Marketing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Andre Gulyas: Think HQ, South Melbourne, VIC 3205, Australia
Dianne Johnson: Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-14

Abstract: The study examines the impact of the psychological contract (PC), including the often-studied PC breach in addition to the novel approach of PC status, as predictors of performance among nurses, mediated by engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological distress. A sample of 177 nurses and midwives from a medium to a large hospital in Australia completed a self-report questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to determine associations between the predictors (i.e., negative affectivity (NA), PC breach, PC status)), mediating variables (i.e., engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological distress), and three types of performance behaviors: organizational citizenship behavior for the individual, for the organization (OCBI, OCBO) and in-role behavior (IRB) simultaneously. Specifically, psychological contract status positively predicted engagement, whereas breach negatively predicted engagement and positively predicted job satisfaction. NA positively predicted distress, and distress negatively predicted OCBO and IRB. Lastly, engagement positively predicted job satisfaction, OCBI, OCBO, and IRB. The findings indicate that psychological contract status may predict engagement (and in turn, performance) over and above psychological contract breach, and thus this novel construct should be examined further. The importance of engagement for predicting the performance behaviors and mental health of nurses may also offer new insights.

Keywords: psychological contract; nurses; engagement; organizational citizenship behavior; job satisfaction; performance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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