Perceived identity threat and organizational cynicism in the recursive relationship between psychological contract breach and counterproductive work behavior

Yannick Griep, Samantha D Hansen and Johannes M Kraak
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Yannick Griep: Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, The Netherlands; Division of Epidemiology, Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden
Samantha D Hansen: Department of Management, University of Toronto Scarborough and Rotman School of Management, Canada
Johannes M Kraak: Management Department, Kedge Business School, France

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2023, vol. 44, issue 2, 351-384

Abstract: Counterproductive work behavior toward the organization (CWB-O) or supervisor (CWB-S) is commonly treated as a consequence of psychological contract breach (PCB). However, drawing from Self-Consistency Theory, the authors in this article argue that the PCB–CWB relationship is recursive through two mediating mechanisms: self-identity threat and organizational cynicism. Furthermore, the authors predict that the relationship between feelings of violation and CWB-O (or CWB-S) would depend on the extent to which the victim attributed blame to the organization (or supervisor). Using weekly and daily survey data, the study found that identity threat was a stronger mediator for recursive CWB–PCB relationships. Moreover, it was found that PCB related positively to violation feelings, which in turn related positively to CWB-O and CWB-S over time. As predicted, the former was moderated by organizational blame attributions, whereas the latter was moderated by supervisor blame attributions. The authors discuss the theoretical implications and propose novel practical implications based on these reciprocal findings.

Keywords: Attribution; counterproductive work behavior; identity threat; psychological contract; recursive relationship; violation feelings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:44:y:2023:i:2:p:351-384

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X211070326

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