Job characteristics and psychological contract breach

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the 5 job characteristics in the Hackman and Oldham Job Characteristic Model on psychological contract breach. A total of 90 respondents participated in a survey conducted on the streets of Singapore in January 2006. The sample was evenly distributed in terms of gender, marital status and age. Our results showed that task identity, task significance, job autonomy and feedback (from agents) were negatively related to psychological contract breach. In particular, feedback (from agents) seemed to show a strong correlation with psychological contract breach. Job satisfaction was proven to have a partial mediation effect in this relationship. Results of our study may provide insights for HR practitioners on better managing psychological contract through job characteristics. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.