Causal attributions and interactional justice as moderators of the relationship between perceived psychological contract breach and critical employee outcomes

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived psychological contract breach and employee job satisfaction, civic virtue behavior, and turnover intentions and to examine whether causal attributions and interactional justice moderate these relationships. Eighty five college professors completed surveys designed to assess these variables. Perceived psychological contract breach was found to be negatively associated with employee job satisfaction and positively associated with turnover intentions. Breaches perceived to be intentional were associated with even lower levels of job satisfaction, but perceived intent did not moderate the relationship between perceived breach and the other outcome variables. Similarly, interactional justice did not moderate the relationship between perceived breach and any of the outcome variables. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.