Article Published in Academy of Management Journal

An article co-authored by Professor Sandy Wayne and PhD student David Henderson was published in the December issue of the Academy of Management Journal. In the article, titled "Not All Responses to Breach are the Same: The Interconnection of Social Exchange and Psychological Contract Processes in Organizations," they examined the effects of psychological contract breach and violations as they occur within social exchange relationships to account for employee outcomes. The study also looked at perceived organizational support (POS), which shows employees are motivated by the organization’s commitment to them, as well as leader-member exchange (LMX), which focuses on increasing organizational success by creating positive relations between the leader and subordinate. Results of the longitudinal study suggested that psychological contract breach partially mediated the effects of POS and LMX, on intentions to quit. POS and LMX moderated the relationship between breach and violation, while violation fully mediated the effects of breach on commitment and trust and partially mediated the effect of breach on turnover intentions. These findings highlight the interconnection of social exchange, a process of negotiated exchanges between parties, and psychological contract, the mutual beliefs, perceptions, and informal obligations between an employer and an employee.