Personality traits as predictors of psychological contract breach

Posljednjih je godina porastao interes za istraživanje psihološkog ugovora kao temeljnog okvira razumijevanja odnosa između zaposlenika i poslodavca. Psihološki ugovor čine pojedinčeva uvjerenja o uzajamnim obvezama ili dužnostima koje postoje između njega i poslodavca. Prekršaj psihološkog ugovora odnosi se na pojedinčevu percepciju da organizacija nije ispoštovala svoj dio ugovora, odnosno da od nje nije dobio ono što je zaslužio s obzirom na vrijeme i trud koji je uložio. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati povezanost osobina ličnosti modela Velikih Pet s percepcijom prekršaja psihološkog ugovora te dodanu valjanost dimenzija iz ovog modela povrh sociodemografskih karakteristika u objašnjavanju prekršaja psihološkog ugovora. Podaci su prikupljeni na prigodnom uzorku (N=362) osoba zaposlenih u organizacijama u Hrvatskoj. Percepcija prekršaja psihološkog ugovora ispitana je Skalom percipiranog prekršaja psihološkog ugovora, a osobine ličnosti IPIP 50 upitnikom ličnosti. Pronađena je statistički značajna negativna povezanost ekstraverzije, emocionalne stabilnosti i intelekta s prekršajem psihološkog ugovora. Percepcija prekršaja psihološkog ugovora bila je viša kod starijih zaposlenika, onih s dužim radnim stažom, nižeg stupnja obrazovanja i zaposlenih u javnom sektoru. Utvrđena je statistički značajna dodana valjanost modela Velikih Pet (konkretno emocionalne stabilnosti) povrh sociodemografskih karakteristika u objašnjavanju percepcije prekršaja psihološkog ugovora.In recent years there has been growing interest in the research of psychological contract as a framework for understanding the employment relationship. Psychological contract consists of employee's beliefs concerning mutual obligations and duties that exist between himself/herself and the employer. Psychological contract breach refers to an individual's perception that the organization did not fulfill its part of the contract, namely that he/she did not receive what he/she deserved from the organization, considering the amount of time and effort invested. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the Big Five model of personality and psychological contract breach. Furthermore, we tried to examine the incremental validity of this model beyond sociodemographic characteristics in predicting psychological contract breach. The data were collected on a random sample (N=362) of employees in Croatia. Psychological Contract Breach Scale was used to measure psychological contract breach, while the IPIP 50 Questionnaire was used to measure personality traits. The results revealed a statistically significant negative correlation of extraversion, emotional stability and intellect with psychological contract breach. It was shown that older employees, those with longer tenure, lower level of education and employed in the public sector perceived psychological contract breach more strongly. The incremental validity of the Big Five model (specifically emotional stability) beyond sociodemographic characteristics in predicting the perception of psychological contract was found to be statistically significant