The New and Key Roles for Psychological Contract Status and Engagement in Predicting Various Performance Behaviors of Nurses

Abstract

The study examines the impact of the psychological contract (PC), including the often-studied PC breach in addition to the novel approach of PC status, as predictors of performance among nurses, mediated by engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological distress. A sample of 177 nurses and midwives from a medium to a large hospital in Australia completed a self-report questionnaire. Structural equation modelling was used to determine associations between the predictors (i.e., negative affectivity (NA), PC breach, PC status)), mediating variables (i.e., engagement, job satisfaction, and psychological distress), and three types of performance behaviors: organizational citizenship behavior for the individual, for the organization (OCBI, OCBO) and in-role behavior (IRB) simultaneously. Specifically, psychological contract status positively predicted engagement, whereas breach negatively predicted engagement and positively predicted job satisfaction. NA positively predicted distress, and distress negatively predicted OCBO and IRB. Lastly, engagement positively predicted job satisfaction, OCBI, OCBO, and IRB. The findings indicate that psychological contract status may predict engagement (and in turn, performance) over and above psychological contract breach, and thus this novel construct should be examined further. The importance of engagement for predicting the performance behaviors and mental health of nurses may also offer new insights.

Keywords: engagement; job satisfaction; nurses; organizational citizenship behavior; performance; psychological contract.

Figure 1

The structural equation model of the significant relationships among the aspects of the psychological contract, via mediators, onto extra-role and in-role performance behaviors.