Skip to main content
Log in

Perceptions of Psychological Contract Breach and Perceptions of Co-Worker Exclusion: The Moderating Effects of Collectivism and Individualism

  • Brief Research Report
  • Published:
Occupational Health Science Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Social exclusion has negative outcomes in the workplace, yet we know little about its antecedents. We argue that employees’ perceptions of psychological contract breach (by their organizations) lead them to perceive that they are being excluded by co-workers. We further argue that the individual-level cultural values of collectivism and individualism play important roles in determining the degree to which employees perceive co-worker exclusion. Using a sample of 265 employees across two points in time, we find a positive association between perceptions of psychological contract breach and perceptions of co-worker exclusion. We also find that employees’ collectivistic orientations weaken this positive relationship, while employees’ individualistic orientations strengthen this positive relationship. Our findings add to the growing body of research exploring the interconnectedness of social exchange relationships in the workplace, as well as how cultural values affect these social exchange relationships.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Notes

  1. Results of analyses including dummy variables for race were substantively the same.

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kevin S. Cruz.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cruz, K.S., Zagenczyk, T.J., Scott, K.L. et al. Perceptions of Psychological Contract Breach and Perceptions of Co-Worker Exclusion: The Moderating Effects of Collectivism and Individualism. Occup Health Sci 2, 233–245 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-018-0024-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-018-0024-6

Keywords

Navigation