TY - JOUR
T1 - Same Words, Different Worlds
T2 - Exploring Differences in Researcher and Participant Understandings of Promise and Obligation in the Psychological Contract
AU - Ma, Guoxin
AU - Blenkinsopp, John
AU - Armstrong, Steve
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - This paper addresses longstanding questions about how promise and obligation, two of the key conceptual building blocks for psychological contract research, are conceptualized and operationalized (see Conway & Briner, 2005; Rousseau, 2011; Bankins, 2014): How do employees understand these concepts? Would their understandings be congruent with the researchers’ and how would this knowledge inform future psychological contract research? Drawing on interviews with 61 Chinese workers from diverse backgrounds, our results suggest the concepts have distinct meanings for participants in terms of three criteria (defining characteristics, key features, and manifestations in employment). We argue that promise and obligation are likely to serve different functions in employment relationship, and have different meanings for researchers versus participants, and accordingly we highlight the challenges of using them to conceptualize and operationalize psychological contracts in China and beyond.
AB - This paper addresses longstanding questions about how promise and obligation, two of the key conceptual building blocks for psychological contract research, are conceptualized and operationalized (see Conway & Briner, 2005; Rousseau, 2011; Bankins, 2014): How do employees understand these concepts? Would their understandings be congruent with the researchers’ and how would this knowledge inform future psychological contract research? Drawing on interviews with 61 Chinese workers from diverse backgrounds, our results suggest the concepts have distinct meanings for participants in terms of three criteria (defining characteristics, key features, and manifestations in employment). We argue that promise and obligation are likely to serve different functions in employment relationship, and have different meanings for researchers versus participants, and accordingly we highlight the challenges of using them to conceptualize and operationalize psychological contracts in China and beyond.
U2 - 10.1017/jmo.2018.76
DO - 10.1017/jmo.2018.76
M3 - Article
VL - 26
SP - 95
EP - 109
JO - Journal of Management and Organization
JF - Journal of Management and Organization
SN - 1833-3672
IS - 1
ER -