Organizational justice and the psychological contract

Investigating the relationship between various dimensions of organizational justice and psychological contract breach among clinical nurses: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Although psychological contract breach is linked to various significant organizational consequences, few studies have explored the antecedents of this important concept within the nursing field. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between perceived organizational justice and psychological contract breach among clinical nurses.

METHODS

This descriptive cross-sectional study included 328 inpatient ward nurses from six teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Clinical nurses were selected through multistage random sampling. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Niehoff and Moorman (1993) Organizational Justice Questionnaire, and the Robinson and Morrison (2000) Psychological Contract Breach Questionnaire.Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 21 using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

The findings revealed that procedural justice (P < 0.001; β=-0.20) and interactional justice (P < 0.001; β=-0.47) explained 41% of the variance in psychological contract breach among nursing staff.

CONCLUSIONS

The results identified interactional and procedural justice as the most significant dimensions of organizational justice in explaining nurses' perceived psychological contract breach. Therefore, healthcare managers should prioritize fair decision-making processes and interactions with nurses to mitigate ' perceived the psychological contract breach.

The psychological contract and retention practices in the higher education context: the mediating role of organisational justice and trust

Employee turnover and talent retention are both key concerns for higher education institutions because they are losing highly qualified staff members to the private sector and other higher education institutions that offer better rewards and benefits. This study explored the mediating effect of perceptions of organisational justice and trust relationships on the link between higher education institution staff’s psychological contract perceptions and satisfaction with organisational retention practices. The study involved a cross-sectional quantitative survey with a sample of ( N = 493) full-time employees, both from academic and support staff, at an open distance learning higher education institution in South Africa. Structural equation mediation modelling and mediation analysis showed that organisational justice and trust relationships function as positive parallel and separate mediating mechanisms in the psychological contract – retention practices’ satisfaction link. The study highlighted the importance of employees’ psychological contract beliefs in the employee–organisation relationship, and especially in determining mutual expectations that guide and shape perceptions of organisational justice and trust. Employees’ satisfaction with retention practices is positively enhanced when they experience mutually satisfactory just and trustworthy relations in the organisation.

Perception of Justice and Employees' Brand-Based Equity in the Service Sector: Evidence From Education Industry

This study aims to investigate the impact of justice perception of the employees on three dimensions of employee-based brand equity (EBBE) under the mediating role of psychological contract fulfillment. For this purpose, data have been collected from the employees of the education industry under the convenience sampling technique. In this regard, a survey method was used, and questionnaires were distributed among 420 respondents, out of which 310 questionnaires were received back, and after discarding 32 partially filled questionnaires, useable responses were left (279 observations). Data have been analyzed through structural equation modeling, and the partial least square (PLS)-SEM approach has been used in this regard through the Smart PLS software. Measurement and structural models were assessed, and all the indicators of reliability and validity have been found to be fit. Path estimation indicates that perception of justice promotes brand endorsement and brand allegiance, while the relationship of perception of justice and brand-consistent behavior has not been found statistically significant. Moreover, it has also been found that perception of justice ensures employees that their psychological contract has been met. In addition, psychological contract fulfillment has found a mediating mechanism between the perception of justice and the three dimensions of EBBE.

Staff support in a National Health Service mental health trust in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: qualitative study

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the impact work can have on healthcare workers and the importance of staff support services. Rapid guidance was published to encourage preventive and responsive support for healthcare workers.

AIMS

To understand mental healthcare staff's help-seeking behaviours and access to support at work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform iterative improvements to provision of staff support.

METHOD

We conducted a formative appraisal of access to support and support needs of staff in a National Health Service mental health trust. This involved 11 semi-structured individual interviews using a topic guide. Five virtual staff forums were additional sources of data. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes.

RESULTS

Peer-based, within-team support was highly valued and sought after. However, access to support was negatively affected by work pressures, physical distancing and perceived cultural barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

Healthcare organisations need to help colleagues to support each other by facilitating open, diverse workplace cultures and providing easily accessible, safe and reflective spaces. Future research should evaluate support in the evolving work contexts imposed by COVID-19 to inform interventions that account for differences across healthcare workforces.

Complaints about bullying at the workplace are related to fantasies of aggression in psychosomatic patientss

BACKGROUND

The workplace can be associated with social stressors like vilification, humiliation, and breach of trust. A common emotional response is embitterment and aggressive behavior.

OBJECTIVE

Aim of the study is to investigate the relation between work-related problems, including bullying, and fantasies of aggression.

METHODS

Therapists of a department of behavioral medicine routinely had to fill in a diagnostic checklist whenever they saw signs of embitterment and/or aggression in their patients. The type of aggressive fantasies was categorized in no fantasy, minor harm, serious harm without bodily harm, or bodily harm. Independent of this interview, social workers assessed problems at work (duration of sickness absence, workplace insecurity, bullying at workplace, ability to work, expectation of pension). Patients were also asked to fill in an embitterment questionnaire and the Symptom-Checklist-90. Further sociodemographic and clinical information was taken from the hospital routine documentation.

RESULTS

A total of 3211 patients were admitted to the hospital during the observation period. Therapists saw the indication for an in-depth interview because of aggressive fantasies in 102 (3.2%) patients. Aggressive ideations refer to "minor harm" in 27%, "serious harm" in 37%, and "bodily harm" in 35%of patients, respectively. There is a significant relation between the severity of aggressive ideations and bullying and duration of sick leave. There was also a significant correlation between ideas of aggression and feelings of embitterment.

CONCLUSION

Aggressive ideations are interrelated with psychosomatic distress and workplace problems and feelings of embitterment. This is of importance for prevention and interventions in regard to workplace bullying.

The association of occupational stress and sleep duration with anxiety symptoms among healthy employees: A cohort study

The aim of this study is to identify occupational stress associated with the development of new-onset anxiety symptoms and the dose-response relationship between sleep duration and the onset of anxiety symptoms. Data from 29,251 healthy employees who had undergone at least two comprehensive health examinations at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital Health Screening Center were analysed. Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Occupational stress and sleep duration were measured using a self-reported questionnaire about total sleep time and the Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form (KOSS-SF), respectively. Flexible parametric proportional hazards model used to estimate the hazard ratios. Compared with the groups without case-level anxiety, discomfort in an organizational climate, high job demands, job insecurity, organizational injustice and lack of reward were associated with the onset of case-level anxiety. Compared with less than 6 hr of sleep per day, the beneficial level of sleep duration was 7 ≤ to <9 hr a day. Almost all subscales of job stress were associated with the development of anxiety symptoms. In addition, the efficacious level of sleep duration for reducing the onset of future anxiety symptoms was 7 ≤ to <9 hr a day.