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

Abstract

Abstract 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.

Keywords

• Nurses
• Organizational justice
• Psychological contract breach