Deviant Behavior: Relationships Between Breach of Psychological Contract and Organizational Culture

Abstract

This article investigates the role of psychological contract breach mediated by organizational culture in the propensity for deviant behavior in the work environment. Until now, there was no model that evidenced how the relationship between these three constructs occur together. One hundred and sixty five pharmaceutical retail employees participated in this research, through exploratory descriptive research. The model was tested using structural equations. It was observed that certain types of organizational culture mediate the relationship between breach of psychological contract and deviant behavior at work. It is concluded that the market and adhocratic organizational culture do not mediate the relationship between breach of psychological contract and deviant behavior at work. Nevertheless, the hierarchical organizational culture has an inhibiting effect on deviant behavior at work, due to the rigid control of people, which proved to be different from the clan culture.

Keywords

• workplace deviant behavior
• organizational culture
• feelings of violation