Ineffective kintsugi: The detrimental contribution of emotional and cognitive factors on psychological contract breach outcomes

BACKGROUND: The literature acknowledges that when there is a failure of expectations in the organization-employee relationship, namely the Psychological Contract Breach, it can potentially contribute to deviant behavior such as Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB). A justice perspective helps to disentangle this link by suggesting that unethical behaviors may represent the revenge response to perceived organizational unfairness. OBJECTIVE: To gain a more granular understanding of the pathway from Psychological Contract Breach to CWB, this study explores the mediating role of negative emotions in eliciting CWB. It also proposes that the mechanism of moral disengagement helps to deactivate self-sanctioning processes, allowing individuals to engage in deviant behaviors. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was employed, and conditional process analysis was conducted on a sample of 635 Italian police officer cadets, who were entering the prison system, a context highly susceptible to a failure of expectations and where, at the same time, counteracting unethical behaviors is a key issue. RESULTS: The results supported the tested model, highlighting the mediator role of Job-Related Negative Emotions in the Psychological Contract Breach–CWB relationship and their interaction with Moral Disengagement in shaping CWB. CONCLUSIONS: By examining the interplay between affective and cognitive components, the study provides valuable insights into the underlying processes involved in the relationship between failure in expectancies and deviant behavior. From a managerial perspective, the findings emphasize the importance of prioritizing fairness within organizations through balanced mutual obligations, and raising awareness of moral regulation mechanisms that may shape deviant behaviors.