The Impact of Psychological Contract Breach on Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement: A Study of Academic Staff in Private Universities

Abstract

The research paper has examined how Psychological Contract Breach (PCB) influences job satisfaction and work engagement among employees in Jaipur, India, in a private university. PCB means that employees believe that their organization has not kept the promises and this may affect the attitudes and motivation of the employees negatively. Based on the Social Exchange Theory and Conservation of Resources Theory, the study sought to measure the effect of PCB on job satisfaction and investigates whether the PCB affects employee engagement. The study was conducted through a cross-sectional descriptive and correlational design by obtaining data of 400 academic staff using validated survey tools to assess PCB, job satisfaction, and engagement. Intense statistical regression using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated that PCB significantly decreased job satisfaction and staff involvement. The results support the value of integrity in terms of the psychological contracts to ensure the growth of positive employee attitudes and maintaining motivation. The implications of the studies are that the organizations need to focus on the transparent communication, fairness, and trust-building to reduce the number of breaches and their detrimental outcomes. The paper makes contributions to literature by affirming the importance of PCB in determining the significant employee outcomes and offering recommendations to human resource practices that can be implemented to improve commitment and performance at the workplace.