| The overarching objectives of this dissertation are (1) to examine the evolving nature of newcomers' psychological contracts from initial pre-hire contact to the early post employment period, (2) to investigate determinants (RJPs and organizational socialization) of the changes in newcomers' psychological contracts, (3) to assess additive and/or substitutive effects of RJPs and organizational socialization on newcomers' psychological contracts, and (4) to examine the consequences of changes in newcomers' perceptions of reciprocal obligations and perceptions of contract violations on work outcomes. Longitudinal data collected from 71 newcomers and their immediate supervisors revealed that their perceptions of reciprocal relational obligation decreased while their transactional obligations increased over three months. Moreover, realistic job previews predicted organization's relational obligations and changes in this obligation at pre-employment period while organizational socialization predicted newcomers' perceptions of their relational obligations and changes in this obligation. However, changes in organization's relational obligations didn't predict psychological contract violations. Likewise, changes in newcomers' relational obligations didn't predict employee work outcomes; thus, it didn't mediate the relationship between realistic job previews and organizational socialization and work outcomes. Finally, psychological contract violations predicted job satisfaction, affective commitment and intent to leave. The dissertation contributes to the development of three knowledge domains within the organizational sciences: psychological contracts, RJPs, and organizational socialization. In particular, the dissertation integrated findings from the three areas and attempted to extend our understanding of how newcomers' psychological contracts evolve from pre- to early post-employment period. The research also has important practical implications for managers concerned with optimizing the value of their organization's investments in human resources and theoretical contributions to scholars in the three research areas. |
