The mitigating role of leader‒member exchange when perceiving psychological contract violation: a diary survey study among volunteers

Several scholars in the field of volunteering emphasized the pivotal role of psychological contract (PC) violation in explaining maladaptive behavioural reactions—such as counterproductive work behaviour (CWB)—of volunteers. Reactions to violation feelings are, however, interrelated and may intensify over time. Extending this dynamic perspective, we introduce momentary leader–member exchange (LMX) as a buffering social resource in the relationship between violation feelings and (1) CWB and (2) the likelihood to perceive a PC breach. Using weekly diary survey data from 247 volunteers (827 observations), we conducted a moderated multilevel zero-inflated Poisson regression analysis. As hypothesized, experiencing feelings of violation during one week related positively to CWB towards the organization (CWB-O), but not to CWB towards individuals (CWB-I) during the next week. Moreover, experiencing violation feelings during one week increased the likelihood to perceive a PC breach during the subsequent week. Finally, experiencing a high-quality LMX relationship effectively mitigated the positive relationship between violation feelings during one week and (1) CWB-O, and (2) the likelihood to perceive a PC breach during the next week. Our study highlights momentary LMX as an effective redressing mechanism in the relationship between violation feelings and undesirable employee outcomes.

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