The role of the psychological contract in individual motivation to generate ideas: A social exchange perspective.

摘要

Using the perspective of social exchange theory (Blau, 1986), the nature of the relationship between employee and employer is proposed to be a determinant of individual motivation to engage in idea generation. Based on social exchange principles, the aspects of the relationship between employee and employer that will have motivational impact are best represented by the psychological contract, conceptualized as varying on a continuum from transactional to relational (Shore and Tetrick, 1994).; Type of psychological contract is hypothesized to relate to both the volume and creativity of ideas generated by individuals due to two motivation-related effects. First, type of psychological contract will indirectly relate to the volume and creativity of ideas generated via its effect on identification with the organization (Rousseau, 1998). Because identification with the organization is expected to result in increased motivation to benefit the organization (Organ, 1988), the more relational the psychological contract, the greater identification with the organization, and subsequently, the greater the volume and creativity of ideas generated by individuals. The strength of the relationship between identification and both idea generation outcomes will be moderated by the extent to which individuals perceive these outcomes to be operative goals of the organization.; Second, type of psychological contract will influence the relationship between creativity-contingent rewards and intrinsic motivation. More specifically, type of psychological contract will influence the degree to which creativity-contingent rewards are perceived as detrimental to self-determination, and thus will moderate the relationship between rewards and intrinsic motivation.; In order to test the hypothesized relationships, cross-sectional survey data were gathered from 123 employees and their managers in two organizations. The hypothesized relationships were tested via regression analyses and the overall model was tested via structural equation modeling. Results supported the relationship between the psychological contract and idea volume via the mediating effect of organizational identification. In addition, the psychological contract related to idea creativity, mediated by self-determination and intrinsic motivation. Structural equation modeling further supported two distinct paths between the psychological contract and idea generation behaviors.