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Research Article

The Effect of Psychological Contract on Creativity and Task Performance

Jang, Seunghun1 · Son, Seungyeon1 · Noh, Myeonghwa1

1 Korea National Defense University

Published: January 2014 · Vol. 43 No. 5 · pp. 1761-1786
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Abstract

According to social exchange theory, the exchange relationship that members have with their organization can be an important determinant of their attitudes and behaviors. In particular, psychological contracts are a representative research topic within social exchange theory, and research on the impact of contract fulfillment on members' attitudes and behaviors has continued. Meanwhile, as creativity—which serves as the foundation for organizational innovation and change—has become a key management topic, researchers have been studying the factors that induce creativity and its effects on performance at multiple levels. Notably, there is a growing trend toward viewing creativity as a concept that can be sufficiently managed and enhanced through social interactions, rather than something that simply emerges from individual characteristics. Therefore, this study sought to verify the positive effects of psychological contract fulfillment on individual creativity and task performance within organizations, given that psychological contracts well represent social interactions. Additionally, drawing on the notion that members' individualistic orientation—specifically, their sensitivity to gains and losses in exchange relationships—may also influence their responses to their relationship with the organization, this study examined how exchange ideology moderates the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The results showed that psychological contract fulfillment had a significant positive relationship with members' creativity and task performance. Furthermore, when exchange ideology was high, these relationships were found to be strengthened. This study makes three contributions. First, at a time when creativity—the foundation for organizational innovation and change—is increasingly emphasized, it proposed psychological contracts as a means to enhance members' creativity. Second, it advanced beyond prior research showing that psychological contracts bring about changes in individual members' perceptions and attitudes, by demonstrating the relationship with task performance, which can be considered one of the organization's ultimate concerns, thereby expanding the research domain of prior studies. Third, by verifying the interaction effect between psychological contracts and exchange ideology, it provided partial answers to the question of what organizations must do to achieve sustained growth at a time when the proportion of members with strong individualistic orientations is increasing.
Keywords: 심리적 계약 이행창의성과업성과교환 이데올로기사회적 교환이론