Psychological Contract Violation and The Escalating Cycle of Mistrust

Abstract

Psychological contract violations in the workplace can lead to disruptive
behavior, but few studies have examined why the disruptive behavior may persist
over time. This paper extends the current understanding of psychological contracts
by proposing a model that illustrates an escalating cycle of mistrust resulting from a
perceived contract violation. The model proposes that after a psychological contract
violation has occurred, an escalating cycle of mistrust is created that feeds on itself
through transactional cost behaviors of both the victim and the perpetrator of the
violation. Once the cycle of mistrust has begun, it can only be broken if one party
exhibits specific behaviors that focus on resolving the issue rather than perpetuating
the cycle.