Do Psychological Hardiness and Perceived Organizational Support affect Psychological Contract and Employee Performance An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

The Indian Information Technology/Information Technology Enabled Service (IT/ITES) industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India, which generates tremendous job opportunities. But, the jobs in IT/ITES industry are quite stressful and demanding. Some personality factors like Psychological hardiness seem to buffer the effect of job stress by promoting effective coping mechanisms. newlineEvidence from existing literature indicates that psychological hardiness enhances performance, health, and moods despite stressful circumstances. According to hardiness theory, hardy individuals have a better and wider social network, which helps them in maintaining good relationships with others and also provides them social support. This implies that hardy individuals build better employee-employer relationships. newlineThere is a general agreement that job stress occurs as an interaction of both employee characteristics as well as perceptions of organizational support. In addition to individual hardiness characteristics, the perception of individuals regarding their work environment may also affect the employee-employer relationship. So, along with psychological hardiness, perceived organizational support may also affect employee s work performance. The felt obligation, affective commitment and performance will increase when individuals perceive that the organization is providing support and fulfilling their socioeconomic needs. newlineThe interactive effect of psychological hardiness and perceived organizational support may provide a better understanding of the employee-employer relationship. Superior work performance by employee in favor of organization would be achieved if there is a healthy relationship between employees and their organizations. One of the best ways to study this relationship is through the construct, psychological contract.