Employee Personality Traits and Reactions to Psychological Contract Breach in the Lebanese Context

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of employee personality traits on the response to a psychological contract breach within the Lebanese context. It specifically examines the influence of various typologies on job satisfaction, trust, loyalty, organizational commitment, and delves deeper into the result of having the psychological contract breached. A total of 30 comprehensive interviews were conducted in order to examine employee reactions to breach of the psychological contract, along with a qualitative analysis of their personality according to the Big Five personality trait model. The findings demonstrate that the concept of a “psychological contract” is not familiar within the Lebanese context. The relationship between one’s personality trait and the response to the psychological contract breach are also new concepts within the Lebanese context. The findings suggest that there is a strong relationship between employee personality traits and the response to the perceived psychological contract breach. For example, findings show that those who consider themselves to be extraverts and the neuroticisms have the most aggressive reaction to the breach of the psychological contract.