Impact of psychological contract fulfillment on organizational citizenship behavior: Mediating role of perceived organizational support

This study aims to investigate the impact of psychological contract fulfillment (PCF; independent) on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB; dependent) with perceived organizational support (POS) playing a partial mediating role.

Quantitative methodology has been adopted to achieve the aim of this study, and data were collected via a questionnaire through an employee–supervisor/colleague dyad. Various five- and four-star hotel staff members in Pakistan were the target population, eliciting a recorded sample of 418 employees and 105 supervisors/colleagues.

The study revealed that PCF has a positive impact on POS and OCB. The partial mediating role of POS between the dependent and independent variables was also confirmed.

Among the implications, a novel theoretical underpinning of organizational support theory (OST) was established in psychological contract literature in addition to the social exchange theory (SET). Similarly, the mediating mechanism of POS was also validated, thereby offering an additional extension in psychological contract literature. Among the limitations, the cross-sectional nature of data and testing of a single mediating path between independent and dependent variables can be noted.

Alternative theoretical underpinning, that is, the usage of OST, the partial mediating role of POS and the study settings, i.e. evidence from the hotel industry from a developing country, are novel contributions of this study.