Managing the aftermath of psychological contract violation: employee–organizational interplay, calling, and socio-cognitive coping in vulnerable work populations

Employees often need to recover from psychological contract violation, or the adverse emotional responses following the experience of unmet obligations. Recent theory and research indicate that managing violation to achieve resolution is a rather complicated process and includes managing emotions and re-establishing relationships with the employer. Perceived organizational responsiveness and likelihood of violation resolution are key mechanisms to address violation. In this chapter, the authors review literature related to violation management and offer directions for future research and practice. They also extend their review by introducing the role of calling to understand how employees remain in their employment when organizational inducements are limited and coping is constrained. Finally, they address the case of vulnerable workers and how this population manages violations while remaining employed, through downward social comparisons and collective coping. Overall, they review existing research on the post-violation aftermath and extend the research implications for this psychological contract research stream.