Dissertation

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Psychological Contracts across
Employment Situations
PSYCONES
EU RESEARCH ON
SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
EUR 23155
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Direct orat e- General for Research
2007 Cit izen and Governance in a knowledge- based societ y EUR 23155 EN
EU RESEARCH ON
SOCI AL SCI ENCES AND HUMANI TI ES

Psy chol ogi cal Cont r act s acr oss
Empl oy ment Si t uat i ons
PSYCONES

Fi nal r epor t
HPSE- CT- 2002- 00121

Funded under t he Key Act i on
I mpr ov i ng t he Soci o- economi c Know l edge Base of FP5

DG Resear ch
Eur opean Commi ssi on

I ssued in
January 2006

Coor di nat or of pr oj ect :
Nat ional I nst it ut e for Working Life
St ockholm, Sweden
Kerst in I saksson
www.uv. es/ ~ psycon

Par t ner s:
Universit y of Leipzig, DE, Gisela Mohr, Thomas Rigot t i
Tilburg Universit y, NL, Rene Schalk, Jeroen De Jong
Universit y of Gent , BE, Rit a Claes
Universit y of Leuven, BE, Hans De Wit t e, Nele De Cuyper, Verle De Clerk
King s College, London, UK, David Guest , Michael Clint on
Univerist y of Valencia, ES, Jose M. Peir, Amparo Caballer, Francisco Gracia, Jos Ramos,
I nmaculada Silla
Bar I lan Universit y, I L, Moshe Krausz, Noga St aynvart s

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v

Pr ef ace
Wit hin t he Fift h Communit y RTD Framework Programme of t he European Union ( 1998
2002) , t he Key Act ion I mproving t he Socio- economic Knowledge Base had broad and
ambit ious obj ect ives, namely: t o improve our underst anding of t he st ruct ural changes
t aking place in European societ y, t o ident ify ways of managing t hese changes and t o
promot e t he act ive involvement of European cit izens in shaping t heir own fut ures. A
furt her import ant aim was t o mobilise t he research communit ies in t he social sciences
and humanit ies at t he European level and t o provide scient ific support t o policies at
various levels, wit h part icular at t ent ion t o EU policy fields.
This Key Act ion had a t ot al budget of EUR 155 million and was implement ed t hrough
t hree Calls for proposals. As a result , 185 proj ect s involving more t han 1 600 research
t eams from 38 count ries have been select ed for funding and have st art ed t heir research
bet ween 1999 and 2002.
Most of t hese proj ect s are now finalised and result s are syst emat ically published in t he
form of a Final Report .
The calls have addressed different but int errelat ed research t hemes which have
cont ribut ed t o t he obj ect ives out lined above. These t hemes can be grouped under a
cert ain number of areas of policy relevance, each of which are addressed by a significant
number of proj ect s from a variet y of perspect ives.
These areas are t he following:
Soci et al t r ends and st r uct ur al change
16 proj ect s, t ot al invest ment of EUR 14. 6 million, 164 t eams
Qual i t y of l i f e of Eur opean ci t i zens
Eur opean soci o- economi c model s and chal l enges
Soci al cohesi on, mi gr at i on and w el f ar e
30 proj ect s, t ot al invest ment of EUR 28 million, 249 t eams
Empl oyment and changes i n w or k
Gender , par t i ci pat i on and qual i t y of l i f e
Dy nami cs of k now l edge, gener at i on and use
Educat i on, t r ai ni ng and new f or ms of l ear ni ng
Economi c devel opment and dy nami cs
Gover nance, democr acy and ci t i zenshi p
28 proj ect s; t ot al invest ment of EUR 25. 5 million, 233 t eams
Chal l enges f r om Eur opean enl ar gement
I nf r ast r uct ur es t o bui l d t he Eur opean r esear ch ar ea

vi

This publicat ion cont ains t he final report of t he proj ect Psychological Cont ract s across
Employment Sit uat ions, whose work has primarily cont ribut ed t o t he area Societ al and
individual well being: social t rends, t he implicat ions of st ruct ural changes and of
t echnological development .
The report cont ains informat ion about t he main scient ific findings of PSYCONES and t heir
policy implicat ions. The research was carried out by eight t eams over a period of 33
mont hs, st art ing in December 2002.
The abst ract and execut ive summary present ed in t his edit ion offer t he reader an
overview of t he main scient ific and policy conclusions, before t he main body of t he
research provided in t he ot her chapt ers of t his report .
As t he result s of t he proj ect s financed under t he Key Act ion become available t o t he
scient ific and policy communit ies, Priorit y 7 Cit izens and Governance in a knowledge based
societ y of t he Sixt h Framework Programme is building on t he progress already made and
aims at making a furt her cont ribut ion t o t he development of a European Research Area in
t he social sciences and t he humanit ies.
I hope readers find t he informat ion in t his publicat ion bot h int erest ing and useful as well
as clear evidence of t he import ance at t ached by t he European Union t o fost ering research
in t he field of social sciences and t he humanit ies.

J. - M. BAER,
Direct or

7
Tabl e of cont ent s
Pr ef ace v
I . EXECUTI VE SUMMARY 13
1. Tempor ar y w or k i s not al w ay s pr ecar i ous 14
2. The psy chol ogi cal cont r act has a si gni f i cant r ol e 16
3. The i nvi si bl e pr obl ems of per manent empl oy ment 17
4. Si mi l ar i t i es l ar ger t han di f f er ences bet w een count r i es 19
5. Fur t her i mpl i cat i ons 20
I I . BACKGROUND AND OBJECTI VES OF THE PROJECT 25
1. Empl oy ment cont r act s ar e changi ng 26
2. The psy chol ogi cal cont r act 28
3. Resear ch obj ect i ves 29
4. Concept ual model s 31
4. 1. Conclusions from t he st at e of t he art review 32
4. 2. Concept ual model for employer side 35
5. Soci et al di mensi ons r el evant t o t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act 36
I I I . SCI ENTI FI C DESCRI PTI ON OF PROJECT RESULTS AND METHODOLOGY 42
1. Met hods 42
1. 1. Design and samples 42
1. 1. 1. Choosing sect ors and companies 42
1. 1. 2. Procedure for dat a collect ion 44
1. 2. Quest ionnaires 45
1. 2. 1. Employee side 45
1. 2. 2. Addit ional met hodological comment s 49
1. 2. 3. Employer int erview/ quest ionnaire 50
1. 3. I dent ifying societ al dimensions and indicat ors t o measure t hem 52
1. 3. 1. Dat a analyses 53
1. 3. 2. Mult ilevel analyses 54
2. Resul t s 56
2. 1. Part icipat ing companies and employees 56
2. 2. Part icipat ing companies - empployer perspect ive 58
2. 2. 1. Mot ives for use of t emps 62
2. 2. 2. Psychological cont ract s, as report ed by t he companies 62

8
2. 2. 3. The role of psychological cont ract s ( PC) - t est ing t he employer
model 63
2. 2. 4. Summary 66
3. Compar i ng empl oy ees acr oss empl oy ment cont r act s 67
3. 1. General considerat ions 67
3. 1. 1. Dist ribut ions of work- relat ed background variables by
employment cont ract 67
3. 1. 2. Dist ribut ions of individual background variables by employment
cont ract 69
3. 1. 3. Dist ribut ion of t he specific t emporary employee it ems 70
3. 1. 4. Summary 72
3. 2. At t it udes and wellbeing of employees across employment cont ract s 73
4. The r ol e of t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act 75
4. 1. Evaluat ion of t he impact of all int ervening variables 78
4. 1. 1. Work- relat ed healt h 79
4. 1. 2. General healt h 80
4. 1. 3. Sickness behaviours and incident s at work 83
4. 1. 4. Work at t it udes and performance 83
4. 2. What are consist ent ly t he st rongest associat es of wellbeing? 84
4. 3. Summary 86
5. Compar i son of t y pes of t empor ar y cont r act s 86
5. 1. Work- relat ed healt h 87
5. 2. Sickness behaviours and general healt h 87
5. 3. Work at t it udes and performance 88
5. 4. What can we draw from t hese analyses? 89
5. 5. I nt ervening variables wit hin t emporary responses 89
5. 5. 1. Work- relat ed healt h 89
5. 5. 2. Sickness behaviours and incident s at work 90
5. 5. 3. Work at t it udes and performance 90
6. Compar i ng Empl oyee and Empl oy er Responses on t he Psy chol ogi cal
Cont r act 91
6. 1. Agreement on t he cont ent of t he psychological cont ract 91
6. 2. Ant ecedent s of agreement bet ween employees and employers about
t he cont ent of t he psychological cont ract 95
6. 3. Mult ilevel analyses of count ry and sect or effect s 98
6. 3. 1. Count ry level differences 98
6. 3. 2. Sect or level 101
6. 4. Count ry and sect or differences of t he organizat ional variables 103
6. 5. Employee level explorat ions using mult ilevel analyses 108

9
6. 6. Count ry and sect or differences in healt h and wellbeing of employees 112
I V. CONCLUSI ONS AND POLI CY I MPLI CATI ONS 116
1. Concl usi ons 116
1. 1. Temporary work posit ively relat ed t o sat isfact ion and wellbeing 116
1. 2. How general are t he result s? 117
1. 3. Violat ion of t he psychological cont ract ( PC) affect s t he relat ionship
bet ween employment cont ract and wellbeing 119
1. 4. Fulfilment of promises and commit ment s affect s sat isfact ion of bot h
employer and employees 120
1. 5. Differences bet ween t he psychological cont ract s of permanent and
t emporary employees imply different t reat ment 120
1. 6. Type of employment cont ract not t he most import ant predict or of
wellbeing 121
1. 7. Differences bet ween count ries explain part of variat ion bet ween
organizat ions 121
1. 8. Differences bet ween organizat ions cont ribut e t o variat ion in individual
at t it udes 122
2. Pol i cy i mpl i cat i ons 123
2. 1. I mplicat ions for European policy makers 124
2. 1. 1. Definit ions of t emporary employment 124
2. 1. 2. Job securit y 124
2. 1. 3. Job qualit y 125
2. 2. I mplicat ions for employers 125
2. 3. I mplicat ions for unions 126
3. I mpl i cat i ons f or f ut ur e r esear ch 126
V. DI SSEMI NATI ON AND EXPLOI TATI ON OF RESULTS 128
VI . REFERENCES AND BI BLI OGRAPHY 140
VI I . ANNEXES 146

10
1. Li st of Wor k pack ages and t he st at us of del i ver abl es 146
2. Li st of i t ems i ncl uded i n quest i onnai r es t o empl oy ees and t he
or gani sat i on r epr esent at i ve 148
3. Li st of i ndi cat or s of soci et al di mensi ons 160
4. Tabl es r epor t i ng r esul t s f r om quest i onnai r es t o or gani zat i ons and
t hei r empl oy ees 163
5. Tabl es r epor t i ng r esul t s of mul t i l ev el anal y ses r egar di ng count r y and
sect or ef f ect s 179
6. Li st of t abl es and f i gur es i ncl uded i n t hi s r epor t 183

11
Abst r act
The general aim of t he PSYCONES proj ect was t o clarify t he associat ion bet ween
employment cont ract s and employee wellbeing and also company performance. The
psychological cont ract was assumed t o have a crit ical int ervening role affect ing t hese
relat ionships. Eight part ners have cooperat ed in conduct ing of t he proj ect : Sweden
( coordinat or) , Germany, The Net herlands, Belgium ( Ghent and Leuven) , UK, Spain and
I srael.
A common assumpt ion among researchers and policy makers has been t hat employees
on t emporary cont ract s are t reat ed less well t han permanent workers and are less
sat isfied. However t he available empirical evidence reveals mixed result s and no clear
support is provided for t hese assumpt ions.
Dat a has been collect ed by quest ionnaires from individuals and t heir employers in
companies across seven European count ries. The sample consist ed of 5288 employees
( 3307 permanent and 1981 t emporary) employed in 202 different companies in t hree
sect ors ( educat ion, manufact uring and service) . Count ry samples are not represent at ive
and conclusions about count ry differences have t o be made wit h some caut ion. Mult ilevel
analyses and ot her more simple analyses were used t o t est t he effect of individual
differences as well as company charact erist ics and policies and count ry differences.
Our result s failed t o support t he assumpt ion t hat t emporary workers should be
significant ly disadvant aged. I nst ead, t hose on permanent employment cont ract s report ed
slight ly lower levels of sat isfact ion and wellbeing on almost all of our measures. This
result proved robust also when cont rolling for a range of possible confounding individual
and work- relat ed fact ors.
The second broad hypot hesis t hat guided t he research was t hat t he PC would act as a
mediat or in t he relat ionship bet ween t he employment cont ract and t he range of out come
measures. There was some support for t his hypot hesis as t he measures of t he
psychological cont ract were found t o fully or part ially mediat e a number of relat ionships
bet ween employment cont ract and wellbeing. Result s showed very clearly t hat it was
t he measure of fulfilment or violat ion of t he PC t hat appeared t o be most st rongly
associat ed wit h out comes. The cont ent breadt h had relat ively lit t le associat ion wit h
out comes. On t he ot her hand, workers views on t heir own promises t o t heir organisat ion
and t he degree t o which t hese had been fulfilled did have rat her more impact .
The t hird implicit hypot hesis in t he st udy was t hat four ot her classes of variables -
employment prospect s ( including perceived j ob securit y) , volit ion, j ob charact erist ics and

12
support - would act as addit ional mediat ors. However, t he result s showed very lit t le
support for t his hypot hesis.
Perhaps t he most import ant result from our research reveals t he invisible problem of
permanent employment . Excessive workload is one of t he crit ical fact ors affect ing well-
being in our st udy and values are consist ent ly higher among t he permanent employees
across sect ors and count ries. Among ot her work charact erist ics, we find also higher
levels of aut onomy and skill development among t he permanent employees compared t o
t emporaries but t hese posit ive effect s are clearly out weighed by t he negat ive effect s of
t he higher workload. Furt hermore, t he broader psychological cont ract among permanent
employees means a broader commit ment t owards t he j ob t han t emporary workers. The
feeling t hat employers break t heir part of t he deal seems t o have a marked negat ive
effect , in essence t hat permanent employees feel unfairly t reat ed.
There is now a focus in Europe on j ob qualit y and our findings reinforce t he import ance of
giving priorit y t o t his area. Legislat ion t rying t o balance flexibilit y and securit y needs also
t o include j ob qualit y and clarificat ion and fulfilment of t he promises mut ually agreed
wit hin employment relat ionships in order t o prevent st ress and increases in t he levels of
sickness absence.

13
I . EXECUTI VE SUMMARY
The PSYCONES proj ect t ook place bet ween December 2002 and Sept ember 2005. I t has
involved collect ing dat a from more t han 5000 permanent and t emporary workers
employed in companies and organisat ions across six European count ries ( Sweden,
Germany, The Net herlands, Belgium, UK, Spain) and I srael. Dat a has been collect ed by
quest ionnaires from individuals, and t heir employers in 202 companies in all count ries.
The sample consist ed of 5288 employees ( 3307 permanent and 1981 t emporary)
employed in 202 different companies in t hree sect ors ( educat ion, manufact uring and
ret ail/ sales) . Samples from all count ries were pooled and result s report ed here all come
from t he large cross- nat ional sample.
A common assumpt ion among researchers and policy makers has been t hat employees
on t emporary cont ract s are t reat ed less well t han permanent workers and are less
sat isfied. However, t he available empirical evidence reveals mixed result s and no clear
support for t hese assumpt ions.
The overarching aim of t he st udy was t o explore t he relat ionship bet ween t ype of
employment cont ract and workers sat isfact ion and wellbeing. An addit ional aim was t o
explore t he role of t he psychological cont ract ( PC) as a pot ent ial mediat or of t his
relat ionship. A range of ot her possible int ervening variables were also t est ed. I ndividual
and organisat ion relat ed fact ors were cont rolled in order t o evaluat e t he significance of
t he employment cont ract . Out come measures included indicat ors of sat isfact ion at work
and in life, various measures of wellbeing and healt h indicat ors of employees, collect ed
from employees by quest ionnaires in all count ries. I n addit ion a few organisat ion relat ed
out comes were included. The balance of t he employment relat ionship across
companies/ sect ors and count ries was addressed by also invest igat ing t he employers and
mat ching replies bet ween employers and employees in t he same company. Finally, legal,
social and cult ural differences bet ween count ries, ident ified as likely t o influence t he zone
of negot iabilit y of employment relat ionships were mapped out t hrough int egrat ion wit h
earlier EU proj ect s and complement ary expert int erviews.
Bot h mult ilevel analyses and ot her forms of analyses were used t o t est t he import ance of
individual differences as well as company charact erist ics and policies and count ry
differences.

14
1. Tempor ar y w or k i s not al w ay s pr ecar i ous
The research was conduct ed in t he cont ext of a policy debat e and a series of European
legislat ive act ivit ies t hat have been based on t he assumpt ion t hat t hose on t emporary
cont ract s are significant ly disadvant aged. I ndeed, t his was t he basis of our first
hypot hesis. Our result s failed t o support t his assumpt ion. I ndeed, t hose on permanent
employment cont ract s report slight ly lower levels of sat isfact ion and wellbeing on almost
all our measures. This is even more surprising considering t he addit ional finding t hat
permanent employees were far more likely t han t emporary employees t o indicat e t hat
t hey had t heir cont ract of choice. This result proved robust also when cont rolling for a
range of possible confounding fact ors, bot h individual and work- relat ed. I t is import ant at
t his st age t o emphasise t hat lower levels of sat isfact ion and wellbeing does not
necessarily imply low levels. While t here are significant differences bet ween t he t wo
broad employment cont ract cat egories, bot h t end t o be on average more posit ive t han
negat ive on most of t he out come variables. Therefore, we are left wit h t he unant icipat ed
and count er- int uit ive but quit e robust finding t hat t hose on permanent employment
cont ract s report lower levels of sat isfact ion and wellbeing t han t hose on t emporary
cont ract s.
A crit ical quest ion is of course t he generalisabilit y of t hese result s. Alt hough our sample
of t emporary workers was large ( n = 1981) and het erogeneous, a maj orit y ( 62%) had
fixed t erm cont ract s. The fact t hat mean t enure on t he j ob was relat ively long ( more t han
t wo years for t emporary workers) , as was t ime remaining on t he j ob, gives an indicat ion
of relat ive st abilit y. The most frequent ly report ed mot ive by employers for hiring
t emporary workers was t hat t hey needed subst it ut es during longer absence of permanent
workers. Alt hough we have a variat ion of cont ract s among t he t emporary workers, t he
sample does not consist of casual workers t o any large ext ent . Casual workers in really
insecure employment and bad working condit ions are not t ypically included. Thus, a
careful conclusion is t hat t he result s at least can be generalized t o relat ively st able
t emporary workers on t ime- limit ed cont ract s of some durat ion, The sample consist ed of
employees on different j ob levels wit h a large group of blue collar workers but also
including int ermediat e level whit e collar workers and professionals. Alt hough we had a
limit ed range of occupat ions, t he conclusion is t hat wit h some caut ion result s seem t o be
valid across several j ob levels. Some caut ion is warrant ed however regarding conclusions
about count ry and sect or differences because t he sample is not represent at ive.

15
I s it t hen fair t o say t hat t emporary employment is bet t er and more preferable t o
employees t han t he st andard form? Our answer t o t his quest ion would probably be Not
in general. There are several reasons for t his argument :
Evidence from t he survey t o employees showed t hat t emporary employees in all
count ries want a higher level of securit y of employment . Only a minorit y of t he sample
st at e t hat t he t emporary cont ract is t he one t hat t hey prefer. Most of t hem report push
mot ives ( e. g. I t was t he only t ype of cont ract I could get ) inst ead of being pulled by
posit ive mot ives t owards accept ing t he cont ract ( e. g. I t gives me more freedom ) .
Similarly, expect at ion of cont ract ext ension was a dominant fact or and st rongly
associat ed wit h wellbeing among t he t emporaries.
What we can say clearly however, is t hat a t emporary j ob does not always seem t o be
precarious; defined as low qualit y j obs, bad for wellbeing and healt h. There is a
variat ion in t he condit ions of t emporary workers in our st udy and some are probably
vulnerable in several senses. However, t he maj orit y, wit h relat ively long fixed t erm
cont ract should perhaps be labelled flexible and not precarious. Their working condit ions
do not seem t o affect eit her t heir j ob sat isfact ion or t heir healt h and wellbeing in a
negat ive way. Their relat ively long t enure wit h t he company probably means t hat t hey
are relat ively well prot ect ed.
Conclusions about t he development of t emporary employment have been hampered by
variat ions in t he definit ions used. As a consequence bot h official st at ist ics and research
endeavours have been difficult t o compare bot h wit hin t he EU and wit h ot her count ries.
The OECD definit ion t hat we used ( see fig. 5) was not wit hout short comings but st ill
worked reasonably well and allowed comparing bet ween part icipat ing count ries and
companies/ organizat ions. I mproved definit ions and measurement s seem crit ical for
st at ist ics which form t he basis bot h for conclusions about development and fut ure policy
endeavours. For t he fut ure, it seems crit ical t o separat e t emporary and fixed t erm
cont ract s from precarious forms of employment i. e. j obs wit h negat ive effect s for healt h
and wellbeing. Our result s clearly indicat e t hat improved definit ions should be t he basis
for fut ure measurement and st at ist ics. I t seems crit ical t o bet t er discriminat e t emporary
workers in t erms of t ime frame of cont ract and fut ure prospect s.

16
2. The psy chol ogi cal cont r act has a si gni f i cant r ol e
I t seems plausible t o hypot hesise t hat permanent workers have a different kind of PC
wit h more ext ensive, more complex and more ambiguous reciprocal obligat ions,
expect at ions and promises. These will be posit ive t o t he ext ent t hat t hey offer great er
breadt h and dept h but may be more difficult t o fulfil. The second broad hypot hesis t hat
guided t he research was t herefore t hat t he PC, measured in a variet y of ways, would act
as a mediat or in t he relat ionship bet ween t he employment cont ract and t he range of
out come measures. There was some support for t his hypot hesis in t he evidence of full or
part ial mediat ion of a number of relat ionships. Result s showed very clearly t hat it was
t he measure of fulfilment or violat ion of t he PC t hat appeared t o be most st rongly
associat ed wit h out comes. The cont ent breadt h had relat ively lit t le associat ion wit h
out comes. On t he ot her hand, workers views on t heir own promises t o t heir organisat ion
and t he degree t o which t hese had been fulfilled did have rat her more impact . These are
int erest ing findings t hat merit much more analysis. Despit e some mediat ion by t he PC
measures, t here was st ill evidence t hat t ype of employment cont ract was significant ly
associat ed wit h a number of out comes and t hat in most cases t his showed t hat t hose on
permanent cont ract s report ed more negat ive out comes t han t hose on t emporary
cont ract s.
Since t he PC only act s as a full mediat or on t wo of t he 13 dependent variables, t his
leaves much t o be explained. Given t he quit e ext ensive lit erat ure emphasising t he
import ance of being on cont ract of choice, t his was a surprising finding. We had expect ed
t hat t he PC would be t he most import ant mediat or and wit h t he limit ed impact of t he
ot her variables, t his view was support ed.
Ful f i l ment of pr omi ses and commi t ment s af f ect s sat i sf act i on of bot h empl oyer
and empl oy ees
There was some furt her support for t he mediat ing role of t he PC also in t he analysis of
t he employer dat a. Alt hough t he sample was much smaller ( n= 202) , and t he result s
t herefore have t o be t reat ed wit h some caut ion, t here was evidence t hat employers
percept ion of t he ext ent t o which bot h permanent and t emporary employees met t heir
obligat ions t o t he organisat ion mediat ed t he relat ionship bet ween st ruct ural and policy
variables specifically organisat ion size and differences in t he applicat ion of HR pract ices
and employer sat isfact ion wit h t he performance of permanent and t emporary workers.
This means t hat t he appreciat ion of how well employees fulfilled t heir obligat ions t owards
t he organisat ion seemed t o be relat ed t o how sat isfied employers were wit h t heir
performance.

17
On t he employee side t here were similar result s in t he sense t hat if employees perceived
t hat employers fulfilled t heir part of t he psychological cont ract , t his was relat ed t o higher
levels of j ob sat isfact ion and a range of ot her indicat ors of wellbeing. The repeat ed
occurrence of t his result across a range of different out comes gives st rong support t o t he
meaningfulness of int roducing t he PC concept in any analysis aiming t o explain out comes
of working for bot h part ies involved in t he employment relat ionship.
3. The i nvi si bl e pr obl ems of per manent empl oy ment
Alt hough permanent employees had a higher level of aut onomy and skill ut ilizat ion and
oft en more qualified j obs compared t o t hose on t emporary cont ract s, we find ot her
fact ors t hat seem t o be more import ant for t heir wellbeing. Several of t hese fact ors
concern relat ions bet ween managers and t heir subordinat es in t he workplace. Fact ors
consist ent ly associat ed wit h lower worker wellbeing are violat ions of t he psychological
cont ract s, low levels of fulfilment of perceived promises and commit ment s made by t he
organisat ion, lack of support from supervisors and managers and last but not least a
heavy work load. These fact ors apply t o workers on permanent employment cont ract s at
least as much if not more t han t o t hose on t emporary cont ract s.
A broader psychological cont ract implies more commit ment s and higher expect at ions
from managers. I f t his is part of a fair deal where permanent employees feel t hat t hey
get equit able rewards for t heir effort s, t he broader PC would not be a problem. Result s
indicat e however, t hat permanent employees oft en have t he feeling t hat t he cont ract has
been violat ed by employers or t hat t hey are unable t o fulfil t heir commit ment s
t hemselves. The most problemat ic part of t he work condit ions report ed is t hat of a high
workload which would confirm result s from ot her research. An example is a st udy from
t he UK, where Burchell, Lapido and Wilkinson ( 2002) report ed t hat t hreat s of j ob losses,
downsizing and work int ensificat ion affect core employees more t han t emporary workers.
The mat ching of employer and employee descript ions of t he cont ent of t he PC and how it
relat es t o t he employment cont ract clearly confirms t hat bot h part ies have higher
expect at ions of mut ual cont ribut ions for permanent as compared t o t emporary
employees. The cont ent of t he psychological cont ract in t erms of promises made is
broader for t he permanent ly employed. This means t hat employers have higher
expect at ions and are prepared t o give more in ret urn as part of t he employment deal.
Also t he permanent ly employed t hemselves report a wider responsibilit y t owards t heir
organisat ion compared t o t he t emporary workers. Again t his is mat ched wit h higher
expect at ions of ret urns.

18
This is import ant especially against t he background of report s from employers of equal
t reat ment of permanent and t emporary workers. A small maj orit y st at e t hat t here is no
difference ( 53%) in t reat ment of workers on different employment cont ract s. This
response seems t o be t he official policy, whereas t he more det ailed report s about t he
promises and obligat ions made t o permanent and t emporary workers give an impression
of more widespread inequalit y.
permanent employment . Workload in t erms of for example pressure for t ime appears as
one of t he crit ical fact ors affect ing wellbeing in our st udy and values are consist ent ly
higher among t he permanent employees across sect ors and count ries. Among t he work
charact erist ics, we find also higher levels of aut onomy and skill development among t he
permanent employees compared t o t emporaries but t hese posit ive effect s are clearly
out weighed by t he negat ive effect s of t he higher workload. Furt hermore, t he broader
psychological cont ract among permanent employees means a broader commit ment
t owards t he j ob t han t emporary workers. The feeling t hat employers break t heir part of
t he deal seems t o have a marked negat ive effect , in essence t hat permanent employees
feel unfairly t reat ed.
t o include j ob qualit y and clarificat ion and fulfilment of t he promises mut ually made
wit hin t he employment relat ionship in order t o prevent st ress and increases in t he levels
of sickness absence.
Ty pe of empl oy ment cont r act not t he most i mpor t ant pr edi ct or of w el l - bei ng
I t is import ant t o recognise t hat t he analysis of employee dat a has highlight ed t he role of
t he employment cont ract and it s significant associat ion wit h a range of out comes
associat ed wit h sat isfact ion and wellbeing. This needs t o be set in cont ext . While most of
t he pot ent ial mediat ors failed t o operat e in t his role, t hey can st ill be st rongly associat ed
wit h a number of t he out comes and were oft en more st rongly associat ed wit h wellbeing
t han employment cont ract . Most st rongly associat ed wit h out comes were perhaps
perceived organisat ional support , j ob insecurit y and work load.
While t hese result s provide a wider basis for underst anding t he fact ors associat ed wit h
worker sat isfact ion and wellbeing, t hey do not det ract from t he significance of t hese
findings highlight ing t he negat ive role of being in permanent as opposed t o t emporary
employment . Despit e all t he different variables cont rolled for and invest igat ed,

19
permanent workers st ill report poorer out comes on several of t he healt h and wellbeing
variables compared wit h t emporary workers.
4. Si mi l ar i t i es l ar ger t han di f f er ences bet w een count r i es
One crit ical part of t he PSYCONES st udy was t he explorat ion in more dept h of differences
bet ween count ries and sect ors in t he cont ext of a mult ilevel analysis. The aim was t o
increase t he relevance of result s on a European level by effort s t o est imat e count ry
effect s and carefully defining societ al dimensions and indicat ors t o compare count ries.
The choice of mult ilevel analyses as t he preferred way of comparing effect s of individual,
organizat ion sect or and count ry differences was a way of aiming furt her t han previous
research. I nt erpret at ions about count ry differences however, must be made bearing in
mind t he non- represent at ive samples. This means t hat result s are not t ypical for any of
t he count ries but have t o be limit ed t o part icipat ing companies and organizat ions in t he
t hree sect ors in each count ry.
The mult ilevel analyses showed t hat most of t he variat ion remaining
1
bet ween st ruct ural
feat ures of part icipat ing work unit s could be explained by organizat ional level fact ors.
However, result s indicat ed t hat count ry differences bet ween t he companies did have an
impact , generally explaining about 10- 15% of t he remaining variance. On t he ot her
hand, and rat her unexpect edly, sect or differences explained almost none of t he variat ion
in organizat ional charact erist ics. The general conclusion however was t hat similarit ies
bet ween part icipat ing count ries were larger t han differences.
A second part of mult ilevel analyses was t o invest igat e how t he different levels could
cont ribut e t o explaining variat ion in individual at t it udes and j ob percept ions. Here, t he
maj or part of variat ion in individual responses was explained by fact ors considered at t he
individual level ( 85- 90%) . However, t he organizat ional level also had some influence
here but t o a much more limit ed degree. There were also small cont ribut ions from
count ry differences ( 3- 6%) but again very lit t le from t he sect or level. Furt her analyses
revealed t hat t he organizat ional level explained some variat ion in individual at t it udes
such as j ob sat isfact ion and organizat ional commit ment . For healt h- relat ed out comes,
t here were only very small cont ribut ions from higher levels. Again, t he conclusion was
t hat similarit ies bet ween part icipat ing count ries were larger t han differences.
A final but import ant not e must be made about t he t est of int eract ions bet ween count ry
and sect or on t he relat ionship bet ween t ype of cont ract and out come variables as well as
t he relat ionship bet ween PC variables and out come variables. The aim was t o check

1 Variance not explained by individual and organizational control factors introduced.

20
whet her t he relat ionships t hat we found differed bet ween count ries. There were very few
int erpret able int eract ions meaning t hat t he conclusions discussed above seem t o be valid
in all part icipat ing count ries. Violat ions of t he psychological cont ract t hus seem t o have
similar negat ive effect s on employee sat isfact ion and wellbeing in all part icipat ing
count ries.
5. Fur t her i mpl i cat i ons
The changing nat ure of employment and especially t he increase of various forms of
t emporary employment s cont ract s has been t he focus of discussions among bot h
researchers and polit ical debat es among policy makers and social part ners across
Europe. The deviat ion from t he st andard employment cont ract , i. e. open- ended full- t ime
employment , has been t he t opic of much concern and t he implicat ions are import ant for
all t hose involved in t he shaping of fut ure labour market . Council direct ives have
support ed various measures in favour of equal t reat ment of t emporary and permanent
workers building on agreement bet ween social part ners. A general conclusion from
PSYCONES research is t hat alt hough t he sample largely includes t emporary workers wit h
relat ively st able employment , st riving t owards equal t reat ment seems t o have been
successful t o some ext ent . An example would be t hat employers t o a large degree
describe no difference ( 53%) or small differences ( 35%) in t heir t reat ment of workers on
t emporary and permanent cont ract compared t o permanent workers. St ill, t here remain
variat ions in t he equalit y of t reat ment in HR pract ices bot h bet ween part icipat ing sect ors
and count ries and t hese differences are import ant t o highlight . Furt hermore, we show
t hat level of inequalit y seems t o be relevant since it is negat ively relat ed t o how
managers report t hat t heir employees fulfil t heir obligat ions t o t he organizat ion. A high
level of equal t reat ment is relat ed t o higher levels of fulfilment of obligat ions.
Result s for employee well being confirm, t hat t here are indeed differences remaining
bet ween cont ract t ypes. The most crit ical aspect concerns informal relat ions bet ween
managers and subordinat es in t he workplace: i. e. t he breadt h of t he psychological
cont ract in t erms of promises and commit ment s exchanged, and even more import ant ,
t he fulfilment of t hese promises. I n t his case, however, permanent employees seem t o
be t he losers wit h broader psychological cont ract s more difficult t o fulfil. These result s
indeed highlight t he need for equalit y of t reat ment as an import ant issue in t he work
place wit h far- reaching consequences bot h for employers and employees. I n addit ion t o
equalit y however, fut ure policies should perhaps emphasize j ust ice in t reat ment as a
second main cat chword.

21
cont ract s are significant ly disadvant aged. One of t he crit ical negat ive feat ures of
t emporary work is j ob securit y. The findings in PSYCONES, consist ent across part icipat ing
sect ors and count ries, were somewhat of a paradox. A maj orit y of t he t emporary
employees wit h relat ively st able cont ract s report ed t hat t hey would prefer a more secure
cont ract and t hey perceived lower levels of j ob securit y t han t heir permanent colleagues.
Nevert heless, t hey report ed higher levels of wellbeing t han t hose on permanent
cont ract s cont rolling for every possible confounding fact ors t hat we could t hink of. One of
t he clues t o t his paradox seems t o lie in t he psychological cont ract . I f j ob securit y is not
part of t he PC of t emporaries t hey dont experience t he negat ive effect s of a perceived
breach in t he same way as permanent s do.
While we can support t he import ance of prot ect ion of workers including t emporary
workers, we find no evidence of an exploit ed, insecure minorit y in our sample. On t he
ot her hand, our research, perhaps wit h a somewhat biased sample, does highlight t he
het erogeneit y of t emporary workers.
For permanent workers however it seems more import ant t han we expect ed t o discuss
t he implicat ions of j ob insecurit y. Furt hermore, t here are condit ions in t he work place
t hat could mit igat e t he negat ive effect s of j ob insecurit y. Support from supervisors and
feeling of fair t reat ment are such examples elucidat ed in our result s
I mpl i cat i ons f or empl oy er s
I n t he aft ermat h of repeat ed organizat ional change and personnel reduct ions it seems t o
be import ant t hat consequences of perceived violat ions or breaches of t he psychological
cont ract need t o be t aken care of. I ssues of j ob qualit y among permanent employees
need t o be addressed. Low level of support from t he organizat ions is anot her crit ical
fact or relat ed t o employee wellbeing. Permanent employees need bet t er j ob design and
deserve as much organisat ional support as t he newcomers or t emporaries in t he work
place.
Equal t reat ment and non- discriminat ion of t emporary workers cont inue t o be import ant
bot h in a formal and informal sense. The formal part concerns HR policies and pract ices
in t he organizat ion, t he informal part ent ails a need t o highlight relat ions in t he work
place. The cont ent of t he psychological cont ract , i. e. t he exchange of employer and
employee commit ment s, and t o a great er ext ent t hat t he promises and commit ment s
made are fulfilled t o a reasonable degree are import ant in t his regard. To avoid violat ions

22
of t he PC seems t o be crit ical and rest ruct uring and organisat ional change have t o be
managed wit hout violat ions.
Finally, t here are some quest ions about t he accuracy of employer percept ions of
t emporary workers from our research. A maj orit y of employers report high levels of equal
t reat ment of t emporary and permanent workers. At t he same t ime bot h employers and
employees consist ent ly report t hat t emporary employees have less ext ensive
commit ment s t owards t he organizat ion t han permanent s. I n line wit h t his bot h part ies
report also t hat employer promises are less far- reaching for t emporaries compared t o
permanent employees.
I mpl i cat i ons f or uni ons
Job qualit y and in part icular t he workload of core workers needs t o considered t o avoid
fut ure st ress relat ed problems. The evidence suggest s t hat unions should cont inue t o
support progressive HR pract ices in t he int erest s of t heir members. Also from a union
perspect ive, it seems import ant t o st rive for flexibilit y, securit y and qualit y of j obs.
Union membership is generally low among t emporary workers in all count ries. I t seems
import ant for t he fut ure of unions t o increase t he support for t emporary workers. I n
some cases it seems t hat t emporary work can be an ( not - so- bad) alt ernat ive t o
permanent employment but only under cert ain condit ions elucidat ed here such as:
relat ive st abilit y of cont ract , support from t he organisat ion and supervisors, increase
employabilit y and chance t o get ext ensions of cont ract s. Also for t emporaries it seems
j ust as crit ical t o avoid violat ions of t he promises and commit ment s made by t he
organisat ion.
Union membership in our result s seems t o be relat ed t o several posit ive out comes also
on t he company level such as higher levels of organisat ional commit ment . Also t here
seems t o be differences in t he psychological cont ract of union members. However, t hese
result s are st ill preliminary and will be published wit hin a few mont hs.
I mpl i cat i ons f or f ut ur e r esear ch
On of t he limit at ions t o t he PSYCONES proj ect is t he cross- sect ional dat a. Fut ure
research needs t o conduct longit udinal st udies of t emporary work in different life cycles
and wit h a longer t ime frame. Fut ure st udies also need t o incorporat e casual workers t o a
higher degree and perhaps ot her sect ors.
Our dat a do not really support not ions about dist inct ions in at t it udes bet ween subgroups
of t emporary workers divided by qualificat ions or educat ion. Result s cannot confirm

23
argument s about a dist inct ion bet ween high skill/ free workers who volunt arily ent er
int o t emporary employment versus low skill/ precarious worker who want more securit y
made by e. g. Marler, Barringer and Milkovich ( 2002) . I n t he PSYCONES result s,
educat ion level has almost no associat ion in t he regressions wit h out comes. The
professionals in our sample, t eachers, do not seem t o be more posit ive t owards
t emporary employment t han t he sales personnel in ret ail or t he blue collar workers in
manufact uring. Neit her t he free agent nor t he precarious employment t ypes seems t o be
sufficient in an effort t o adequat ely explain our findings.
The psychological cont ract and especially t he fulfilment of mut ual obligat ions proved t o
give some possible clues t o explain t he diversit y. Furt hermore, it is no longer enough t o
use fulfilment non- fulfilment as t he only dimension for violat ion/ breach. Our research has
confirmed t he value of t he added measure of violat ion. Since it seems so import ant for
out comes, t he furt her development of a robust measure of violat ion should be a priorit y.
Earlier research has t o a very high degree concent rat ed on what t he organisat ion
promise t o it s employees and most ly how t he PC is perceived by employees. I n t his
st udy, focussing on t he employers side has proved it s value for t he exchange and needs
furt her explorat ion and inclusion in t heoret ical models. Finally, t he measures of promises
and commit ment s from employees - t he employee side of t he PC is anot her of t he
dimensions of t he psychological cont ract which has not been st udied t o a large ext ent .
Agreement or disagreement and mat ching of bot h part ies is definit ely an excit ing area for
fut ure research, t ouched upon in t his st udy.
Gender issues relat ed t o employment cont ract is one of t he research quest ions st ill
remaining t o be report ed from t he PSYCONES st udy. There seems t o be import ant
gender relat ed differences in t he mot ives t o accept t emporary work and in t he meaning
t hat it has for t he individual. At least one paper about t his t opic is in preparat ion and will
be present ed during 2006.
Anot her int erest ing road t o t ravel for fut ure st udies and t heories concerns t he meaning of
j ob insecurit y. Maybe we need t o re- t hink t he nat ure of j ob insecurit y. I t seems
import ant for out comes but t he more insecure t emporary workers have more posit ive
out comes. Evidence suggest s t hat t emporaries suffer less from j ob insecurit y t han
permanent s: while j ob insecurit y result s in poor wellbeing, unfavourable at t it udes and
unproduct ive behaviour for permanent s, no such effect s are found for t emporaries.
Research on t he psychological cont ract may be useful in underst anding t his int eract ion
effect : init ial evidence suggest s t hat j ob securit y is not part of t emporaries expect at ions

24
as part of t heir psychological cont ract , and hence, j ob insecurit y does not breach t heir
psychological cont ract ( De Cuyper & De Wit t e, in press) .
Last but not least , t he similarit ies bet ween part icipat ing count ries were larger t han t he
differences. Alt hough we included part icipant s from nort h, sout h, east ( Germany) and
west we st ill feel t hat it would be valuable t o replicat e t he st udy in some of t he new
East ern European member st at es.

25
I I . BACKGROUND AND OBJECTI VES OF THE PROJECT
The dramat ic changes in most of t he West ern world during t he last decades have had
fundament al effect s on t he labour market . Changing employment relat ionships are at
focus in t he PSYCONES proj ect and t he effect t hese changes have had on almost every
organizat ion and every working man and women in Europe. PSYCONES aimed t o
invest igat e t he int erplay bet ween organizat ions and t heir employees as it is mirrored in
t he changing nat ure of employment cont ract s and relat ions bet ween managers and
employees. Out comes were chosen t o show effect s bot h on organisat ions and on t he well
being of individual workers.
The maj or driving force for t his development was t he st ruct ural changes of t he t echnical
and economic environment t hat st art ed in t he beginning of t he 1970s. Over t his period
we have wit nessed t he int roduct ion of informat ion t echnology, result ing in far- reaching
effect s on t he organizat ion of work ( see e.g. , Gallie, Whit e, Cheng, & Tomlinson, 1998) .
Secondly, increasing global compet it ion and t rade has result ed in t he decline in
t radit ional manufact uring indust ries across Europe, wit h profound consequences for
regions and count ries across t he cont inent . The growt h of global t rade, cheaper product s
from abroad, t he swit ch of manufact ure and more recent ly some services abroad t o
cheaper overseas locat ions and t he abilit y of int ernat ional organizat ions t o move capit al
and labour at short not ice all cont ribut e t o a sense of employment insecurit y.
The shift in t he economy from manufact uring t o services is anot her charact erist ic feat ure
of t he development over t his period, variously labeled t he post - Fordist era, lat e
capit alism and t he knowledge societ y. The consequences for organizat ions and workers in
Europe have been far- reaching. Debat e among researchers and policy makers is st ill
ongoing as t o whet her t he development leads t o more qualified j obs or, in a more
pessimist ic scenario, t o t he de- skilling of work t asks. The apparent risk for polarizat ion of
t he labour market wit h a primary market for t he most qualified professionals and a
secondary market for unqualified workers was clearly an issue already in t he 1970s ( see
e. g. , Wilkinson, 1981) .
One last element in t he list of driving forces has been t he need t o cut public expendit ure
in many European count ries, result ing in a change from growt h t o a decline in public
sect or employment . Privat izat ion and a general t rend t owards commercializat ion of t he
public sect or in some count ries became t he definit e proof for all cit izens t hat j obs were
no longer secure, not even in t he public sect or ( Burchell, Lapido & Wilkinson, 2002) .

26
One of t he pot ent ials of new t echnology has been a radical reduct ion in t he number of
workers, alt hough t he realizat ion of t hese possibilit ies has t aken several decades. The
recessions of t he 1980s and 90s fully proved t his pot ent ial, however. Toget her wit h t he
loss of manufact uring indust ries and large- scale budget cut s in t he public sect or, t his has
in many count ries result ed in unemployment levels not seen in Europe since t he
depression of t he 1930s. A t ypical feat ure of t he social climat e t owards t he end of t he
t went iet h cent ury was more pressure, less prot ect ion, following mass unemployment ,
changes in labour laws and deregulat ion ( Burchell, Lapido & Wilkinson, 2002) .
1. Empl oy ment cont r act s ar e changi ng
As described above, a general t endency in all European count ries during t he 1990s was
t hat percept ions of j ob insecurit y became more widespread ( OECD 1997) . A clear sign of
t his development came from t he increasing use of flexible cont ract s of employment
during t he last decade. Employment flexibilit y became a management mant ra and t here
is evidence t hat t he various forms of employment flexibilit y have been increasingly
applied in advanced indust rial societ ies in recent years ( CRANET surveys report ed by
MacShane & Brewst er, 2000) . Flexibilit y has adopt ed several forms. Numerical or
cont ract ual flexibilit y is probably t he most relevant here because of it s effect s on
changing pat t erns of employment relat ions, percept ions of j ob insecurit y and employees
wellbeing and healt h. Numerical flexibilit y allows t he numbers of st aff used t o vary
according t o t he needs of t he business. I t includes fixed t erm cont ract s, t emporary,
seasonal or causal employment , out sourcing, subcont ract ing, et c.
Research relat ing cont ract t ype t o organizat ional out comes however, yields mixed
result s. Von Hippel et al ( 1997) summarise t he benefit s for employers in t he Unit ed
St at es in t erms of cut t ing cost s, increasing flexibilit y and avoiding rest rict ions. Consist ent
result s have been found for t urnover int ent ion: more t emporary workers ( hereaft er
referred t o as t emporaries) int end t o quit t heir j ob t han permanent workers ( hereaft er
referred t o as permanent s) ( e. g. Goudswaard, Kraan & Dhondt , 2000) . However, as
not ed by Guest and Clint on ( 2005) , t his does not imply t hat t hey int end t o quit before
t he end of t he cont ract . Compared t o permanent s, t emporaries are less likely t o engage
in organizat ional cit izenship behaviour ( e. g. Klein, Hesselink, Koppens & Van Vuuren,
1998; Guest , Mackenzie Davey & Pat ch, 2003) . For organizat ional commit ment , most ly
rest rict ed t o it s affect ive component , scores for t emporaries are lower t han or equal t o
t hose of permanent s ( e. g. De Jonge & Schalk, 2005) .
Wit h organizat ions increased focus on t emporary employment , researchers have warned
against it s det riment al effect s for t he individual. I n t his regard, At kinsons ( 1984) Flexible

27
Firm is t he dominant t heoret ical perspect ive. I n t his model, t emporary workers are part
of t he organizat ions periphery. Compared t o core workers, t hey have lower social st at us,
second rat e j ob charact erist ics and inferior prospect s. These aspect s are assumed t o
affect various out comes in a negat ive way.
Research t o a cert ain ext ent confirms t he view of t he disadvant aged t emporary worker.
For example, t emporary employment is likely t o exacerbat e j ob insecurit y ( e. g. De Wit t e
& Nswall, 2003; Klandermans & Van Vuuren, 1999; Parker, Griffin, Sprigg & Wall,
2002) . Compared t o permanent s, t emporaries experience less aut onomy and perceive
t heir j ob as less challenging. Furt hermore, t hey are less involved in decision- making and
informal work relat ionships, and feel t hat t hey have fewer t raining opport unit ies. Relat ed
t o t hese t opics, t emporary employees are more likely t o be involved in work relat ed
accident s ( e. g. Goudswaard & Andries, 2002; Paoli & Merlli, 2001; Quinlan, Mayhew &
Bohle, 2000) . They also have less cont rol over t heir working life: most t emporaries do
not choose t heir t emporary st at ue ( e. g. Krausz, 2000) , but are compelled t o accept
t emporary work t o avoid unemployment ( push- mot ive) . Only a small minorit y prefer
t emporary employment , cit ing so- called pull mot ives relat ing t o freedom, work life
balance and desire for variet y ( for an overview see De Cuyper, I saksson & De Wit t e,
2005) . Similarly, Swedish research found t hat t emporaries less oft en t han permanent s
worked in t heir occupat ion or workplace of choice ( Aronsson & Gransson, 1999) .
However, research also point s t o a more complex pict ure. St udy of j ob charact erist ics
ot her t han aut onomy, cont rol and part icipat ion yields inconsist ent or inconclusive result s.
For example, compared t o permanent s, t emporaries report having a lower workload, t hey
experience less role conflict s, less role overload and great er role clarit y. I n addit ion, no
significant differences are found regarding physically demanding work and skill ut ilizat ion
( e. g. Goudswaard & Andries, 2002; Paoli & Merlli, 2001) . I sraeli research on
employabilit y ( Cohen, Haberfeld & Ferber, 1993) suggest s furt hermore t hat t emporary
workers are not always part of t he secondary labour market ( Krausz & St ainvart z, 2005) .
Also wit h regard t o wellbeing, evidence on t he disadvant aged posit ion of t emporaries is
inconsist ent . For inst ance, Dut ch, German and Spanish research found lower j ob
sat isfact ion levels among t emporaries compared t o permanent s. However, no such
differences were found in Belgium, I srael, Sweden or t he UK ( De Cuyper, I saksson & De
Wit t e, 2005) . Similarly, inconsist ent result s based on cont ract t ype were found for j ob
involvement and sick leave. Lit t le research has been conduct ed relat ing t he employment
cont ract t o t he effect of work on life out side t he workplace ( for an except ion see e. g.
Goudswaard et al. , 2000) . This is remarkable because it has been suggest ed t hat

28
t emporary employment could improve t he work life balance ( Van der Toren, Evers &
Commissaris, 2002) .
Despit e t he fact t hat t he proport ion of flexible employment cont ract s is st ill relat ively low,
( mean for EU as a whole is 13% wit h a variat ion bet ween 3- 33%) t he level of polit ical,
economic and social at t ent ion has been remarkable. Probably t he most import ant reason
for public concern is t hat t he ret urn of insecurit y and precarious employment represent s
a profound deviat ion from t he development of t he welfare st at e, which has been a cent ral
goal in most European count ries during t he second part of t he 20
t h
cent ury. I ssues of
equal t reat ment of workers on fixed- t erm or t emporary cont ract s in t erms of wages,
access t o t raining as well as healt h and safet y have been t he aim of negot iat ion and
regulat ions in t he EU. I n conclusion, our review confirmed t he need for clearer evidence
about t he benefit s and inherent risks associat ed wit h increased employment flexibilit y,
and in part icular employment cont ract flexibilit y for workers, and about t he policy
implicat ions for t he social part ners and policy makers in t he European Union.
2. The psy chol ogi cal cont r act
The psychological cont ract s held by employers and workers in organizat ions is proposed
here as a possible int ervening fact or bet ween act ual degree of j ob permanency and
individual wellbeing ( for an overview of t he concept and research see De Cuyper, De
Wit t e & I saksson, 2005) . The concept t ries t o capt ure t he reciprocal promises and
obligat ions implied in t he employment relat ionship. The psychological cont ract deals wit h
commit ment s made by bot h part ies st art ing wit h t he formal employment cont ract . I n
cont rast t o t he formal, oft en writ t en agreement based on labour market laws, regulat ions
and collect ive agreement s, t he psychological cont ract consist s of t he subj ect ive
percept ions held by bot h employer and employee of t he formal and informal ent it lement s
and obligat ions bet ween t hem. These percept ions are dynamic and highly sensit ive and
suscept ible t o change in t imes of organizat ional rest ruct uring. Apart from t he cont ent ,
researchers have also invest igat ed t he basis for t he psychological cont ract in t erms of
mut ual t rust and j ust ice. Furt hermore, and perhaps what makes t he concept pot ent ially
int erest ing in t he cont ext of organizat ional change, is t he perceived fulfillment of
promises and obligat ions. Percept ions of breach or even violat ion of t he psychological
cont ract seem t o be t he rule rat her t han t he except ion especially during organizat ional
change. By implicat ion, we assumed t he psychological cont ract cont ribut es t o t he
explanat ion of levels of sat isfact ion and wellbeing, including healt h, among workers. For
example, a narrow, well- defined t emporary cont ract wit h a t rust wort hy employer can
t hus be perceived as more sat isfying t han an obj ect ively more secure cont ract t hat was
only part ially fulfilled.

29
To underst and t he complex dynamics underlying t he success and failure of employment
pract ices on a European level, we need a rich underst anding of t he roles of societ y, firms,
and individuals in shaping employment relat ions. As social scient ist s, we are int erest ed in
t he ext ent t o which t he format ion and maint enance of psychological cont ract s in
employment is a generalizable process. More specifically, in t his st udy we were int erest ed
in what aspect s of psychological cont ract ing occur across societ ies and what societ al core
dimensions were relevant t o t he psychological cont ract . Negot iat ions about employment
relat ionships t ake place wit hin a cult ural cont ext t hat varies across t he European
count ries, affect ing t he t erms and condit ions t hat societ y allows eit her t he worker or t he
firm t o negot iat e ( i. e. t he zone of negot iabilit y, see Rousseau & Schalk 2000) . Cross-
nat ional invest igat ion and mapping of t his cult ural cont ext seems crucial for t he
underst anding of fut ure development of t he European labour market and for t he well-
being of cit izens of t he union.
3. Resear ch obj ect i ves
PSYCONES was based on a European collaborat ion bet ween researchers in six count ries
from Nort h t o Sout h and also including I srael for comparat ive purposes. The proj ect
focused on t he wellbeing of European cit izens and t he out come measures included
indicat ors of sat isfact ion at work and in life, various measures of wellbeing and healt h
indicat ors of employees, collect ed from employees by quest ionnaires in all count ries. I n
addit ion a few organizat ion relat ed out comes were included. The balance of t he
employment relat ionship across companies/ sect ors and count ries was addressed by also
invest igat ing t he employers and mat ching replies bet ween employers and employees in
t he same company. Finally, legal, social and cult ural differences bet ween count ries,
ident ified as likely t o influence t he zone of negot iabilit y of employment relat ionships were
mapped out t hrough int egrat ion wit h earlier EU proj ect s and complement ary expert
int erviews.
The overarching obj ect ive for t he st udy was t o examine how t he changing nat ure of
employment relat ions in general and different forms of employment cont ract in part icular
affect t he j ob securit y, wellbeing and healt h of workers in Europe and for comparat ive
purposes I srael.
The specific obj ect ives were t o:
1) I nt egrat e result s from earlier relevant EU proj ect s ( e. g. NUEWO) in order t o
ident ify legal, labour market and cult ural indicat ors affect ing employment
relat ions and t hus assumed t o influence t he use and impact of employment
cont ract s.

30
2) Select t hree sect ors employing individuals on a variet y of employment cont ract s,
and approach companies/ organizat ions wit hin t hese sect ors. Sect ors have been
chosen on t he basis of t heir assumed import ance for fut ure EU policy and will
t herefore include ( 1) Food & Drink indust ry, ( 2) Ret ail & Sales, and ( 3)
Educat ional sect or in all count ries.
3) Conduct surveys across count ries and sect ors wit h employees on different
employment cont ract s t o invest igat e ant ecedent s of psychological cont ract s and
perceived violat ions and t he role of employment and psychological cont ract for
t he wellbeing of employees.
4) Conduct int erviews wit h managers ( HRM and line managers) and union
represent at ives in t he employing organizat ions about policy and pract ices
concerning t he cont ent and st at e of t he psychological cont ract wit h permanent
and fixed t erm/ t emporary workers in t heir organizat ion.
5) Pool dat a and compare healt h and wellbeing for employees across sect ors and
count ries.
6) Disseminat e t he result s t o t hree main t arget groups: part icipat ing companies
( employers and workers) , social part ners and policy makers on a nat ional and
EU level.
An explorat ory pilot st udy was conduct ed bet ween Sept ember 2001 and summer 2002 in
order t o develop a model and research inst rument s t o be int egrat ed in a larger
comparat ive st udy. During t his period we developed a first concept ual model for t he
proj ect and const ruct ed and t ranslat ed a quest ionnaire for employees on t he basis of t his
model. During wint er 2001- 2002 validit y and reliabilit y of t he quest ionnaire it ems and
scales were t est ed across all count ries. Furt her, int erview schedules were developed t o
invest igat e t he employer side of t he psychological cont ract . These forms were t est ed as
part of t he pilot phase. Finally some preparat ions were made t o find relevant dimensions
along which t o compare employment relat ions and cont ract s ( t he zone of negot iabilit y)
across count ries.
The same part ners were involved already at t hat st age and it became a very import ant
st art ing point for t he PSYCONES proj ect which commenced in December 2002. Alt hough
t he focus of t he pilot was explorat ory and t he pilot samples were far from represent at ive,
t he init ial phase gave indicat ions of crit ical issues for t he main st udy and allowed
preliminary t est s of t he model.

31
Based on experience during t he pilot phase of t he proj ect we decided t o change t he
met hod of dat a collect ion for employers. I n t he pilot st udy we t est ed a simple int erview
guide. The cont ent of t he guide was accept able but t he qualit at ive int erview dat a proved
difficult and very t ime consuming t o analyse. I t became obvious t hat we needed more
st ruct ure t han a semi- st ruct ured int erview wit h open- ended quest ions. As a result we
decided t o use a short quest ionnaire t o employers in our main st udy asking for
informat ion about t he organizat ion, it s prospect s and pract ices as well as mat ching dat a
about t he psychological cont ract .
A second import ant change compared t o original plans, and again based on our
experience from t he pilot phase was t he decision not t o int erview represent at ives from
unions in t he t arget ed companies. The pilot st udy proved t ime consuming and t here were
unexpect ed difficult ies t o find suit able companies for part icipat ion. One reason was t hat
we want ed samples of bot h t emporaries and permanent s in equal numbers and wit h t he
same occupat ion. Furt hermore, our request t o conduct union int erviews became an
obst acle in it self and lead t o increased difficult ies. A decision was t aken wit hin t he
research t eam t hat union int erviews were opt ional part ly because it was not always
possible ( due t o management opposit ion, no union was recognized or no union rep was
present ) . As a result t he union issue was addressed t hrough ot her quest ions t o
employers and workers. I t was clear t hat if we had persist ed, any meaningful comparison
on t his dimension would have been impossible. Areas covered in quest ionnaires were e. g.
t he presence of unions in t he company and t heir role and influence over HR policies and
decision making.
A final example of necessary revisions concerned t he difficult ies t o compare agency
employment across count ries. Regulat ions and agreement s for t his cat egory varied t o
such an ext ent t hat we decided not t o st udy t emporary agencies as a sect or. I nst ead we
decided t o include agency employees when we encount er t hem in companies on
assignment s of varying durat ion.
4. Concept ual model s
An import ant part of t he pilot st udy was t o furt her develop t he t heoret ical model t o be
t est ed in t he large comparat ive st udy in t he seven part icipat ing count ries. A model by
Guest ( 1998) served as a st art ing point . I n essence t he model should reflect t he
hypot het ical relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract and employee wellbeing. We
adopt ed a broad definit ion of wellbeing t o include sat isfact ion at work and in life as a
whole, indicat ors of effect ive funct ioning ( e. g. self- efficacy, work performance) , ment al
healt h and work- life balance. We also collect ed dat a on some behavioural indicat ors such

32
as accident s, sick- leave and work at t endance while ill. The psychological cont ract ,
defined in t erms of cont ent , and st at e ( t rust , fairness and delivery of t he deal) was
assumed t o have t he st at us of a mediat ing variable.
Fi gur e. 1. I nit ial concept ual model for analyzing employee wellbeing in PSYCONES.
Result s from dat a analyses of t he pilot st udy led t o some revisions of t he original model.
Alt hough t he role of t he psychological cont ract as a relevant fact or for t he wellbeing of
employees was support ed, t he precise nat ure of t he relat ionship was far from clear.
While t here were some signs of mediat ing or part ially mediat ing effect s of t he
psychological cont ract on t he relat ionship bet ween formal cont ract and individual
out comes, at t his st age t here were st ronger indicat ions of direct effect s. However,
evidence based on pilot dat a needed t o be t est ed wit h improved measurement s in t he
main st udy and t he main research quest ion was ret ained.
4. 1. Concl usi ons f r om t he st at e of t he ar t r ev i ew
Overall, t he review of lit erat ure- support ed t he not ion t hat merely invest igat ing t he direct
relat ionships bet ween cont ract t ype and employee wellbeing and organizat ional
out comes might be insufficient t o fully underst and t he effect s of t emporary employment .
Most recent reviews ( see De Cuyper, I saksson, & De Wit t e, 2005) suggest t hat
researchers should use more complex research designs in order t o underst and t he
relat ionship bet ween cont ract t ype and out comes.
I n t he final research design, t his was achieved by including several possible int ervening
variables such as employee prospect s, cont ract of choice, j ob charact erist ics and

33
organizat ional as well as social support t oget her wit h t he psychological cont ract .
Part icular at t ent ion focused on j ob insecurit y and cont rol over working life in t erms of
cont ract of choice and work of choice. These variables were highlight ed because of
t heir firm relat ionship wit h t emporary employment , and because t hey proved import ant
in predict ing employees healt h, at t it udes and behaviour in previous research ( Aronsson,
Dallner & Gust afsson, 2000) . Addit ional explanat ory variables, such as mot ives, social
support and employabilit y, have not yet been included in research in t his field.
Furt hermore, t he limit ed number of st udies comparing j ob charact erist ics of t emporaries
and permanent s is surprising, given it s cent ralit y t o most t heoret ical models ( e. g. t he
Flexible Firm) . Figure 2 below suggest s a range of possible int ervening variables, in
addit ion t o t he psychological cont ract affect ing t he relat ionship bet ween t emporary
employment and t he out comes. I n developing our analysis of t he role of t he
psychological cont ract , we included several dimensions including cont ent , st at e,
fulfilment and violat ion, responding t o t he need for more complex st udies.

34
Fi gur e 2. Revised concept ual model

35
4.2. Concept ual model f or empl oy er si de
There has been less concept ual development of t he employers perspect ive on t he
employment relat ionship. We addressed t his in t wo ways. The first was t o include some
organizat ional level variables in t he quest ionnaire for workers, most not ably t heir
experience of a number of core human resource pract ices. The second was t o collect
from employers some core and essent ial organizat ional dat a such as size, ownership and
performance indicat ors as well as parallel indicat ors of t he psychological cont ract t o t hose
obt ained from workers. For analyt ic purposes, a provisional model was developed t o
analyse t he employers responses which is set out in Figure 3.
Fi gur e 3. Model of t he employer dat a
Having t he psychological cont ract as core variable in t he name and in t he model of t he
PSYCONES proj ect , and defining t he PC as reciprocal obligat ions, our first and ext ensive
aim is of course t o get informat ion from bot h sides t he employee and t he employer. The
furt her aims for t he employer survey are:
1) To underst and t he cont ext of employee responses by collect ing informat ion about
t he organizat ion t o be used as cont rol fact ors.
2) To provide specific informat ion t hat can serve as a cross- check against employee
responses for example on sicness absence or int ent ion t o quit versus act ual quit
rat es.
3) To provide an underst anding of company policy, pract ice and rat ionale wit h
respect t o employment of workers on different t ypes of cont ract , I t will be
helpful not j ust t o know what proport ion of t he workforce is employed on

36
different t ypes of cont ract but also t he rat ionale for company employment policy
and whet her in pract ice t he policy obj ect ives are being achieved. We also need
t o know whet her an employer as a mat t er of policy t reat s workers on different
t ypes of cont ract different ly.
4) To look at t he psychological cont ract from t he employers perspect ive and
t hereby permit t ing an analysis of levels of agreement and t heir impact . A
plausible hypot hesis might be t hat where t here is a bet t er mat ch, t here will be
higher levels of t rust and fairness.
5) One of t he benefit s of a st udy on t he scale envisaged is t he opport unit y for
mult ilevel analysis. The research quest ion is whet her it is fact ors at t he
individual, organisat ional or nat ional level t hat are most likely t o explain
variat ions in employee at t it udes and behaviour; or whet her t ype of employment
cont ract overrides t hem all!
5. Soci et al di mensi ons r el evant t o t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act
The PSYCONES t eam agreed wit h t he argument of Rousseau and Schalk ( 2000b, pp. 10-
13) t hat psychological cont ract s can usefully be viewed in a cross- nat ional way given: ( 1)
expansion of mult inat ional firms and labour market s, ( 2) advancing scient ific knowledge
regarding psychological cont ract s and t heir generalisabilit y across societ ies, and 3) public
policy implicat ions of psychological cont ract s.
Societ al cont ext s, varying across t he EU, are assumed t o det ermine t he zone of
negot iabilit y, t he cont ent , and t he st at e of t he psychological cont ract . PSYCONES aims
( 1) t o ident ify t hose societ al core dimensions relevant t o t he psychological cont ract ; and
( 2) t o provide quant it at ive dat a on t he ident ified dimensions for cross- nat ional
comparisons in order t o charact erise t he current ly part icipat ing count ries.
Adapt ing a broad definit ion, cross- cult ural research implies t he comparison of at least
t wo cult ures in t erms of values ( Smit h, Fischer, & Sale, 2001) and inst it ut ions. On t op of
t his cult ural dimension, a special aim for t he st udy was t o look for ot her core societ al
dimensions affect ing t he psychological cont ract . West wood, Sparrow, and Leung ( 2001)
st ressed t he need t o t est psychological cont ract s across nat ional cult ures and ot her
cross- nat ional differences. While t he main focus is bet ween societ ies , we recognize t hat
wit hin societ ies large differences may exist at , for example, t he indust rial, t he
organisat ional, and t he individual level ( e. g. Sels, Janssens, Van den Brande, & Overlaet ,
2000, p. 64; Krausz, 2000, p. 134) .

37
Analysis of earlier research ( e. g. t he NUEWO proj ect ) and suit able st at ist ics, as well as
st ruct ured int erviews wit h expert s, result ed in ident ificat ion of six core societ al core
dimensions.
1) Laws and regulat ions.
2) I ndust rial relat ions syst em.
3) Labour market and economic syst em.
4) Educat ional syst em.
5) Family orient at ion.
6) Cult ural values.
We int egrat ed t hese core societ al dimensions in t he framework of Kabanoff, Jimmieson,
and Lewis ( 2000) . I n Figure 4 below we acknowledge t he int eract ion bet ween t he societ al
dimensions ( Scandura & Lankau, 1997; Johnson & Lenart owicz, 1998; De Paola &
Scoppa, 2001) . This means t hat t he societ al dimensions probably operat e
int erdependent ly. Hist orical/ cult ural background includes a mix of polit ical, social,
economic, religious, and cult ural environment s. Examples of hist orical/ cult ural
background are: polit ical syst em, occupat ion, colonisat ion, revolut ion, war, societ al
order, evolut ion of product ion syst em, indust rialisat ion, development of labour
management ( including labour relat ions) , membership of t he European Union,
globalisat ion, immigrat ion/ emigrat ion, and religious diversit y. The hist orical/ cult ural
background influences t he int eract ing societ al dimensions t hat in t urn influence
organisat ional policy and pract ices on t he one hand, and t he psychological cont ract on
t he ot her hand.

38
Fi gur e 4. Societ al core dimensions linked t o t he psychological cont ract
Firms do not respond passively t o societ al pressure; rat her t hey react t o and somet imes
shape societ ies in several ways ( recruit ment and select ion pract ices, t raining and
development act ivit ies) . Societ al fact ors can act as const raint s on or support s for a firms
act ions ( Rousseau & Schalk, 2000b, p. 23- 24) . Kabanoff, Limmieson, and Lewis ( 2000, p.
32- 33) st ressed t hat t he linkage bet ween HRM pract ices and t he psychological cont ract is
reciprocal. I t is st ronger t han t he linkage bet ween HRM pract ices and societ al fact ors,
and also st ronger t han t he linkage bet ween t he psychological cont ract and societ al
fact ors. HRM pract ices are one of t he maj or mechanisms t hrough which employees come

39
t o underst and t he t erms and condit ions of t heir employment ( e. g. when confront ed wit h
appraisals, rewards et c) .
Law s and r egul at i ons include t he whole range of legal facilit at ors and const raint s
shaping t he condit ions for bot h t he formal employment cont ract and t he psychological
cont ract .
I ndust r i al r el at i ons sy st em ( I RS) was defined by Pet t inger ( 2000, p. 1) as t he
syst em by which workplace act ivit ies are regulat ed, t he arrangement by which t he
owners, managers and st aff of organisat ions come t oget her t o engage in product ive
act ivit y. I t concerns set t ing st andards and promot ing consensus. I t is also about t he
management of conflict . Marginson and Sisson ( 2002, p. 671) formulat ed it briefly as
t he regulat ion or governance of t he employment relat ionship . The framework of
indust rial relat ions is usually regarded as t ripart it e ( following t he landmark 1958 volume
of John T. Dunlop) . The t radit ional t hree set s of act ors are: employers, t heir
represent at ives and associat ions; employees, t heir represent at ives and t rade unions; and
t he government t hrough direct negot iat ion involving government al officials,
government al mediat ion of employee- employer agreement s, and t he creat ion of laws and
st at ut es specifying condit ions of employment .
Since PSYCONES is an EU proj ect , we address briefly some implicat ions of European
int egrat ion on indust rial relat ions. Pet t inger ( 2000) described t he European Union view
on indust rial relat ions as based on social part nership and int egrat ive bargaining/ social
dialogue.
This EU approach was formalised by t he European Social Chart er of The Maast richt
Treat y of 1992 and it was furt her incorporat ed in The Amst erdam Treat y of 1997.
Marginson and Sisson ( 2002) concluded t hat a European mult ilevel I RS ( e. g. Communit y,
nat ional, indust ry, firm) is in t he making and t hat t here is no pre- assumed end point
for development s ( p. 686) .
Labour mar k et and economi c sy st em is defined as t he exchange of labour supply
and demand wit hin t he broader economic syst em. Dallago ( 2002, p. 954) defined an
economic syst em as a coordinat ed set of formal and informal inst it ut ions t hat bounds
economic act ors, direct s t heir effort s, and const rains t heir expect at ions wit h respect t o
economic int eract ion . Examples of formal inst it ut ions are company laws, economic
act ors such as firms and banks, relat ions bet ween labour and capit al, compet it ion
pract ices, government policy. Examples of informal inst it ut ions are family, work habit s,
consumpt ion habit s.

40
According t o Cipollet t a ( 1998) t he economic syst em must fost er change, for example by
int roducing flexibilit y ( such as part - t ime work) int o t he labour market , t o solve problems
such as unemployment . Welfare in a count ry result s from t he combinat ion of product ion
fact ors such as labour, capit al, nat ural resources, et c. The degree of welfare in a societ y,
as an out come of t he economic syst em, may influence t he psychological cont ract .
Educat i onal sy st em refers t o t he provision of educat ion, development and t raining of
children, yout h and adult s in societ y. Nat ional public expendit ure on educat ion gives an
indicat ion of t he import ance of promot ing and maint aining high qualificat ion levels in t he
working populat ion.
Fami l y or i ent at i on refers t o family st ruct ure and family t ies. I t includes a special focus
on gender issues such as female employment and societ al at t it ude t owards working
women.
The reason is t hat issues in t he debat e about new forms of employment has t ouched
upon offering possibilit ies for women t o work versus keeping women t rapped in low paid
and low st at us j obs.
Cul t ur al v al ues represent , according t o Schwart z ( 1999) , implicit ly or explicit ly
shared abst ract ideas about what is good, right , and desirable in a societ y ( p. 25) .
Cult ural values are t he bases for t he specific norms t hat t ell people what is appropriat e
in various sit uat ions ( p. 25) . The explicit and implicit value emphases t hat charact erise
a cult ure are impart ed t o societ al members t hrough everyday exposure t o cust oms, laws,
norms, script s, and organisat ional pract ices t hat are shaped by and express t he
prevailing cult ural values ( p. 25) .
Markus and Kit ayama ( 2003) st ressed t he cult ural shaping of psychological processes.
The societ al cult ural values are reflect ed and promot ed by cust oms, norms, pract ices and
inst it ut ions. These become lived experiences in local worlds ( e. g. t he workplace) and
result in a set of habit ual psychological t endencies ( ways of t hinking, feeling, and act ing) .
The psychological cont ract can be seen as a specific work- relat ed experience where
employee and employer live out t heir core cult ural values.

41
Oper at i onal i si ng t he soci et al - l evel var i abl es
I n summary, t he six dimensions suggest ed were based on ext ensive lit erat ure reviews
and expert int erviews dealing wit h societ al dimensions and t heir impact on t he
psychological cont ract in cross- nat ional st udies ( e. g. involving at least t wo count ries) . To
operat ionalise t he dimensions we needed quant it at ive indicat ors for t hese dimensions.
The following crit eria were used for a first screening of indicat ors:
- defined in a clear and ident ical way across sources;
- quant it at ive;
- suggest ed by expert s;
- available for PSYCONES count ries, t hen for ot her EU member st at es, t hen for EU
candidat e member st at es;
- minimum t hree indicat ors per dimension.
The development of t hese indicat ors is furt her described in t he Met hods sect ion below.

42
I I I . SCI ENTI FI C DESCRI PTI ON OF PROJECT RESULTS AND METHODOLOGY
1. Met hods
One of t he most discussed issues in cross- nat ional research is t he equivalence of
measures used. The need for st andardised t ranslat ion procedures and qualit y
management are also st ressed t o be import ant problems t hat have t o be solved in cross-
nat ional research ( Smid & Hess, 2003, p. 57) .
I n order t o fulfill t hese point s, we adopt ed a general plan for qualit y management . The
st eps are summarised in t able 1.
Tabl e 1. Qualit y Management
1. The same shared concept ual model, developed by all researchers involved
2. I nput harmonisat ion, by preparing an English Mast er- quest ionnaire
3. A t horough t ranslat ion process ( t ranslat ion - back t ranslat ion recommended)
4. The same sampling procedures in all count ries
5. St rict guidelines for t he coding of dat a
6.
St andards for t he evaluat ion of psychomet ric propert ies of scales, and t est s for
equivalence
1.1. Desi gn and sampl es
1.1.1. Choosi ng sect or s and compani es
The variat ion in t ypes of employment cont ract s used across sect ors and t he differences in
regulat ions, collect ive agreement s et c. made it necessary t o t ry limit t he variat ion by
choosing only t hree sect ors t o sample from. Based on our experience in t he pilot phase
of t he proj ect and discussions wit h t he NUEWO proj ect we were aware of t he problems of
get t ing access t o similar companies in all count ries. The following crit eria for t he choice
of sect ors were used:
1) Has t o be present in all part icipat ing count ries.
2) A reasonable amount of t emporary employed employees can be found wit hin t he
sect or.
3) Sect ors represent a broader class of organisat ions.
4) Likely t o be import ant in t erms of fut ure employment . Following t hese crit eria,
we could agree on t he following t hree sect ors: Food manufact uring, Educat ion,

43
and Ret ail. I n t hese t hree sect ors we have privat e companies, as well as public
organisat ions, we have a broad variet y of educat ional, and skill levels, and we
have manufact uring as well as service. Each sect or is present in each count ry
and likely t o be so in t he fut ure. The t hree sect ors provide our sampling frame.
Wit hin t his frame, we came t o an underst anding of furt her specificat ions t hat limit t he
breadt h of t he t arget populat ion, but makes comparisons more valid. We agreed t o
sample only professionals wit hin t he educat ion sect or, and only blue collar workers doing
t asks in t he core business of food indust ry plant s. We also considered t he sampling
requirement s t o enable us t o undert ake mult ilevel analysis.
The sample size t hat is needed t o perform a mult ilevel analysis is not easy t o det ermine
( Snij ders & Bosker, 1993) . For a simple t wo level model, some aut hors speak of more
t han 100 groups t o be on t he safe side - in ot her words, t o prevent an underest imat ion of
group level variance component s and st andard errors ( e. g. Busing, 1993) . However t he
exact power of a mult ilevel model, especially when exceeding t wo levels can only be
calculat ed accurat ely post - hoc, because t he power is influenced by many paramet ers
wit hin t he model ( cf. Snij ders & Bosker, 1999) . Theoret ically we have at least four
possible levels wit hin our research model: nat ions/ societ ies, sect ors, organizat ions, and
individuals. Some groups might even be divided int o subgroups. As a given fact of t he
proj ect we have t o deal wit h seven count ries on t he macro- level of societ y. We decided
t hat at least 100 organisat ions across count ries would provide sufficient power for
mult ilevel modeling. A second goal was t o get a more or less balanced sample across
groups on different levels, we came up wit h t he guideline t o gat her dat a from at least 7
organisat ions per sect or per count ry ( 7 Count ries x 3 Sect ors x 7 Organisat ions = 147) .
I n order t o limit t he impact of one organizat ion on t he overall result s, we agreed t o limit
t he maximum share of any one organizat ion sub- sample t o one t hird of employees in a
sect or. We set t he same paramet ers for t he subgroups of permanent s and t emporary
workers. I n addit ion, at least 5 employees should have a t emporary cont ract in any
organizat ion sampled.
I f a count ry faced problems in t he sampling from any of t he t hree sect ors we decided t o
allow samples from a similar sect or remaining on t he same professional level: I nst ead of
t he educat ion sect or- t he second choice should be t he healt h sect or, I nst ead of t he food
indust ry- a different indust ry, in t he sales sect or it was possible t o include also t elephone
t ravel agencies, banks, et c. Table 2 gives a summary of sampling st rat egy.

44
Tabl e 2. Summary of t he sampling st rat egy
Count r y
Educat i onal
Sect or
Food I ndust r y Ret ai l and Sal es
Descr i pt i on of t he
sect or
Educat ional
organisat ions
( public, subsidized,
privat e)
Food & Drink
indust ry: No
managerial st aff
sampled.
Shops, t ravel
agencies, banks,
assurance
companies
Speci f i cat i on Employees are
professional st aff in
schools and
universit ies
( kindergarden/ pre-
primary included,
cleaning st aff,
secret arial, et c.
excluded) .
Mainly workers t hat
work in t he core of
t he company s
business
No rest rict ions
Number of
compani es
At least 7 At least 7 At least 7
Number of
t empor ar y
w or k er s
Minimum of 5 t emporary workers in each organisat ion, not more
t han one t hird of t emporary workers wit hin one sect or should be
from one company, wit hin one sect or at least 100 t emporary
workers.
Number of
per manent
w or k er s
No limit per company. Wit hin t he sect or, no more t han 1/ 3 of t he
permanent s from one organizat ion
Number per
or gani zat i on
Not more t han 1/ 3 of t he sect or sample should come from one
single organizat ion
1.1.2. Pr ocedur e f or dat a col l ect i on
Dat a were collect ed using surveys t o employees and int erviews/ quest ionnaires wit h HR
managers, who were chosen t o act as represent at ives and organizat ional agent s. This
procedure is consist ent wit h similar work in organizat ional st udies e. g. Kot t er ( 1973) and
Port er, Pearce, Tripoli and Lewis ( 2003) . I n order t o collect dat a, t he researchers eit her
visit ed t he organizat ions, dist ribut ed and collect ed t he quest ionnaires or sent t he
quest ionnaires t o t he organizat ions and t hey t hen managed t his process.

45
1.2. Quest i onnai r es
1.2.1. Empl oy ee si de
The quest ionnaire for employees was t he core inst rument of t he proj ect . I t ems and
scales were chosen according t o t he concept ual model. The pilot st udy served as a t est
run for t he inst rument s. Using crit eria of dimensionalit y, reliabilit y, and it em
charact erist ics, inst rument s for t he main st udy were chosen, modified or const ruct ed.
Based on t he lit erat ure review and compared t o t he pilot st udy, t he concept ual model
was subj ect t o some ext ensions. Thus, a few inst rument s included in t he main st udy had
not been t est ed in t he pilot . The quest ionnaire was part it ioned int o t he five sect ions:
- present j ob and employment cont ract ;
- j ob charact erist ics and performance in your present j ob;
- at t it udes t owards t he j ob and organisat ion;
- healt h and wellbeing; and
- background informat ion.
A complet e list of all t he variables and measures employed can be found in Appendix 2. A
few crit ical measurement issues will be discussed below.
Def i ni ng empl oyment cont r act - degr ee of cont r act per manency .
One of t he biggest challenges in research on employment cont ract s is t o find a coherent
classificat ion meet ing nat ional regulat ions and fit t ing cross- nat ional research. Most
research- orient ed t ypologies are not focused on cont ract permanency as such. Rat her,
t hey suggest classificat ion schemes referring t o overall employment ( e. g. , Dekker, 2001;
Benavides, Benach, Diez- Roux & Roman, 2000) or t o flexible employment ( e. g. ,
Boockman & Hagen, 2001; Apel & Engels, 2002) . Yet t he debat e cont inues no
agreement on t he use of employment cat egories has been reached among researchers
( Benavides, Benach, Diez- Roux & Roman, 2000, p. 500) - probably due t o large
differences across count ries.
For t he purpose of t his st udy an effort was made t o find t he crit ical dimensions t o
describe and define employment cont ract s and const ruct a useful definit ion. The
definit ion should incorporat e not only t he at ypical forms of employment ( such as
t emporary or fixed t erm) but also apply t o t he changing circumst ances of permanent
employees. Job securit y was chosen as t he most decisive dimension. Based on earlier

46
research we also decided t hat t he definit ion suggest ed should build on: ( 1) obj ect ive
crit eria, and not individual evaluat ions, ( 2) a t ime dimension of t he cont ract , ( 3) a
dist inct ion bet ween being employed direct ly or being employed by an agency. The pilot
st udy t est ed a draft definit ion where j ob securit y was assumed t o vary according t o
degree of j ob permanency as decided by period of not ice ent ailed in t he cont ract . This
lead t o four cat egories of direct and t hree forms of agency based employment : variable
( subj ect t o immediat e not ice) , fixed- t erm ( subj ect t o not ice) permanent ( subj ect t o
not ice) and permanent wit h no not ice ( life- long) .
The pilot st udy gave some essent ial clues t o t he problems wit h t his definit ion for cross-
count ry comparisons. Our concept ion of employment permanency, based on period of
not ice and direct vs. agency employment wit h seven cat egories proved t o be impossible
t o use. The main reason was t hat periods of not ice vary across count ries and sect ors t o
such a degree t hat t he seven cat egories could simply not be ident ified in a reliable way in
all count ries.
For t he main st udy we decided inst ead t o use t he definit ion of t emporary employment
suggest ed by t he OECD ( 2002) : A j ob may be regarded as t emporary if it is underst ood
by bot h employer and employee t hat t he t erminat ion of t he j ob is det ermined by
obj ect ive condit ions such as reaching a cert ain dat e, complet ion of an assignment or
ret urn of anot her employee who has been t emporarily replaced. I n simple t erms,
t emporary employment is considered as dependent employment of limit ed durat ion,
different iat ing bet ween j obs t hat offer t he prospect of a long- t erm employment
relat ionship and t hose t hat do not do so. Accordingly, permanency is a cont ract
charact erist ic.
The OECD definit ion had several advant ages. I t is based on obj ect ive crit eria inherent in
t he employment cont ract . Furt hermore, it allows an int ernat ional perspect ive in t hat legal
definit ions of t emporary employment show considerable overlap. Finally, it has already
been used in European research such as t he Labour Force St udy ( e. g. , Goudswaard &
Andries, 2002) . Therefore, t he OECD definit ion ( 2002) will be used here, wit hout claiming
t hat it is t he only one suit able for cross- nat ional research.
The PSYCONES classificat ion of different t ypes of employment cont ract s based on t he
revised definit ion is shown in t he figure below.

47
Fi gur e 5. Cat egories of employment cont ract s based on cont ract t ype and durat ion
Figure 5 shows t wo main cat egories. For permanent cont ract s we ident ified t wo
subgroups, t hose who have a period of not ice and t hose who have a life- long
employment . Temporary cont ract s can be divided int o t hree subgroups, t hose employed
by agencies, t hose on fixed t erm cont ract s and finally, individuals employed on very
short cont ract form ( day, hour or on call) . I nst ead of using period of not ice as a decisive
fact or t he model is based on durat ion of t he cont ract as t he most import ant dimension.
The model does not cover all aspect s t hat may be relevant from a psychological point of
view ( i. e. : geographical flexibilit y, variat ions in working hours and schedules, volunt ary
choice or not , working for more t han one agency, variat ions of wages and qualificat ions
or t ask demands, et c. ) . However informat ion on t hese fact ors was collect ed and included
in t he analysis.
Almost all st udies point t o t he import ance of cont rolling for a number of demographic
variables in analyses assessing t he effect s of t emporary employment ( see t he box on t he
left side of Figure 2) . Previous research indicat es t hat t emporary workers are generally
younger and less educat ed. I n some count ries, women dominat e t emporary employment .
The family sit uat ion, t he gender division of labour in t he household, and t he financial
sit uat ion could all influence t he decision of which cont ract form t o accept . As well as
t hese individual cont rol variables, work- relat ed variables also need t o be cont rolled. The
organizat ional posit ion ( e. g. blue collar, whit e collar, management ) is relat ed t o j ob
charact erist ics, which in t urn influence employees at t it udes, wellbeing and behaviours.
Ot her issues associat ed wit h t emporary employment , such as t enure, working hours,
union membership, supervision, main j ob versus ot her paid j ob and night shift s, also
need t o be cont rolled in order t o rule out alt ernat ive explanat ions.

48
Psy chol ogi cal Cont r act
We const rued t he psychological cont ract as a mult i- facet ed const ruct and designed our
measurement inst rument in t he light of t his. First , we dist inguish bet ween employers and
employees obligat ions. At t his st age we focus on t he employee as dat a source. Wit hin
t hese cat egories we dist inguish bet ween t he cont ent of t he psychological cont ract and
t he delivery of t he deal asking employees about t he degree of fulfillment of promises
and commit ment s from t he organizat ion.
Addit ionally, we assess t he violat ion of t he psychological cont ract . I n cont rast t o t he
delivery of t he deal which is rat her seen as cognit ive react ion along t he dimension of
fulfillment - breach, t he violat ion of t he cont ract is seen as an affect ive react ion t o t he
psychological cont ract ( cf. Morrison & Robinson, 1997) .
I n t he cont ext of st udies of t he employment relat ionship, t he concept of t he psychological
cont ract has been broadened int o a concept referred t o as t he st at e of t he psychological
cont ract incorporat ing measures of fairness and t rust ( Guest , 2004) We t herefore
included t hese in our inst rument . The it ems indicat e whet her t he employment
relat ionship is perceived as j ust , fair and t o what ext ent one can t rust t he employer
( managers, supervisors) . Figure 6 shows t hese const it uent element s of t he psychological
cont ract at a glance.
We will not only ask for t he perceived employers obligat ions, but also for t he promises
and commit ment s of t he employee t owards his/ her employers as well as t he fulfillment of
t hese obligat ions by employees. Taking bot h sides of cont ract - part ners int o account we
follow t he definit ion of t he psychological cont ract as t he percept ions of reciprocal
expect at ions and obligat ions implied in t he employment relat ionship ( I saksson, Peir et
al. , 2003, p. 3) . The employers side will be considered in t he employers quest ionnaire
t hat will be described lat er on.

49
Fi gur e 6. The const it uent element s of t he psychological cont ract in t he quest ionnaire
1. 2. 2. Addi t i onal met hodol ogi cal comment s
Appendix 21 shows a list of all t he variables included in t he quest ionnaire including
psychomet ric propert ies of scales across count ries. For each scale, t he result s of fact or
analyses ( Principle Component Analyses; PCAs) were calculat ed for t he whole sample, for
each nat ional dat aset and t hen for bot h permanent and t emporary samples. To assess
reliabilit y of t he various scales in each sample t he Cronbachs Alpha was calculat ed for
t he sample as a whole and for each count ry. I n a number of cases, t he omission of one
or more it ems subst ant ially enhanced t he reliabilit y of t he scale. I n such cases, t his was
indicat ed t oget her wit h suggest ed improvement s. The best version was used in t he main
dat a analyses present ed below. A few it ems were specifically const ruct ed for t emporary
employees ( t enure on t he j ob, durat ion of cont ract , expect at ion of cont ract ext ension and
mot ives for t emporary employment ) . Apart from t hese it ems, t he dat a present ed
represent s all of t he dat a collect ed in organisat ions where responses were received from
bot h permanent and t emporary employees.
The conclusion was t hat most of t he measures have accept able psychomet ric propert ies
and appear t o be suit able for use bot h for t he whole sample, each nat ional sample and
for bot h permanent and t emporary employees.
The level of missing dat a seems t o be fairly consist ent across employment cont ract wit h
similar proport ions of missing values being found in bot h permanent and t emporary
samples. The t wo variables wit h slight ly higher disparit ies, bot h wit h a higher proport ion

50
of missing values for t emporary employees, are fulfilment of t he PC ( 8. 0% v 5. 6%) and
organisat ional t enure ( 3. 3% v 1. 8%) .
Various point s were made concerning t he measurement of t he PC variables and how t hey
might best be combined. We used fact or analysis t o explore t he presence of t ransact ional
and relat ional dimensions but failed t o ident ify clear fact ors. I n t heir absence, it was
concluded t hat it would be most appropriat e t o focus on cont ent breadt h as a single
dimension and degree of fulfillment of t he it ems as a whole.
1.2.3. Empl oy er i nt er v i ew / quest i onnai r e
The quest ionnaire t o employers aimed t o collect background informat ion concerning t he
organisat ion t hat can help t o cat egorise different organisat ions, serve as background
variables in regression analyses or as indicat ors of t he organisat ional level for mult ilevel
analysis. Furt hermore t he assessment s of employees can be compared wit h t he rat ings
of t he HR Manager wit hin one organisat ion. Appendix 2 shows it ems and scales used for
t he employer quest ionnaire.
The same st andards as for t he employees quest ionnaire regarding t he development of
t he employers quest ionnaire were used. The quest ionnaire is part it ioned in four sect ions:
I ) Charact erist ics of t he company/ organisat ion
I I ) Human Resources Policies and Pract ices
I I I ) Performance I ndicat ors
I V) Employer- Employee Relat ions
The employer variables will be describes in t he following.
I Char act er i st i cs of t he company / or gani sat i on
I n t his sect ion we sought obj ect ive dat a describing t he organisat ion such as size,
ownership, proport ion of t emporary employees, union members et c. As it is highly
relevant t hat we use t he same cont ext ual frame for t his descript ion, our definit ion of t he
organisat ion was given t o t he respondent s: When we refer t o your organisat ion we
would like you t o consider t his as being t he independent geographical sit e/ plant / school
wit hin which you are locat ed, even if t he depart ment / plant / school you are working for
it self is a part of a larger company/ organizat ion .

51
I I Human Resour ces Pol i ci es and pr act i ces
HR pract ices are likely t o influence t he psychological cont ract . Kabanoff, Jimmieson, and
Lewis ( 2000) put HRM ( Human Resource Management ) pract ices at t he core of t heir
organising model. The aut hors refer t o Rousseau and Wade- Benzoni who in ( 1994)
argued t hat HRM pract ices are one of t he maj or mechanisms t hrough which employees
come t o underst and t he t erms and condit ions of t heir employment ( p. 33) . We asked
about a set of core human resource pract ices, explored t he mot ives t hat lead t he
organizat ion t o employ persons on a t emporary basis, asked for rat ings of sat isfact ion
wit h t he performance of t emporary and permanent workers, t he influence of unions or
work council, and last but not least t he difficult y of filling vacancies.
I I I Per f or mance i ndi cat or s
There is a vast quant it y of possible performance indicat ors, ranging from profit , t he
growt h of t he organisat ion, t he posit ion in t he market , t he compliance t o cert ain norms
and rules ( like I SO norms) , and so fort h. As we are looking for dat a t hat can be mat ched
wit h t he informat ion we get from employees we used a rat her rest rict ed list of
performance indicat ors. Wit hout t he relevance of ot her performance indicat ors, in t he
quest ionnaire we decided t o focus on t he dynamic of t he work force ( dismissals and
volunt ary quit t ing) , on sick leave and accident s. By collect ing t hese performance
indicat ors wit hin t he wider concept ual framework, t he st udy might help t o underst and t he
causes of workplace safet y behaviour and accident s, and how t his is affect ed by HR
policies and t he use of t emporary cont ract s. I n most count ries all t hese quest ions were
asked separat ely for permanent and t emporary employees.
I V Empl oy er - Empl oy ee Rel at i ons
We described t he psychological cont ract and it s operat ionalisat ion in det ail for t he
employees quest ionnaire. The rat ionale for asking employers is t hat t he cont ract is
reciprocal and psychological cont ract s are formed and developed in a specific
organisat ional cont ext : The same quest ions as for employees were used, asking about
cont ent and fulfillment of promises and obligat ions by t he organizat ion and by it s
employees. As we are invest igat ing t he special sit uat ion of t emporary employees, we
divided t he quest ions addressed t o employers int o t heir obligat ions for permanent and
t emporary workers and how t hese were reciprocat ed.
The proport ion of missing dat a was relat ively high among managers. Missing dat a from
t he employers quest ionnaires is an import ant issue as t he overall sample consist ed of
202 managers compared t o more t han 5000 employee. A sizeable loss of respondent s

52
has implicat ions for t he st at ist ical analyses t hat can be performed as well as for t heir
power.
There were several t ypes of and possible causes for missing values. I n some cases,
managers may have int ent ionally or unint ent ionally avoided cert ain quest ions or have
failed t o respond because t hey did not have t he informat ion available. For managers t his
seems t o be more frequent for t he performance indicat ors ( e. g. sick leave for
t emporaries where 41% of managers failed t o respond) . I t ems wit h t he highest levels of
missing values were not used for furt her analyses.
Some of t he missing dat a is an out come of t he format of t he quest ionnaire it self. For
example, in it ems measuring t he cont ent of t he PC, we discovered t hat a number of bot h
managers and employees failed t o complet e all it ems. The reason seems t o be t hat some
skipped an it em inst ead of responding no . Missing dat a in t hese cases have been
recoded for t he main analyses. Similar format s caused missing dat a in ot her part s of t he
employers quest ionnaire. Do not know responses t o some it ems were coded as missing
dat a.
1.3. I dent i f y i ng soci et al di mensi ons and i ndi cat or s t o measur e t hem
The elect ronic dat abases Psyclit , Sociological Abst ract s, Econlit , and t he Web of Science
for publicat ions ( t heoret ical or dat abase) in English from 1993 were used t o ident ify t he
six societ al dimensions described above. I n addit ion, we asked PSYCONES colleagues t o
search for publicat ions in t heir nat ive language ( ot her t han English) . We checked t he
available deliverables of t he proj ect New Underst anding of European Work Organizat ion
( NUEWO) .
The next st ep was t o int erview five expert s ( Flemish, Dut ch) wit h broad perspect ives on
societ y ( four sociologist s and one philosopher) t o furt her ident ify societ al core dimensions
relevant t o t he psychological cont ract . We asked t hese expert s: ( 1) whet her t hey
considered ot her societ al dimensions affect ing t he psychological cont ract or confirmed
t he six dimensions derived from t he lit erat ure st udy, ( 2) t heir suggest ions for t he most
relevant quant it at ive indicat ors for t he societ al dimensions.
We furt her int erviewed eight expert s for specific dimensions ( Flemish, Dut ch) in order t o
check t he labelling and definit ion/ descript ion of each dimension. We asked for t heir
expert j udgement about t he most relevant quant it at ive indicat ors and an event ual
combinat ion of indicat ors int o indices.
For t he bulk of t he select ed indicat ors, quant it at ive dat a were available in EUROSTAT,
I LO, EI RO, OECD and t he World Bank. For one dimension - cult ural values Schwart z

53
( personal communicat ion, 25/ 02/ 2003) provided mean scores per count ry on his seven
cult ural value t ypes.
For four indicat ors defined ( zone of negot iabilit y, sanct ions for violat ion, st rengt h of
family t ies, societ al at t it ude t owards working mot hers) we didnt find quant it at ive dat a in
earlier research or in census dat a. We gat hered dat a t hrough t wo web- based surveys
wit h subj ect mat t er expert s. We believe t hat expert j udgement s are aut horit at ive
( Budge, 2000) and guarant ee dat a int egrit y ( no repeat ed part icipat ion and no
mischievous responding) . Advant ages of web- based surveys relevant t o our st udy include
t he possibilit y of expert int errogat ions by addressing highly select ed groups ( Swoboda,
Mhlberger, & Schneeweiss, 1997; Budge, 2000) at locat ions remot e from us, and easy,
low cost dat a collect ion ( Anderson & Gansneder, 1995; Buchanan & Smit h, 1999;
Swoboda et al, 1997; Epst ein & Dean Klinkenberg, 2002) . Following suggest ions by
Schmidt ( 1997) and Swoboda et al. ( 1997) we dealt wit h possible problems occurring
wit h web- based surveys. A complet e list of count ry level indicat ors for t he six dimensions
is given in Appendix 3.
1. 3. 1. Dat a anal y ses
The main result s t o be present ed come from hierarchical regression analyses and was
carried out on t he dat a in accordance wit h t he research model of t he proj ect . These
findings are present ed in four st eps ( bearing in mind t he concept ual framework) : First ly,
dat a are present ed showing t he relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract t ype and t he
psychological cont ract ( PC) variables, t he ot her int ervening variables and each of t he
dependent variables; Secondly, t he PC variables are assessed for any mediat ing
propert ies wit hin t he relat ionships bet ween employment cont ract t ype and t he dependent
variables; Thirdly, t he alt ernat ive int ervening variables are t hen assessed independent ly
and in combinat ion for mediat ion effect s. Fourt hly, analyses of a number of issues
relevant only for t emporary employees are present ed. This last sect ion uses several
t ypes of t emporary cont ract s, whereas t he bulk of analyses uses t he dichot omous
variable ( t emporary vs. permanent ) .
The regression result s are present ed in a number of t ables. These t ables include t he
individual st andardised bet a- weight s of t he individual element s wit hin each model and
t he overall R- square st at ist ic t hat indicat es t he percent age of variance explained by t he
set of independent variables in each model ( and F- value of any R- square change where
appropriat e) . Generally, only t he findings pert aining t o t he main relat ionships of int erest
are discussed. Only st rong relat ionships involving background variables are reviewed.
Mediat ion is assessed using t he met hod advocat ed for mult iple regressions by Baron and

54
Kenny ( 1986) . Wit hin t his met hod, t he hypot hesised mediat or is regressed ont o t he
dependent variable as a second st ep of a hierarchical regression, wit h t he independent
and background variables included in a first st ep. Full mediat ion is indicat ed if t he
mediat or is found t o be significant ly associat ed wit h t he dependent variable and t he
relat ionship bet ween t he independent variable and t he dependent variable changes from
being significant t o become non- significant at t he second st ep. A part ial mediat ion is
indicat ed if t he relat ionship bet ween independent and dependent variable is reduced
when t he mediat or is included in t he model. Result s t hat have p- values lower t han 0. 05
are present ed as having st at ist ical significance. I t is import ant however t o consider t he
large number of t est s t hat are carried out and t he implicat ion t his has on t he various
probabilit y est imat es, in t hat t he probabilit y of result s being found by chance increases.
I mport ant also is t o consider t he power of t he t est s and appropriat e effect sizes. The
large sample size provides t he st at ist ical t est s wit h a high level of power. As a result ,
even very small effect sizes are found t o be significant ( e. g. bet as of 0. 03) . An
appropriat e int erpret at ion of t he findings requires a considerat ion of bot h t hese issues
( Cohen, 1990) .
Analyses were carried out t o explore t he relat ionship bet ween t he employee report s of
t he psychological cont ract ( PC) and employer report s of t he PC. This t ype of analysis is
quit e complex as it involves measuring a concept ( t he PC) from t wo sources. Combined
dat a from different sources, and in part icular from different levels ( i. e. t he employee
level and t he employer level) , can be analysed descript ively but also lends it self t o more
sophist icat ed mult ilevel analyses. Mult ilevel analysis allows us t o examine t he
cont ribut ion of higher- level variables ( employer report s) t o t he variance wit hin lower-
level variables ( t heir employees report s) in an appropriat e way.
1. 3. 2. Mul t i l ev el anal y ses
Our st udy is a mult ilevel st udy, encompassing t he individual and organizat ional level, as
well as t he sect or level, and count ry level. I n t he PSYCONES proj ect , dat a is gat hered on
t hree levels; t he employee, t he organizat ion, and t he count ry ( see figure below) .

55
Fi gur e 7. The levels in t he PSYCONES proj ect
The analyses st art ed wit h an overview of t he variance t hat can be explained by t he
different levels. That gives a first idea about t he relat ive import ance of t he different
levels. I t provides an indicat ion of whet her wellbeing and healt h of employees are
mainly det ermined by individual differences, or charact erist ics of organizat ions, sect ors,
or count ries. The t echnical procedure we used for t he calculat ions is t he following:
I n SPSS mixed models we calculat ed
a) t he residual for a dependent variable ( column 1) ;
b) included organizat ional charact erist ics t hat were used in regression analyses as
covariat es and calculat ed t he residual value ( set as st andard for evaluat ing t he
cont ribut ions of t he different levels t o 100%) . Covariat es used are: number of
employees, number of permanent employees, organizat ional form
( public/ privat e) , organizat ional form ( independency) , number of employees past
t hree years, number of t emporarys past t hree years, prospect s concerning
workforce, influence on employment cont ract s, influence on HR pract ices,
influence on working condit ions, and vacancies ( column 2) ;
c) included ORGANI ZATI ON as a random fact or;
d) included respect ively SECTOR, and SECTOR and COUNTRY as fixed- fact ors, and
calculat ed t he residuals of t he main effect s of all t he fact ors and covariat es.
The percent age of explained variance of each level is calculat ed by looking at t he residual
of t he cont rolled ( column 2) model. When SECTOR is included, it explains some of t he
variance in t he dependent variable. When bot h SECTOR and COUNTRY are included t hese

56
levels explain variance. The percent ages in t he t ables are calculat ed by dividing t he
residual of a cert ain level by t he t ot al residual of t he model t hat was t est ed.
2. Resul t s
2.1. Par t i ci pat i ng compani es and empl oy ees
Table 3 present s informat ion on t he final employee sample, in t erms of t he overall
number of responses of employees on permanent and t emporary cont ract s t hat were
collect ed across count ry and sect or. Addit ionally, t he numbers of organisat ions in which
t hese individuals were employed are present ed.
I nit ially, each count ry t eam t arget ed t he food manufact uring, ret ail and educat ion sect ors
t o collect dat a. However, on occasions it proved very difficult t o fulfil t he sample crit eria
in several count ries, t herefore t hese sect ors were broadened t o manufact uring, ret ail and
services and educat ion. Thus, while t he maj orit y of organisat ions wit hin t he
manufact uring sample are food manufact urers, t here are a number of manufact urers of
ot her product s also. Similarly wit hin t he ret ail and services sample, t he maj orit y of
organisat ions are ret ailers, however t here are ot her organisat ions such as financial
organisat ions, privat e healt hcare organisat ions and regist ered charit ies, all of which have
a sales funct ion or offer a service of some kind.
One sample t arget was t o collect dat a from at least 100 t emporary and 100 permanent
employees wit hin each of t he t hree sect ors. This was possible in nearly all count ries,
providing an overall sample of 5288 employees across t he count ries, wit h 1981
t emporary employees and 3307 permanent employees.
A furt her sample t arget was t o collect dat a from at least seven organisat ions from wit hin
each sect or. I nformat ion present ed in Table 3 indicat es t hat t his was possible in t he
maj orit y of cases. Overall, dat a were collect ed in over 200 companies. A sample
requirement for mult ilevel analysis ( MLA) is t hat dat a are collect ed from a minimum of
t hree employees on each cont ract t ype wit hin each organisat ion. I t appears t hat t his was
also possible in t he large maj orit y of cases, providing 176 organisat ions in which t here
was an adequat e employee- level sample for MLA.

57
Tabl e 3. Frequencies of usables
2
responses across count ry and sect or
Ty pe of empl oyment cont r act Number of
or gani sat i ons
Count r y
Non-
per manent
Per manent Tot al Tot al Mi ni mum
f or MLA
Manufact uring 62 197 259 7 6
Ret ail or
Service
40 139 179 8 5
Educat ion 97 195 292 9 8
Sweden
Tot al 199 531 730 24 19
Ret ail or
Service
79 108 187 9 9
Educat ion 116 110 226 14 10
Germany
Tot al 286 342 628 32 28
Ret ail or
Service
89 163 252 14 7
Educat ion 113 171 284 12 11
Net herlands
Tot al 298 459 754 35 24
Ret ail or
Service
106 111 217 8 8
Educat ion 100 111 211 8 8
Belgium
Tot al 294 345 639 23 21
Ret ail or
Service
31 109 140 6 6
Educat ion 62 52 114 8 2
UK
Tot al 157 485 642 19 12

2
A questionnaire would be unusable if it had a large amount of missing data or questionable integrity.

58

Ret ail or
Service
115 154 269 10 10
Educat ion 104 179 283 20 19
Spain
Tot al 375 557 932 47 46
Ret ail or
Service
97 132 229 9 9
Educat ion 145 204 349 11 11
I srael
Tot al 372 588 960 27 26
Manufact uring 687 1369 2056 61 53
Ret ail or
Service
557 916 1473 64 54
Educat ion 737 1022 1759 82 69
Tot al
Tot al 1981 3307 5288 207 176
2.2. Par t i ci pat i ng compani es - emppl oy er per spect i v e
Table 4 present s some charact erist ics of t he part icipat ing organizat ions. I t s import ant t o
point out in t he discussion of count ry differences t hat samples are non represent at ive
and t hat conclusions about count ry differences should made wit h caut ion. Regarding
organisat ional size, part icipat ing organizat ions from t he Net herlands are generally larger
t han all ot her count ries, except for t he UK. The result s of differences across count ries
regarding organisat ional ownership suggest t hat a large maj orit y of part icipat ing
organizat ions from Spain and Germany are privat e organisat ions, while t he UK has t he
highest rat e of public organisat ions. Organisat ional form also shows significant
differences across count ries;

59
Tabl e 4. Means, and proport ions of t he st ruct ural variables across count ries
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Var i abl e
Tot al SW GR NE BE UK SP I S
Organisat ional size
( M)
508. 2 179. 5 201. 5 840. 2 223. 1 1816. 8 469. 3 196. 0
Per cent of
permanent
employees
69. 03 61. 52 67. 28 74. 86 68. 15 70. 32 73. 39 63. 54
Organisat ional
ownership ( %
privat e)
68. 34 74. 07 81. 48 71. 05 77. 27 35. 29 81. 82 33. 33
Organisat ional form ( %)
a. I ndependent 40. 72 0. 00 51. 85 44. 74 45. 45 53. 33 45. 24 47. 83
b. Head office 10. 31 0.00 14. 81 7. 89 9. 09 20. 00 11. 90 13. 04
c. One out of many
nat ional
est ablishment s
37. 11 92. 59 33. 33 15. 79 22. 73 26. 67 38. 10 30. 43
d. I nt ernat ional
owner, single
est ablishment
2. 58 0. 00 0. 00 13. 16 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00
e. I nt ernat ional
owner, one out of
several
est ablishment
9. 28 7. 41 0. 00 18. 42 22. 73 0. 00 4. 76 8. 70
Sweden has t he highest proport ion of est ablishment s belonging t o a large nat ional
company or organizat ion. There were a few addit ional differences in st ruct ural variables
as report ed by employers in part icipat ing companies and organizat ions in t he PSYCONES
count ries. First , count ries differ in t he rat e of unionised employees, wit h I srael, and t o a
lesser ext ent Sweden and Belgium, having t he highest level of unionised employees.
Second, differences across count ries were found regarding t he influence of unions.
Sweden, I srael and t he Net herlands were found t o be higher t han Germany, Belgium,
and Spain. Finally, differences across count ries were found regarding t he ease of filling
vacancies, where Belgium was found t o have a higher mean score t han Sweden and
Spain.
Sect or differences bet ween part icipat ing organizat ions were generally small. The findings
regarding organisat ional size indicat e t hat organisat ions are somewhat larger in
manufact uring t han in t he ret ail/ service or educat ion sect ors. The proport ion of
permanent employees is higher in t he educat ion sect or t han in t he ret ail/ service sect or.

60
Regarding organisat ional ownership, it appears t hat t he lowest rat e of privat e
organisat ion is in t he educat ion sect or.
I n t he use of various forms of t emporary cont ract s, it appears t hat t he educat ion sect or
is higher t han t he ret ail/ service sect or in t he use of fixed- t erm cont ract s and is lower
t han t he ot her sect ors in t he use of t emporary agency employees. For organisat ional
unionisat ion, t he manufact uring indust ry is higher t han ret ail/ service, whereas for union
influence, t he manufact uring indust ry report higher values t han t he educat ion sect or.
Next t able present s differences across count ries in HR policies and pract ices. Table 5 also
present s means for t he t ot al sample concerning differences across employment
cont ract s. Regarding inequalit y in HR pract ices in favour of permanent employees,
several significant differences emerged across count ries. The largest difference bet ween
permanent and t emporary employees was found regarding support for non- work
responsibilit ies. This was t o a very high degree offered only t o permanent s in Dut ch and
Spanish compared t o Swedish organisat ions. Second, for inequalit y in performance
appraisal, t he differences show somewhat unusual t rends: on t he one hand, Sweden is
higher t han t hree ot her count ries in favouring permanent employees in t his variable,
whereas Belgium is lower t han four ot her count ries t o such an ext ent t hat it favours t he
t emporary employees over t he permanent employees ( not ice t he minus sign for t he
Belgian value) . Thirdly, regarding inequalit y in support for non- work responsibilit ies, it
appears t hat t he inequalit y in favour of permanent employees is higher in t he
Net herlands and in Spain when compared wit h t he ot her count ries.
Turning t o sect or comparisons several significant differences emerged in regard t o HR
pract ices. I t appears t hat companies in t he ret ail sect or are higher t han manufact uring or
educat ion in t he use of performance appraisal bot h for permanent and for t emporary
employees and use of pay relat ed performance for permanent employees. Concerning t he
inequalit y in favour of permanent employees, seven significant differences appear. I t
seems t hat t he educat ion sect or displays lower inequalit y t han t he manufact uring or t he
ret ail/ service sect ors in most of t hese variables. Specifically, regarding inequalit y in
opport unit ies t o express views, in provision of int erest ing and varied j obs, and in support
wit h non- work responsibilit ies, inequalit y is higher in manufact uring t han t he
ret ail/ service and t he educat ion sect ors. I n addit ion, for inequalit y in t raining and
development , in performance appraisal, and in overall inequalit y, t he manufact uring
indust ry and t he ret ail/ service sect ors are higher t han t he educat ion sect or. For
inequalit y in performance- relat ed pay, t he ret ail/ service sect or is higher t han t he
manufact uring indust ry, and in t urn, t he manufact uring indust ry is higher t han t he
educat ion sect or.

61
Sat isfact ion wit h t he performance of permanent and t emporary employees does not differ
among count ries. The overall level of t he managers sat isfact ion wit h bot h t ypes of
employees is almost ident ical and generally quit e high. Significant differences across
count ries do appear in quit rat e for permanent employees, quit rat e for t emporary
employees, dismissal rat e for permanent employees, and sick- leave rat e for permanent
employees. However, no consist ent bet ween- count ry differences are observed.
Tabl e 5. Means, st andard deviat ions, and proport ions of t he HR pract ices variables
across count ries
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Var i abl e
Tot al SW GR NE BE UK SP I S
HR inequalit y in favour of perms ( %)
Opport unit ies t o
express views
a

14. 14 18. 52 14. 81 8. 33 5. 26 13. 33 18. 18 17. 39
I nt erest ing and
varied j obs
16. 49 11. 11 15. 38 20. 00 4. 54 25. 00 23. 08 13. 04
Support wit h non-
work responsibilit ies
25. 26 7. 41 12. 00 44. 44 27. 27 12. 50 38. 10 13. 64
Equal opport unit ies
pract ices
a

7. 65 13. 85 0. 00 8. 82 5. 26 0. 00 13. 95 14. 29
Prevent ing
harassment or
bullying
a

1. 62 3. 70 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 0. 00 4. 76 0. 00
Equal t reat ment No
difference
53. 33 40. 74 66. 67 30. 55 50. 00 68. 75 74. 41 41. 67
Small difference 35. 38 51. 85 22. 22 52. 78 45. 45 25. 00 16. 28 37. 50
Large difference
a
11. 28 7. 41 11. 1 16. 67 4. 55 6. 25 9. 30 20. 83
Training and
development -
Difference in favour of
perms ( %)
11. 34 11. 15 8. 75 16. 30 16. 58 8. 46 2. 63 20. 95
Performance appraisal 57. 30 61. 48 45. 00 54. 38 76. 82 75. 00 43. 90 65. 22
perms ( %)
9. 89 31. 85 11. 15 10. 00 - 10. 00 10. 71 4. 63 10. 43
Performance- relat ed
pay
17. 83 22. 59 15. 60 12. 57 4. 77 15. 71 15. 95 40. 91
perms ( %)
7. 91 9. 81 0. 80 8. 43 4. 50 8. 57 13. 33 5. 45

62
2.2.1. Mot i v es f or use of t emps
Employers were offered 12 st at ement s concerning possible reasons for using t emporary
cont ract s) . The most commonly used mot ive in all count ries is I t covers mat ernit y or
longer periods of st aff absence , followed by I t helps t o mat ch st aff t o peaks in
demand . Result s revealed significant count ry differences in seven of t he 12 mot ives. The
most not iceable t rend shows I srael t o be different from some of t he ot hers: employers in
I srael are less likely t o cit e t he mot ive of covering mat ernit y or ot her long- t erm absences
and are more likely t o cit e t he mot ives of offering t rial periods before employing a
permanent employee, saving t raining cost s and saving fringe benefit cost s. For t he
mot ive of use due t o difficult ies in filling vacant posit ions, Spain is higher t han all ot her
count ries except Belgium and t he UK. I n t he use of t emporary employees as a way t o
probe t heir capabilit ies on t he j ob prior t o offering permanency, Sweden is higher t han all
ot her count ries, except for t he Net herlands and I srael.
Significant differences across sect ors appear also in five mot ives for using t emporary
employees. Regarding t he mot ives it helps t o mat ch st aff t o peaks in demand , we
offer t rial periods before employing a permanent , and we would like t o have personnel
for unusual working hours , t he manufact uring indust ry and t heret ail/ service/ service
sect ors are higher t han t he educat ion sect or. I n cont rast , t he educat ion sect or is higher
t han bot h t he manufact uring and t he ret ail/ service sect ors regarding t he mot ive of we
are ot herwise unable t o fill vacancies , and higher t han t he ret ail/ service sect or regarding
t he mot ive we can bring in specialist skills.
2.2.2. Psy chol ogi cal cont r act s, as r epor t ed by t he compani es
At a descript ive level, t he result s indicat e t hat managers report high levels of reciprocal
obligat ions for bot h permanent and t emporary workers. On each obligat ion cit ed, over
half t he managers report ed t hat t hey had made a promise t o t heir permanent workers.
They were generally more likely t o say t hey made promises t o permanent rat her t han
t emporary workers and on seven of t he 15 it ems, t he differences are st at ist ically
significant . Managers have even more robust views about employees obligat ions t o t he
organisat ion. On all 17 it ems, over half, and usually considerably over half t he managers
believed bot h permanent and t emporary employees had made a promise or commit ment
t o t he organisat ion. Generally, managers felt t hat permanent employees had somewhat
more ext ensive obligat ions t han t emporary workers and on four of t he 17 it ems t his
difference was st at ist ically significant . There was also one it em developing compet encies
t o be able t o perform more efficient ly in t he j ob on which managers felt t hat t emporary
employees had a significant ly higher obligat ion t han permanent employees.

63
Managers report ed a view t hat t heir organisat ion generally fulfilled it s obligat ions t o bot h
permanent and t emporary employees and mean differences bet ween were not
st at ist ically significant . Managers were a lit t le less posit ive about t he ext ent t o which
employees met t heir obligat ions t o t he organisat ion. Across t he 17 it ems, t he mean score
for fulfilment by permanent employees ranged from 3. 27 t o 3. 91 and for t emporary
employees it ranged from 3. 24 t o 3. 97. There are st at ist ically significant differences on
t hree of t hese it ems wit h permanent employees being rat ed more likely t o fulfil t heir
obligat ions on t wo out of t he t hree.
Managers percept ions of t he ext ent t o which employees fulfil t heir obligat ions is
import ant because it is st rongly associat ed wit h t he key global out come measure, namely
sat isfact ion wit h employee performance. Scores on t his were generally high and mean
values for permanent and t emporary employees were on t he same level. What , t hen,
explains differences in managers percept ions t hat employees have fulfilled t heir
obligat ions? For permanent employees, t his is more likely t o be report ed in smaller
organisat ions, in privat e sect or organisat ions, where union influence is high and where
t here is a low level of difference in applicat ion of HR pract ices t o permanent and
t emporary employees. For t emporary employees, managers rat e t heir fulfilment of
promises as higher in smaller organisat ions, in independent organisat ions and where
t here are few inequalit ies in t he applicat ion of HR pract ices t o permanent and t emporary
employees, I t appears t hat as in t he employee survey, human resource pract ices have an
import ant role t o play. Furt hermore, unlike t he st ruct ural variables, t hey are t o a
considerable ext ent under t he cont rol of management .
2.2.3. The r ol e of psy chol ogi cal cont r act s ( PC) - t est i ng t he empl oyer
model
The last sect ion focuses on t he pat t ern of st ruct ural relat ions among st ruct ural and HR
pract ices variables, PC variables, and sat isfact ion wit h employees. I n essence t his means
t est ing t he role of psychological cont ract s for t he evaluat ion of employee performance
according t o our t heoret ical model present ed above. The primary quest ion of int erest was
whet her t he PC variables account ed for variance in sat isfact ion wit h employees, above
and beyond t he st ruct ural and HR pract ices variables. Due t o a sample size limit at ion,
only a few primary variables could be t est ed. The independent variables were
organisat ional size, % of permanent employees, organisat ion ownership, and inequalit y
in HR pract ices. Log t ransformat ions were used t o make variables appropriat e for t he
analyses. The mediat ing variables were t he employers and employees fulfilment . The
dependent variable was sat isfact ion wit h employees.

64
Three models were t est ed for each of t he t wo dependent variables ( sat isfact ion wit h
permanent employees and sat isfact ion wit h t emporary employees) . The t hree models
wit hin each group:
1) The full models comprised pat hs from t he st ruct ural and HR pract ices variables
( independent ) t o bot h t he PC and sat isfact ion ( direct and indirect ) ,
2) A direct model, where t he mediat ing pat hs bet ween t he PC variables and
sat isfact ion were removed.
3) A mediat ion model where t he influece of organizat ional fact ors was mediat ed by
t he psychological cont ract . I n t he mediat ion models, t he direct pat hs bet ween
t he st ruct ural and HR pract ices variables and sat isfact ion were removed.
The direct and mediat ion models are each nest ed wit hin t he full model. Therefore, a chi-
square difference t est can be used t o det ermine whet her t here is a significant difference
bet ween t he fit of t he direct and mediat ion models and t he full model.
Table 6 present s t he result s of t he model t est ing for permanent and t emporary
employees, respect ively. The findings clearly indicat e t hat fulfilment of obligat ions has a
significant mediat ing role in t he effect of st ruct ural and HR pract ices variables on
sat isfact ion wit h employees. This pat t ern emerged for bot h sat isfact ion wit h permanent
and t emporary employees. As can be seen in Table 6, for bot h sat isfact ion wit h
permanent and t emporary employees, removing t he direct pat hs had no det riment al
effect on t he model fit , as indicat ed by t he non- significant chi- square differences. This
result suggest s t hat t he direct pat hs are negligible. Moreover, t he mediat ing models
seem t o fit t he dat a well, as indicat ed by t he low rat io of chi- square/ df and t he high
values of t he descript ive paramet ers. However, when indirect pat hs were removed, t he
overall fit of t he models was worse t han t he fit of t he full models, as indicat ed by t he
significant chi- square differences. The direct models ( indirect pat hs removed) do not
appear t o fit t he dat a at all, as indicat ed by t he high rat io of chi- square/ df and t he low
values of t he descript ive paramet ers. These findings clearly indicat e t hat t he indirect
pat hs, t hat is, t he mediat ion of t he fulfilment variables, are indeed needed. Figures 8 and
9 present t he final indirect models for t he predict ion of sat isfact ion wit h permanent and
t emporary employees, along wit h st andardized coefficient s.

65
Tabl e 6. Goodness- of- fit summary of t hree models t est ing for sat isfact ion wit h
permanent employees as dependent variable ( n= 202) f
Model s
per manent
2
Df
2
/ df
2
di f f . Df di f f . P di f f . NFI CFI RMSEA
Full model 16. 65 6 2. 77 0. 9 0. 92 0. 09
Direct
model
a

42. 13 8 5. 27 24. 48 2 * * * 0. 75 0. 75 0. 15
Mediat ion
model
b

19. 59 10. 00 1. 96 2. 94 4. 00 - - - 0. 88 0. 93 0. 07
Models t emporaries
Full model 16. 41 6 2. 74 0. 88 0. 90 0. 09
Direct
model
a

35. 04 8 4. 38 18. 63 2 * * * 0. 74 0. 75 0. 13
Mediat ion
model
b

19. 97 10. 00 1. 99 3. 56 4. 00 - - - 0. 85 0. 91 0. 07
* * * p < 0. 001; a I ndirect pat hs removed; b Direct pat hs removed
Fi gur e 8. Final st ruct ural model ( mediat ion) for sat isfact ion wit h permanent employees
wit h st andardized coefficient s

66
Fi gur e 9. Final st ruct ural model ( mediat ion) for sat isfact ion wit h t emporary employees
wit h st andardized coefficient s
I nspect ion of t he part ial coefficient s among variables demonst rat ed in Figures 8 and 9,
reveals a very similar pat t ern of relat ionships for predict ing sat isfact ion wit h permanent
employees and sat isfact ion wit h t emporary employees. For bot h models, most
associat ions bet ween t he predict ing variables and t he fulfilment variables are significant ,
except for t he relat ionships bet ween organisat ional size and employers fulfilment of
obligat ions t owards permanent employees. However, in cont rast t o t emporary
employees, for permanent employees t he relat ionship bet ween organisat ional size and
permanent employees fulfilment is also not significant . I n addit ion, for bot h permanent
and t emporary employees models, only employees fulfilment of obligat ions are posit ively
relat ed t o sat isfact ion wit h employee performance.
2. 2. 4. Summar y
The main purpose of t his part was t o report and analyse t he responses from t he 202
managers who were providing informat ion as represent at ives of organisat ions employing
bot h permanent and t emporary st aff. Relat ionships bet ween several organisat ional
charact erist ics and out comes regarding employees performance were explored and t he
role of t he PC in mediat ing t hese relat ionships was t est ed. I n addit ion, t his report
present s differences across count ries and sect ors on t hese measures.

67
The linkages out lined in our t heoret ical model above were t est ed t hrough st ruct ural
equat ion modelling. The st ruct ural model clearly support s a mediat ion model. The direct
effect of t he independent st ruct ural and HR measures on t he out come variable of
employers sat isfact ion wit h t he performance of bot h permanent and t emporary
employees is negligible. Only wit h t he inclusion of PC measures as mediat ors does t he
role of t hese independent variables become clearer. More specifically, employers
percept ions of how well permanent and t emporary employees fulfil t heir obligat ions
mediat e t he effect s of st ruct ural and HR variables upon t he out come measure. I n ot her
words, when a manager perceives t hat employees fulfil obligat ions t hat t hey ( t he
managers) perceive t he employees had made t oward t heir employing organisat ion, t hey
are sat isfied wit h t heir performance. The finding t hat t he same pat t ern applies t o bot h
permanent and t emporary employees is part icularly int erest ing.
3. Compar i ng empl oyees acr oss empl oyment cont r act s
3.1. Gener al consi der at i ons
3.1.1. Di st r i but i ons of w or k - r el at ed back gr ound v ar i abl es by empl oy ment
cont r act
Result s based on quest ionnaires t o employees are present ed, st art ing wit h a descript ive
account of individual and work relat ed charact erist ics of permanent and t emporary
employees in part icipat ing companies. Table 7 present s informat ion of t he dist ribut ion of
some work- relat ed background variables by employment cont ract
Tabl e 7. Work relat ed background variables by employment cont ract
Tempor ar y Per manent
Weekly hours ( M) 32. 8 ( 12. 9) 36. 3 ( 10. 4)
Addit ional j ob ( %) 16% 8%
Union member 30% 45%
Organizat ional t enure
( years)
2. 7 ( 4. 4) 11. 2 ( 9. 4)
HR pract ices ( 1- 8, M) 3. 3 3. 8
Dat a on working hours are act ual hours worked, including overt ime, rat her t han
cont ract ed hours. There is a variat ion in t his average across employment cont ract , wit h
permanent employees working t hree- and- a- half hours per week longer on average t han
t emporary employees. There is also a higher degree of variat ion in t he hours t hat
t emporary employees report working. A larger proport ion of t he t emporary employees

68
have an addit ional j ob. Furt hermore, 15% fewer t emporary employees are members of
unions compared t o permanent employees in t his sample. There is a very large difference
bet ween t enure across employment cont ract s. Permanent employees report an average
t enure of over 11 years compared t o t emporary employees who report average t enure of
less t han 3 years.
Looking at t he combined measure of HR pract ices ( e. g. HR pract ices aimed at enhancing
part icipat ion and providing t raining and development ) and policies ( such as equal
opport unit ies, support for non- work act ivit ies, prevent ion of bullying and harassment ) ,
respondent s report ed t hat t hey had experienced bet ween t hree and four on average ( out
of eight ) from t heir organisat ions over t he course of t he previous year. This was t he case
for bot h permanent and t emporary employees, however t he average for permanent
employees was a lit t le closer t o four t han t he average for t emporary employees. I t is
import ant t o not e t hat t he st andard deviat ions are relat ively high, indicat ing a high
amount of variat ion in responses on HR pract ices.
Table 8 below shows j ob level by employment cont ract . Comment ing on t he overall
sample, t he t wo largest groups would appear t o be int ermediat e whit e- collar workers and
t hen unskilled blue- collar workers. Looking across employment cont ract it appears t hat
among t he t emporary employees wit hin t he sample, a great er proport ion are unskilled
blue- collar workers in comparison t o permanent workers. Correspondingly, a great er
proport ion of t he permanent workers are skilled blue- collar workers, upper whit e- collar
workers and management or direct or level.
Tabl e 8. Job posit ion/ level by employment cont ract and for t he overall sample
Ty pe of Empl oy ment Cont r act
Non-
permanent %
Permanent % Tot al %
Unskilled blue collar 29. 6 19. 9 23. 5
Skilled blue collar 7. 6 12. 8 10. 8
Lower level whit e collar 19. 8 17. 0 18. 0
I nt ermediat e whit e
collar
28. 5 28. 8 28. 7
Upper whit e collar 13. 6 17. 8 16. 2
Management or direct or 1. 0 3. 7 2. 7
n= 5106

69
3. 1. 2. Di st r i but i ons of i ndi v i dual back gr ound v ar i abl es by empl oy ment
cont r act
The t able below gives an overview of individual differences in background variables by
employment cont ract
Tabl e 9. I ndividual back ground variables by employment cont ract
Tempor ar y Per manent
Age ( M) 32. 2 40. 0
Women 57% 54%
Educat ion level ( 0- 6, M) 3. 89 3. 67
Living wit h part ner/ spouse 49% 64%
Sole/ main earner 39. 1 48. 9
Ages from 15 t o 72 are represent ed wit hin t he sample. The average age of t he sample is
j ust over 37 years wit h j ust over a 10- year st andard deviat ion. I t appears t hat
employees on t emporary cont ract s in t he sample are younger t han permanent employees
by almost 8 years on average. Mean level of educat ion however is slight ly higher among
t he t emporary employees, close t o 4 on t he I SCED scale ( = post secondary school) .
The overall sample cont ains slight ly more females in comparison t o males. There are also
a slight ly higher proport ion of females among t emporary employees in comparison wit h
Over half of t he overall sample report s living wit h t heir part ner/ spouse, j ust under a t hird
live wit h family or friends and t he remainder live alone. A lower proport ion of t emporary
employees report living wit h a spouse/ part ner t hey are more likely t o live wit h friends or
family ( t his may be linked t o t he lower age of t emporary employees) .
There is a smaller proport ion of sole or main earners among t emporary employees
compared t o permanent employees. However, t here is a far higher proport ion of
cont ribut ory earners among t emporary employees, who earn less t han 50% of t he
domest ic financial cont ribut ion. Female respondent s are more likely t o report t hat t hey
are j oint or cont ribut ory earners.

70
3.1.3. Di st r i but i on of t he speci f i c t empor ar y empl oy ee i t ems
Ty pes of t empor ar y cont r act s
All t en of t he different t ypes of t emporary cont ract ident ified during t he pilot work are
represent ed in t he sample. The frequency of each is present ed in Table 10. The
t emporary sample is dominat ed by fixed- t erm cont ract s, making up well over half of all
of t he cont ract s present in t he sample. All ot her cont ract s cont ribut e less t han 10% t o
t he overall t emporary sample.
Tabl e 10. Dist ribut ion of t emporary cont ract s
Ty pe of t empor ar y
cont r act s
Frequency Valid Percent
( %)
Fixed- t erm 1179 62. 2
Permanent wit h agency 38 2. 0
Temporary wit h agency 145 7. 6
Daily/ on call 87 4. 6
Probat ion 88 4. 6
Training 103 5. 4
Seasonal employment 142 7. 5
Job creat ion 40 2. 1
Subcont ract or 27 1. 4
Cont ract or 10 0. 5
Ot her 38 2. 0
n= 1897
Dur at i ons of t empor ar y cont r act s
The different t ypes of t he t emporary cont ract s were compared in t erms of durat ion of
current cont ract wit h t heir employing organisat ion, t ime remaining on current cont ract
and cont ract s hist ory, which is t he amount of t ime employed on t emporary cont ract s in
t he past , including t he current cont ract . These feat ures are present ed for t he overall
t emporary sample and for each cont ract t ype in t he sample.
A st riking charact erist ic of t he result s was t he large amount of variat ion in cont ract
feat ures, even wit hin each cont ract t ype group. Thus, t he mean scores present ed are
averages for het erogeneous groups.

71
Overall t emporary sample averages are cont ract durat ions of j ust over 14 mont hs,
almost seven mont hs remaining on t hese cont ract s and an employment hist ory on
t emporary cont ract s of almost t hree years. Due t o t he sample dist ribut ion, t hese figures
largely reflect t he average figures for fixed- t erm cont ract s. Temporary employees t hat
have subst ant ially longer average durat ion of cont ract s are cont ract ors/ consult ant s ( over
four years) and t hose on t raining cont ract s ( j ust under t wo years) . Those wit h
subst ant ially short er average durat ion of cont ract s are t emporary agency employees,
seasonal employees and daily/ on- call employees, all of whom report cont ract durat ions
of six t o eight mont hs. As may be expect ed, similar groups st and out when looking at
t ime remaining on cont ract s, wit h cont ract ors and t hose on t raining cont ract s having t he
longest t ime remaining on t heir cont ract s ( bot h group averaging 11 mont hs) and
t emporary agency employees, seasonal employees and daily/ on- call employees report ing
t he short est t ime ( averaging t wo t o t hree mont hs) . Groups wit h t he longest hist ory of
working on t emporary cont ract s are subcont ract ors, employees of j ob creat ion schemes
and daily/ on- call employees, all having average hist ories of four years or above.
Conversely, t emporary agency employees and employees working on t raining cont ract s
have hist ories of less t han t wo years. The t able can be found in Appendix 4.
Ex pect at i ons of cont r act ex t ensi on
Looking at t he overall t emporary sample, it appears t hat expect at ions of cont ract
ext ension are some way above t he midpoint on t he five point scale, suggest ing t hat on
average t he sample is reasonably opt imist ic about t he possibilit y of employment
cont inuat ion t hrough t heir current employers. However, it seems t hat act ual promises of
a permanent cont ract are less frequent , wit h t he average rat ing well below t he midpoint
on t he scale. Also below t he midpoint are report s of whet her t he t emporary cont ract
each employee has is t heir preferred t ype of cont ract . Thus it seems t hat , overall, t he
t emporary sample would rat her prefer t o have permanent cont ract s.
There are differences in t hese report s across t emporary cont ract t ypes. Probat ion
employees were more likely t o expect employment cont inuat ion and were more likely t o
have been promised a permanent cont ract . Employees least likely t o expect a cont ract
ext ension are t hose working on j ob creat ion schemes and seasonal cont ract s. I n t erms of
having ones preferred t ype of employment cont ract , no group had an average above t he
midpoint , indicat ing t hat t he relat ive discont ent wit h t emporary cont ract s was universal.
This was part icularly t he case for t hose employed t hrough j ob creat ion schemes, on
probat ionary cont ract s and fixed- t erm cont ract s.

72
I n t he cont ext of average t emporary cont ract durat ions of 14 mont hs, an average of
nearly half t his t ime already complet ed and an average hist ory of nearly t hree years
working on t emporary cont ract s, it is wort h recalling t hat t he average t enure of
t emporary workers wit h t heir current employers is 2. 7 years. This suggest s t hat in many
cases t his is not t he first t emporary cont ract wit h t he present employer and may help t o
explain t he relat ively high level of opt imism about cont ract ext ension.
Mot i v es f or t empor ar y empl oy ment
Means for each of t he mot ives for t emporary working it ems and also t he combined pull
mot ives measure are present ed across t emporary groups. Overall it is t he small group of
cont ract ors/ consult ant s and t he group of employees on daily/ on- call cont ract s who
indicat e t hat t hey were pulled t owards t emporary work. Those on probat ionary cont ract s
were t he least likely t o indicat e t his. Looking at each of t he pull it ems individually, bot h
cont ract ors/ consult ant s and daily/ on- call workers were most likely t o suggest t hat
t emporary work suit ed t heir present needs and gave t hem more freedom.
Cont ract ors/ consult ant s were t he only group t o score above t he scale midpoint wit h
regards t o t emporary work offering a higher wage being a mot ive. Similarly, daily/ on- call
cont ract s were t he only group above t he scale midpoint wit h regards t o t emporary work
offering a supplement ary income as a mot ive. Job creat ion and t raining cont ract
employees were most likely t o indicat e t hat gaining an experience wit h different t asks
and j obs was a mot ive for working on t heir respect ive cont ract s.
Going t hrough each of t he it ems t hat represent more push fact ors for t emporary
working, t hose on j ob creat ion cont ract s and t emporary agency workers were most likely
t o indicat e t hat it was difficult t o find a permanent j ob. Job creat ion employees were
more likely t o indicat e t hat t heir cont ract was t he only t ype of cont ract t hey could get .
I ndeed, j ob creat ion and also probat ionary employees cit ed hoping t o get a permanent
cont ract as a mot ive. Probat ionary employees were also t he most likely t o indicat e t hat
t heir cont ract was j ust t he one offered wit h t he j ob t hey want ed.
3. 1. 4. Summar y
1) This part of t he report has present ed t he sample charact erist ics, and an init ial
comparison of t he result s for permanent and t emporary workers using bivariat e
st at ist ics. Aft er excluding quest ionnaires wit h a large number of missing it ems,
t he final sample consist ed of 5288 workers including 3307 permanent workers
and 1981 wit h t emporary cont ract s. The t emporary workers were employed on
at least t en t ypes of t emporary cont ract . Fixed- t erm cont ract s account ed for by

73
far t he largest proport ion, 62. 2%, followed by 7. 6% working t hrough t emporary
agencies.
2) The init ial analysis revealed significant differences bet ween permanent and
t emporary workers on most background and biographical variables
3) I n line wit h previous st udies ( e. g. OECD, 2002) comparison across cont ract
t ypes reveals t hat permanent employees are generally older t han t emporarys.
This probably also leads t o t hat permanent employees more oft en are married
or cohabit ing and sole earners in t he household. Looking at work charact erist ics,
permanent employees work longer hours and have longer t enure wit h t he
company. They generally seem t o have more qualified j obs alt hough t emporary
employees are found on all j ob levels.
4) Taking a closer look at t he t emporary employees in our sample shows t hat t heir
t enure on t he j ob is relat ively long, as t oo is t he present cont ract and t he t ime
remaining on t he j ob. The clearly most common form of t emporary form is t he
fixed t erm cont ract . Expect at ions of cont ract ext ension seem t o be relat ively
high in t his group. Employees holding t he different forms of t emporary
employment report large variat ions in t he mot ives for accept ing t he specific
employment cont ract .
3.2. At t i t udes and w el l - bei ng of empl oy ees acr oss empl oy ment cont r act s
The mean scores on each of t he scales used in t he st udy are present ed for t he overall
sample and across employment cont ract . Table 6 in appendix 4 present s means for t he
various int ervening variables and dependent variables. Mean differences bet ween
t emporary and permanent employees were first examined t hrough a series of t - t est s t o
assess t he significance of any differences. Secondly, t hey were ent ered int o regression
analyses as dependent variables wit h individual and work relat ed background fact ors
ent ered in t he first st ep and employment cont ract ( t emporary vs. permanent ) ent ered in
t he second. These findings are summarized below.
Psychological cont ract
Permanent employees report broader PCs, bot h in t erms of what t hey are promised
by t heir organisat ions and what t hey promise in ret urn. However, it is t he
t emporary employees who report t hat t heir PCs are more likely t o be fulfilled by
t heir organisat ions and t hey are more likely t o report fulfilling t heir own obligat ions.
Accordingly, t emporary employees perceive more fairness and t rust wit hin t heir

74
employment relat ionships whereas permanent employees indicat e t hat t hey feel
t heir PCs have been violat ed t o a great er ext ent .
Employee prospect s
Temporary employees report far great er j ob insecurit y t han permanent workers.
There is no difference in t erms of employabilit y.
Volit ion
Permanent workers are far more likely t o report being on t heir cont ract of choice.
Result s of simple mean comparison indicat ed t hat permanent workers were more
likely t o have t he j ob and profession of t heir choice. When cont rol variables were
ent ered in regression analyses however, t here was no significant effect from
employment cont ract .
Job charact erist ics
Permanent employees report great er aut onomy in t heir j obs. However t hey also
report a higher amount of workload in comparison t o t emporary employees. Effect s
of employment cont ract on role clarit y and skill ut ilizat ion however were not
significant in regression analyses.
Support
I n t erms of bot h organisat ional support and supervisory support , t emporary
employees report great er perceived levels of each.
Healt h and wellbeing
Work- relat ed healt h
Permanent employees report marginally great er levels of occupat ional self- efficacy,
however t hey also report great er levels of irrit at ion, work- relat ed anxiet y and work-
relat ed depression. No differences in mean values are found on posit ive work- life
int erference.
Report ed behaviours/ incident s
Permanent employees report great er levels of bot h sickness absence and sickness
presence. They are also marginally more likely t o have report ed experiencing
incident s of harassment at work. No differences were found in report ed accident s.

75
General healt h report s
Temporary employees report more posit ively in t erms of general healt h compared
wit h permanent employees. No differences were found in t erms of life sat isfact ion.
Work- relat ed at t it udes
Temporary employees report great er levels of j ob sat isfact ion and are less likely t o
report t hat t hey int end t o leave t heir organisat ions ( before t he end of t heir
cont ract s) . Conversely, it is permanent employees who report great er levels of
organisat ional commit ment and higher levels of self- report ed performance. I n
regression analyses however, employment cont ract on commit ment and
performance appeared t o have a suppressing effect , probably int eract ing wit h ot her
measures.
Summar y
1) I nt erest ing differences bet ween permanent and t emporary employees are e. g.
t he lower value of volit ion in t erms of being on t he cont ract of choice and higher
values on perceived j ob insecurit y among t emporarys.
2) Wit h respect t o t he PC, permanent workers have a more ext ensive reciprocal
cont ract but it is less likely t o be fulfilled. They also report higher levels of
cont ract violat ion, lower fairness of t reat ment and lower t rust . Wit h respect t o
t he dependent variables, t he result s are somewhat mixed but t end t o reveal less
posit ive result s among permanent workers.
4. The r ol e of t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act
The PC was evaluat ed as an int ervening ( mediat ing) variable by ent ering t he seven
variables ( cont ent , fulfilment and violat ion of employer obligat ions, t rust , fairness and
cont ent and fulfilment of employee obligat ions) as a second st ep in t he regressions
present ed previously. The background variables are not present ed in t he t ables, but are
cont rolled for in all analyses. Theoret ically, t he PC may mediat e a number of
relat ionships bet ween several of t he background variables and t he dependent variables
( e. g. HR pract ices) . However, as t his was not a cent ral research act ivit y prescribed wit hin
t his st udy, t he focus is solely upon t he impact t hat t he PC has on relat ionships bet ween
employment cont ract and t he dependent variables.
A first point t o not e is t hat for each of t he work- relat ed healt h measures, inclusion of t he
PC wit hin t he regression models cont ribut es an addit ional 5- 21% of variance explained.

76
Thus it appears t hat t he PC explains variance in work- relat ed healt h above and beyond
t he combined associat ion of background variables and employment cont ract .
Wor k r el at ed heal t h
Regarding t he evaluat ion of t he mediat ional role of t he PC, it appears t hat it does go
some way t o explain t he higher levels of work- relat ed healt h report ed by t emporary
employees, i. e. t he PC variables fully mediat e t he small associat ion bet ween employment
cont ract and posit ive work- life int erference and t he larger associat ion wit h work- relat ed
anxiet y. The PC variables also explain a large proport ion of t he variance bet ween
employment cont ract and work- relat ed depression and irrit at ion, wit hout fully removing
t he relat ionship. Therefore part ial mediat ion is support ed for t hese t wo variables.
Looking in more det ail at which component s of t he PC appear t o be most import ant in
t his mediat ional role, it appears t hat feelings associat ed wit h violat ion of t he PC play t he
main role, i. e. t he employees affect ive react ions t o t he fulfilment of t he PC by
employers. Ot her aspect s of t he PC also are significant ly relat ed t o work- relat ed healt h,
however t o a lesser ext ent . Addit ionally, employees obligat ions, and especially fulfilment
of t hese obligat ions, are st rongly and posit ively associat ed wit h self- efficacy.
Si ck ness behavi our s and i nci dent s at w or k
The PC adds bet ween 2% and 5% of explained variance when included in t he regression
models above and beyond t he background variables and employment cont ract alone.
Again, some support is given t o t he mediat ional role of t he PC. I t s inclusion slight ly
reduces t he st rengt h of t he relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract and t he t wo
sickness behaviours and great ly reduces t he ( small) relat ionship bet ween employment
cont ract and report s of harassment and violence at work. Thus, t he PC goes some way in
explaining why permanent employee report great er sickness behaviours and more
incident s of harassment and violence at work. I n t erms of t he component s of t he PC t hat
are responsible for t his mediat ion, it appears t hat violat ion, fairness and fulfilment of
employee obligat ions are most st rongly associat ed wit h sickness behaviours ( and t he
cont ent of employee obligat ions wit h sickness presence) . Regarding harassment and
violence at work, it is fulfilment and violat ion of employer obligat ions t hat are most
responsible for t his mediat ion.
Wor k at t i t udes and per f or mance
Result of regression analyses including t he PC in models predict ing work at t it udes and
performance indicat e t hat t he PC adds a large amount of variance explained for each of
t he measures beyond t he exist ing group of variables ( bet ween 13- 19%) .

77
For j ob sat isfact ion and int ent ion t o quit , a part ial mediat ing role for t he PC is again
support ed, as t he st rengt h of t he relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract and t hese
measures reduces once t he PC ent ers t he model. Therefore t he PC again helps t o explain
t he report s by permanent employees of less sat isfact ion and great er int ent ion t o quit
compared wit h t emporary employees. Again, it appears t hat violat ion of t he PC is a
part icularly import ant component ; however all ot her component s, wit h t he except ion of
t he cont ent of employers obligat ions, have some independent cont ribut ion. For
organisat ional commit ment and self- rat ed performance, t here is some evidence t hat t he
PC may play some kind of suppressing role, as t he bet a weight for employment cont ract
increases t o become st at ist ically significant once t he PC variables are cont rolled for. The
most import ant part of t he PC wit h regards t o commit ment and performance rat ings
appears t o be fulfilment of employee obligat ions t o t he organisat ion, wit h several ot hers
having independent associat ions.
Gener al heal t h
Findings regarding t he int ervening role of t he PC wit h regard t o general healt h and life
sat isfact ion showed t hat t he PC once again explains variance above and beyond t he
exist ing variables in t he model ( 6% and 9%) . A mediat ing role is also support ed,
reducing t he st rengt h of t he relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract and general
healt h report s ( part ial mediat ion) and complet ely removing t he relat ionship bet ween
employment cont ract and life sat isfact ion ( full mediat ion) . Therefore t he PC can be used
t o part ially explain permanent employees poorer report s of general healt h and fully
explains t heir lower report s of life sat isfact ion when compared wit h t emporary
employees. Violat ion of employer obligat ions and fulfilment of employee obligat ions are
st rongly associat ed wit h report s of general healt h and t he same t wo variables and also
fairness are st rongly associat ed wit h life sat isfact ion. These component s are perhaps
most responsible for t he mediat ional effect s. The t able below gives an overview of t he
findings

78
Tabl e 11 Result s of regression analyses invest igat ing t he mediat ing role of t he
psychological cont ract
Ful l medi at i on Par t i al medi at i on Ot her f or ms of
associ at i on
Posit ive work- home
int erference
Work relat ed anxiet y
Work relat ed depression
Work relat ed irrit at ion
Sickness absence
Sickness presence
General healt h
I ncidence of
harassment / violence in
work place
Job sat isfact ion
I nt ent ion t o quit
Organizat ional
commit ment
Perceived performance
Life sat isfact ion

4.1. Eval uat i on of t he i mpact of al l i nt er veni ng var i abl es
As a final st age in t he evaluat ion of int ervening variables wit hin t he research model, all of
t he hypot hesised int ervening variables were added in a second st ep of t he model. The
reason for doing t his was t hreefold: first ly, t o evaluat e t heir overall cont ribut ion t o t he
models; secondly, t o evaluat e t he relat ive import ance of each element regarding
associat ions wit h dependent variables; and t hirdly, t o est ablish if t he relat ionship
bet ween employment cont ract and t he various out comes st ill remained aft er all of t he
hypot hesised int ervening variables were account ed for. Below follows a list of all t he
possible int ervening variables included in t hese regressions followed by result s from all
t he analyses
Employer Obligat ions
Cont ent of PC
Fulfilment of PC
Violat ion of PC
Trust
Fairness
Employee Obligat ions
Cont ent of PC
Fulfilment of PC

79
Employment Prospect s
Job insecurit y
Employabilit y
Volit ion
Cont ract of choice
Job of choice
Profession of choice
Job Charact erist ics
Role clarit y
Aut onomy
Skill ut ilizat ion
Workload
Support
Organisat ional support
Supervisory support
4.1.1. Wor k - r el at ed heal t h
The findings regarding some of t he work- relat ed healt h measures are present ed in Table
12. I n t erms of overall cont ribut ion t o t he model, it appears t hat inclusion of all of t he
int ervening variables wit hin models predict ing variance wit hin work- relat ed healt h
measures great ly adds t o t he variance account ed for ( 9- 27%) . However, when
considered t oget her only some of t he int ervening variables can be seen as cont ribut ing t o
t he models.
Work- relat ed anxiet y and depression are bot h relat ed t o similar int ervening variables.
Posit ive associat ions are found wit h violat ion of employer obligat ions, j ob insecurit y and
workload. Negat ive associat ions are found wit h employabilit y, bot h organisat ional and
supervisory support , j ob of choice, role clarit y and aut onomy, fulfilment of employee

80
obligat ions and fairness. A number of ot her variables have smaller associat ions wit h
anxiet y and depression and are present ed in Table 12.
Posit ively relat ed t o irrit at ion are violat ion of employer obligat ions, j ob insecurit y, skill
ut ilisat ion and workload. A number of smaller negat ive associat ions wit h irrit at ion were
found also, including organisat ional support , employabilit y and fulfilment of employee
obligat ions.
I n t erms of explaining t he relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract and work- relat ed
healt h, t here remains an unexplained relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract and
work- relat ed anxiet y, depression and irrit at ion. Accordingly, t his would suggest t hat
eit her t he reason why permanent employees report lower levels of work- relat ed well-
being on t hese measures is solely due t o t heir cont ract - t ype or t here is an alt ernat ive
explanat ion for which we have not account ed for in t he model.
4.1.2. Gener al heal t h
The findings regarding general healt h and life sat isfact ion using t he full model are
present ed in Table 12. Looking at t he overall cont ribut ion it is clear t hat t he int ervening
variables explain far more variance wit hin each dependent variable t han t he employment
cont ract and background variables t oget her, as t heir inclusion more t han doubles t he
proport ion of variance explained in bot h cases. They t herefore appear t o be relat ively
import ant .
General healt h report s have moderat e associat es wit h cont ent and fulfilment of
employees obligat ions, employabilit y and aut onomy ( all posit ive) , and also violat ion of
employer obligat ions, j ob insecurit y and workload ( all negat ive) . More variance was
explained of life sat isfact ion, wit h t he most import ant predict or variables being fairness,
employabilit y and organisat ional support ( all posit ive) and workload ( negat ive) . A
number of smaller associat es are also present ed in t he t able.
The relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract and bot h general healt h and life
sat isfact ion report s remains largely unaffect ed by t he inclusion of all of t he int ervening
variables wit hin t he analyses. Therefore it appears t hat permanent cont ract s are
associat ed wit h lower responses on measures of general healt h.

81
Tabl e 12. Evaluat ion of all t he int ervening variables and work relat ed and general healt h
Af f ect i v e w el l -
bei ng: Anx i et y
Af f ect i v e w el l -
bei ng: Depr essi on
I r r i t at i on Gener al heal t h Li f e sat i sf act i on
St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2
Permanent cont ract 0. 11* * * 0. 06* * * 0. 14* * * 0. 07* * * 0. 13* * * 0. 09* * * - 0. 08* * * - 0. 07* * - 0. 05* - 0. 05*
Cont ent of PC 0, 03 0. 04* 0, 01 - 0, 01 0, 02
Fulfilment of PC 0, 00 0, 00 0, 03 0, 04 - 0, 01
Violat ion of PC 0. 24* * * 0. 29* * * 0. 20* * * - 0. 09* * * - 0. 07* *
Trust 0, 01 0, 03 0, 05 - 0, 05 - 0. 06*
Fairness - 0. 05* - 0. 06* * - 0, 02 0, 03 0. 12* * *
Cont ent of PC - 0, 01 - 0, 01 - 0, 01 0. 06* * 0. 06* *
Fulfilment of PC - 0. 07* * * - 0. 10* * * - 0. 05* * 0. 11* * * 0. 09* * *
Job insecurit y 0. 14* * * 0. 11* * * 0. 12* * * - 0. 10* * * - 0. 05* *
Employabilit y - 0. 09* * * - 0. 09* * * - 0. 05* * 0. 07* * * 0. 12* * *
Volit ion
Cont ract of choice 0, 03 0. 06* * 0, 03 - 0, 02 0, 03
Job of choice - 0. 04* - 0. 12* * * - 0, 02 0, 01 0. 07* * *
Profession of choice - 0. 05* * - 0, 03 - 0, 03 0, 03 0. 05*

82
Role clarit y - 0. 07* * * - 0. 04* * - 0. 04* 0, 01 0. 05* *
Aut onomy - 0. 08* * * - 0. 06* * - 0, 04 0. 07* * 0. 06* *
Skill ut ilisat ion 0. 05* - 0, 01 0. 11* * * 0, 00 - 0, 03
Workload 0. 27* * * 0. 07* * * 0. 25* * * - 0. 09* * * - 0. 15* * *
Support
Organisat ional support - 0. 08* * * - 0. 08* * * - 0. 07* * 0, 05 0. 12* * *
Supervisory support - 0, 04 - 0. 09* * * - 0, 02 0, 00 - 0, 02

Adj ust ed R
2
0, 13 0, 40 0, 19 0, 45 0, 13 0, 28 0, 04 0, 12 0, 10 0, 24
F - value for R
2
change 84, 87 89, 89 40, 79 17, 40 34, 35
n= 3421 3413 3422 3426 3423
N. B. Background variables are cont rolled for but not present ed

83
4.1.3. Si ck ness behav i our s and i nci dent s at w or k
Findings regarding sickness behaviours and incident s at work are present ed in Appendix
4. I n t erms of t he overall cont ribut ion t owards explaining variance in sickness
behaviours, accident s and harassment / violence t he second st ep of t he model cont ribut es
above and beyond employment cont ract and background variables alone, yet t he amount
of variance explained remains relat ively low ( 8- 16%) .
Violat ion of employer obligat ions, being on cont ract of choice, role clarit y and aut onomy
are posit ively associat ed wit h sickness absence. Negat ively relat ed t o sickness absence is
fairness and fulfilment of bot h employer and employee obligat ions. Sickness presence is
also relat ed t o t he PC in t he same way, but posit ively relat ed t o bot h cont ent and
fulfilment of employee obligat ions. I t is also posit ively relat ed t o workload and negat ively
relat ed t o cont ract of choice.
Only cont ent of employer obligat ions ( posit ively) and fulfilment of employer obligat ions
( negat ively) are relat ed t o t he report ing of accident s. However, bot h relat ionships are
small and only significant at t he p< . 05 level. Regarding harassment and violence at
work, fulfilment ( negat ively) and violat ion ( posit ively) of employer obligat ions are relat ed
t o report s of harassment and violence, wit h smaller posit ive relat ionships being found
wit h workload, employabilit y and cont ent of employee obligat ions.
The int ervening variables were able t o explain t he relat ionship bet ween bot h sick leave
and report s of harassment and violence at work and employment cont ract , bearing in
mind t hat t he lat t er relat ionship was small in any case. No relat ionship exist ed for
accident s. They were unable t o account for much of t he relat ionship wit h sickness
presence, suggest ing t hat eit her cont ract t ype alone, or somet hing unaccount ed for
wit hin t he model explains why permanent employees report great er sickness presence.
4.1.4. Wor k at t i t udes and per f or mance
The int ervening variables were also ent ered int o regressions t oget her for work at t it udes
and performance measures. The findings are present ed in Table x of appendix 4. A
relat ively high proport ion of t he variance of each dependent variable could be explained
by t he models ( 37- 61%) , around half of which was account ed for by t he int ervening
variables. Thus t he int ervening variables add a great deal of explanat ory power t o t he
models when included.
A large number of associat ions are present ed in t he t able; only t he sizable effect s are
discussed. Job sat isfact ion was associat ed st rongly and negat ively wit h violat ion of

84
employer obligat ions, and posit ively wit h being in j ob and profession of choice, skill
ut ilisat ion and organisat ional support . Organisat ional commit ment had high posit ive
associat ions wit h t he cont ent and fulfilment of employee obligat ions and bot h
organisat ional and supervisory support . I nt ent ion t o quit was st rongly and posit ively
relat ed t o violat ion of employer obligat ions and employee prospect variables. Negat ive
associat ions were st rong wit h organisat ional support and being in j ob of choice. Perceived
performance was st rongly relat ed t o j ob charact erist ics, namely role clarit y, aut onomy
and skill ut ilisat ion ( posit ively) . Fulfilment of employee obligat ions was very st rongly and
posit ively associat ed wit h performance. Fairness was negat ively associat ed wit h
perceived performance.
Even aft er inclusion of all int ervening variables, employment cont ract remains associat ed
wit h j ob sat isfact ion and int ent ion t o quit . I n bot h cases it is t he permanent employees
indicat ing t hey are less sat isfied and more int ending t o quit t han t emporary employees.
Once again, t his can eit her be int erpret ed as due t o t he nat ure of a permanent
employment cont ract or due t o an explanat ory variable not account ed for wit hin t he
model.
4.2. What ar e consi st ent l y t he st r ongest associ at es of w el l - bei ng?
Employment cont ract alone account s for bet ween 3- 12% of t he variat ion wit hin t he
dependent variables aft er cont rolling for background variables and bet ween 1- 10% of t he
variat ion in t he dependent variables aft er cont rolling for t he background variables and all
int ervening variables. Therefore employment cont ract account s for a proport ion of unique
variat ion in t he dependent variables. However t his proport ion of variance is relat ively
small, wit h ot her aspect s account ing for a far higher proport ion of t he variance. Table 13
present s t he st rongest associat es wit h wellbeing.

85
Tabl e 13. Average effect sizes of t he st rongest associat es of wellbeing report s
Aver age ef f ect si ze
Violat ion of PC - 0. 14
Fulfilment of PC ( employee obligat ions) 0. 12
Perceived Organisat ional Support 0. 10
Job of choice 0. 08
Aut onomy 0. 08
Workload - 0. 07
Job insecurit y - 0. 07
Employabilit y 0. 06
Cont ent of PC ( employee obligat ions) 0. 06
Supervisory Support 0. 05
Profession of choice 0. 05
Age 0. 05
Permanent cont ract - 0. 05
For t hese analyses only t he work- relat ed healt h, general healt h and work at t it udes are
included. The sickness behaviours and accident s/ incident s were not included as only a
small proport ion of t he variance was account ed for wit hin t he predict ive models and t he
findings were inconsist ent at t imes. The result s represent t he average variance
account ed for by each element when all are ent ered int o a regression. Employment
cont ract account s for about five per cent of t he variance wit hin wellbeing report s. A
range of variables account ing for a great er or equivalent amount of variance wit hin well-
being are present ed in t he t able. I t would appear t hat t he st rongest associat e of well-
being is t he PC. Report s of violat ions of t he PC account for, on average, 14% of t he
variat ion in wellbeing report s. Report s of t he cont ent and fulfilment of employee
obligat ions account for six and 12% of variance in wellbeing respect ively. Support , bot h
from t he organisat ion ( 10%) and from supervisors ( 5%) is also consist ent ly associat ed
wit h wellbeing as t oo is j ob and profession of choice ( 8 and 5% respect ively) . The j ob
charact erist ics of aut onomy and workload account for eight and seven per cent of
variance on average. Employee prospect s also appear import ant , wit h j ob insecurit y and
employabilit y account ing for seven and six per cent of t he variance in wellbeing report s
respect ively. Age is t he only demographic variable t hat is an equivalent associat e of well-
being as employment cont ract , explaining five per cent of t he variance.

86
4. 3. Summar y
1) The init ial analysis shows generally poorer out comes among permanent
compared wit h t emporary st aff. I t also reveals t hat background variables ot her
t han t ype of cont ract also have a st rong associat ion wit h some key out comes.
The experience of more human resource pract ices and higher levels of work
involvement consist ent ly have a posit ive and somet imes very st rong associat ion
wit h more posit ive out comes.
2) The wide range of variables associat ed wit h t he PC offer some full and part ial
mediat ion of t he link bet ween t ype of employment cont ract and t he various
out comes. The addit ion of ot her int ervening variables adds some explanat ory
power wit h respect t o t he out comes, but provides no furt her evidence of a
mediat ing effect . Despit e all t he cont rol and mediat ing variables, permanent
workers st ill report poorer out comes on several of t he healt h and wellbeing
variables compared wit h t emporary workers.
3) The key variables associat ed wit h employee wellbeing are mainly linked t o t he
psychological cont ract . Yet even aft er t aking t his int o account , workers on
permanent cont ract s st ill report generally lower levels of healt h and wellbeing.
5. Compar i son of t y pes of t empor ar y cont r act s
The regressions were run in a furt her st ep using an alt ernat ive measure for employment
cont ract . I nst ead of t he dichot omous variable used in t he ot her regressions, in t his set of
regressions a series of dummy variables were ent ered t hat represent ed t he different
t emporary cont ract s or groups of t emporary cont ract s wit hin t he sample. Groups of
t emporary cont ract worker t hat were suit ably large enough for inclusion in valid
comparisons were maint ained while ot her groups were combined wit h ot hers t hat shared
common charact erist ics. Six groups were used in t he analyses: fixed- t erm workers,
t emporary agency workers, daily or on- call workers, permanent agency workers and
subcont ract ors ( indirect ly employed by organisat ion) , employees on probat ionary or
t raining cont ract s ( direct ly employed by organisat ion) , and seasonal workers or worker
employed t hrough j ob- creat ion schemes. The reference group for t he dummy variables
was permanent cont ract s, so t his allowed t he cont ribut ion of each of t he part icular
cont ract t ypes t o be examined wit hin t he various models. Part of t he out put of each of
t he regression models is present ed wit hin t he following t ables. Only t he bet a weight s for
each of t he dummy variables are shown, alt hough t he same background variables were
cont rolled for in t he analyses.

87
5.1. Wor k - r el at ed heal t h
A significant relat ionship was found bet ween t he dichot omous measure of employment
cont ract and all of t he work- relat ed healt h variables. As shown in Table 14, t hese
differences appear t o be mainly due t o fixed- t erm and t emporary agency employees
report ing more posit ive work- relat ed healt h t han t hose on permanent cont ract s.
Tabl e 14. Bet a weight s for t he dummy t emporary cont ract t ypes regarding work- relat ed
healt h
Occupat i onal
sel f - ef f i cacy
Posi t i ve
Wor k - Li f e
I nt er f er ence
Af f ect i v e
w el l -
bei ng:
Anx i et y
Af f ect i v e
w el l -
bei ng:
Depr essi on
I r r i t at i on
n= 3910 n= 3910 n= 3908 n= 3895 n= 3912
Non- permanent Group Dummies
Fixed- t erm 0. 04* 0. 03 - 0. 08* * * - 0. 10* * * - 0. 09* * *
Perm
agency/ Subcont ract ors
0. 00 0. 03 - 0. 01 - 0. 03 - 0. 03*
Temp agency 0. 02 0. 05* * - 0. 06* * * - 0. 06* * * - 0. 06* * *
Daily/ On- call 0. 02 - 0. 01 - 0. 02 - 0. 02 - 0. 04*
Probat ion/ Training 0. 00 0. 02 - 0. 03* - 0. 04* - 0. 03
Seasonal/ Job creat ion - 0. 01 - 0. 02 0. 00 0. 00 - 0. 03
5.2. Si ck ness behav i our s and gener al heal t h
Relat ively large effect s were found for t he dichot omous measure of employment cont ract
wit h regard t o sickness absence and sickness presence, indicat ing t hat permanent
employees report ed great er levels of bot h. A smaller, but st ill significant relat ionship was
also found bet ween permanent cont ract s and great er report ing of harassment and
violence at work.
Significant effect s are found for almost all of t he t emporary cont ract t ypes wit h regard t o
bot h sickness absence ( except ion being seasonal/ j ob creat ion cont ract s) and sickness
presence ( except ion being permanent agency workers and subcont ract ors) . All effect s
are negat ive, indicat ing t hat employees on permanent cont ract s report higher levels of
bot h sickness absence and presence t han almost all t emporary employees. Only
employees on probat ionary or t raining cont ract s report significant ly lower accident s and
only fixed- t erm employees report significant ly lower incident s of harassment and violence
at work.

88
Permanent employees were found t o report lower general healt h t han t he group of
t emporary employees. Result s comparing t he different t ypes of t emporary cont ract on
general healt h report s and life sat isfact ion indicat e t hat only fixed- t erm employees report
great er general healt h and life sat isfact ion. The ot her cont ract t ypes do not differ
significant ly on t hese measures.
5.3. Wor k at t i t udes and per f or mance
When using t he dichot omous measure of employment cont ract sizeable relat ionships
were found indicat ing t hat permanent employees report ed lower j ob sat isfact ion and
great er int ent ion t o quit . No relat ionships were found regarding commit ment or
performance. Result s indicat ing whet her t hese relat ionships are maint ained across all
t emporary cont ract t ypes are present ed in Table 15. There are no significant effect s
regarding organisat ional commit ment and only on- call or daily cont ract workers report
lower levels of perceived performance. However, t he bet a weight s represent ing t he effect
of fixed- t erm cont ract s are relat ively large and highly significant for j ob sat isfact ion and
int ent ion t o quit . Thus fixed- t erm employees indicat e being more sat isfied wit h t heir j obs
and are less likely t o int end quit t ing ( before t he end of t heir cont ract ) . Ot her significant
result s indicat e t hat employees on probat ionary or t raining cont ract s report great er j ob
sat isfact ion and are also less likely t o int end t o quit ( before t he end of t heir cont ract ) , as
are t hose on seasonal or j ob creat ion cont ract s.
Tabl e 15. Bet a weight s for t he dummy t emporary cont ract t ypes regarding work
at t it udes and performance.
Job
sat i sf act i on
Or gani sat i onal
commi t ment
I nt ent i on
t o qui t
Per cei ved
per f or mance
n= 3922 n= 3921 n= 3920 n= 3895
Non- permanent Group Dummies
Fixed- t erm 0. 10* * * 0. 02 - 0. 07* * * - 0. 01
Perm
agency/ Subcont ract ors
0. 01 - 0. 02 - 0. 02 - 0. 01
Temp agency 0. 03 - 0. 01 - 0. 02 0. 00
Daily/ On- call - 0. 01 - 0. 01 - 0. 01 - 0. 04*
Probat ion/ Training 0. 04* * 0. 01 - 0. 04* 0. 00
Seasonal/ Job creat ion 0. 01 0. 00 - 0. 04* * - 0. 01

89
5. 4. What can w e dr aw f r om t hese anal yses?
I t would appear t hat t he group of workers most different t o permanent employees are
t he fixed- t erm cont ract holders. They consist ent ly report more posit ive out comes t han
permanent workers. However t his is not t o say t hat t hey are t he only t emporary
employees t hat report more posit ive at t it udes t han permanent employees, as t his is t he
case for a number of ot her cont ract t ypes wit h cert ain ot her variables. A key finding is
t hat no t emporary cont ract t ype compares unfavourably wit h permanent cont ract s. I n t he
subsequent analyses, t he dichot omous variable for employment cont ract is used for
simplicit y. However, it is import ant t o not e t he level of het erogeneit y wit hin t he report s
of t emporary cont ract workers.
I n summary, t he analysis of t he different t ypes of t emporary cont ract reveals t hat t here
is a high level of consist ency among t hem in t heir responses and t hat all groups t end t o
be at least as posit ive as permanent employees.
5.5. I nt er veni ng var i abl es w i t hi n t empor ar y r esponses
Part of t he research model looked t o explain variance wit hin t he report s of t emporary
employees t hrough feat ures of t heir cont ract , expect at ions about cont ract ext ensions and
mot ives for t emporary working. I n order t o do t his a dat aset of only t emporary
employees was const ruct ed and a number of regressions run in a similar way as
previously. The same background variables were included wit h a number of addit ional
variables. These addit ional variables were durat ion of cont ract , t ime remaining on
cont ract , t he lengt h of t ime previously employed on t emporary cont ract s ( hist ory) ,
expect at ions of cont ract ext ension, expect at ions of a permanent cont ract and pull
mot ives for t emporary working. These were regressed ont o t he same dependent
variables as used in previous analyses. Due t o t he smaller sample sizes t he st at ist ical
analyses have less power, result ing in effect sizes having t o be larger t o achieve
st at ist ical significance.
5.5.1. Wor k - r el at ed heal t h
A fairly inconsist ent pict ure emerges in Table 16, which present s t he t emporary
measures regressed ont o t he five measures of work- relat ed wellbeing. Expect at ions of
cont ract ext ension is perhaps t he most consist ent ly associat ed wit h t he dependent
variables, being posit ively relat ed t o self- efficacy and negat ively relat ed t o work- relat ed
anxiet y and depression. Durat ion of cont ract is posit ively associat ed wit h report s of work-
relat ed anxiet y while pull mot ives for t emporary working are associat ed posit ively wit h

90
posit ive work- life int erference and negat ively wit h work- relat ed depression. None of t he
variables are associat ed wit h irrit at ion aft er cont rolling for background variables.
Tabl e 16. Associat ions of cont ract charact erist ics, cont ract expect at ions and mot ives
wit h work- relat ed healt h
Occupat i onal
sel f - ef f i cacy
Posi t i ve
Wor k - Li f e
I nt er f er ence
Af f ect i v e
w el l -
bei ng:
Anx i et y
Af f ect i v e
w el l -
bei ng:
Depr essi on
I r r i t at i on

n= 1079 n= 1082 n= 1080 n= 1079 n= 1082
Durat ion of cont ract
0. 02 0. 03 0. 10* * 0. 01 0. 04
Time left on cont ract - 0. 07 - 0. 08* - 0. 04 0. 01 - 0. 01
Cont ract hist ory
0. 00 - 0. 01 0. 02 0. 06 0. 04
Expect at ion of
cont ract ext ension
0. 13* * * 0. 02 - 0. 09* * - 0. 17* * * - 0. 05
Expect at ion of
permanent cont ract
- 0. 03 0. 05 0. 04 0. 06 0. 06
Pull mot ives for
t emporary work
0. 04 0. 11* * * - 0. 05 - 0. 07* - 0. 05
Adj ust ed R- square 0. 16 0. 21 0. 10 0. 17 0. 13
5.5.2. Si ck ness behav i our s and i nci dent s at w or k
Cont ract charact erist ics, cont ract expect at ions and mot ives all have modest relat ionships
wit h sickness behaviours and accident s and incident s at work. Durat ion of cont ract is
posit ively relat ed t o sick leave frequency and report s of harassment and violence at
work. Expect at ions of cont ract ext ension are negat ively relat ed t o report s of harassment
and violence at work, while expect at ions of a permanent cont ract are posit ively relat ed t o
sickness presence. No associat ions wit h accident report s were found aft er cont rolling for
background variables.
5.5.3. Wor k at t i t udes and per f or mance
The findings regarding report s of work at t it udes and self- rat ed performance are
present ed in Table 17. I n t his case, a st rong and consist ent set of associat ions is found
wit h expect at ions of cont ract ext ension. This measure was posit ively and st rongly relat ed
t o j ob sat isfact ion, organisat ional commit ment and performance rat ings and, as one may

91
expect , negat ively and st rongly associat ed wit h int ent ion t o quit . No ot her significant
associat ions were found.
Tabl e 17. Associat ions of cont ract charact erist ics, cont ract expect at ions and mot ives
wit h work at t it udes and performance
Job
sat i sf act i on
Or gani sat i onal
commi t ment
I nt ent i on
t o qui t
Per cei ved
per f or mance
n= 1082 n= 1082 n= 1081 n= 1078
Durat ion of cont ract 0. 00 - 0. 04 0. 02 - 0. 01
Time left on cont ract - 0. 01 0. 03 - 0. 06 - 0. 02
Cont ract hist ory 0. 04 - 0. 05 0. 03 0. 05
Expect at ion of cont ract
ext ension
0. 20* * * 0. 18* * * - 0. 25* * * 0. 11* * *
Expect at ion of
permanent cont ract
- 0. 05 0. 02 0. 06* 0. 02
Pull mot ives for
t emporary work
0. 03 0. 01 - 0. 02 0. 04
Adj ust ed R- square 0. 30 0. 32 0. 26 0. 10
Finally, t he findings regarding t he measures of general healt h and life sat isfact ion
indicat ed only one associat ion. This indicat ed a posit ive relat ionship bet ween
expect at ions of cont ract ext ension and life sat isfact ion. No ot her associat ions were found
aft er cont rolling for background variables.
I n summary, expect at ion of a cont ract ext ension emerges consist ent ly as a key variable
wit hin t he t emporary cont ract worker as a key fact or associat ed wit h more posit ive
out comes.
6. Compar i ng Empl oyee and Empl oy er Responses on t he Psy chol ogi cal Cont r act
6.1. Agr eement on t he cont ent of t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act
I n t his sect ion, bot h descript ive analyses and mult ilevel analyses are present ed.
Descript ive dat a give t he reader an idea of t he basic relat ionships and differences
bet ween employee and employer report s of t he PC. The mult ilevel analyses t hen ident ify
more robust relat ionships wit hin t he PC.
Table 18 shows t he proport ion of agreement on t he it ems describing employer
obligat ions t owards employees. The t able shows t he proport ion of employees who have

92
mat ching report s from t heir employers on each of t he PC it ems regarding an obligat ion
being made or not ( i. e. an agreement ) .
3
The t able also shows similarit ies and differences
bet ween employees wit h regard t o permanent and t emporary employees. The most
commonly agreed upon it em among employers and employees is t hat employers should
provide employees wit h a safe working environment ( 62%) , followed by a good working
at mosphere and fair t reat ment . Least agreed upon are provide possibilit ies of working
t oget her in a pleasant way ( 19%) , provide employees wit h a career ( 22%) and
improve fut ure employment prospect s of t he employees ( 22%) . There are few
differences in t he level of agreement bet ween employers and t heir permanent and
t emporary employees, wit h similar levels of agreement most oft en being found. However,
a few differences were found, indicat ing t hat , compared wit h t emporary employees,
permanent employees and t heir employers were more likely t o agree on provide a
reasonably secure j ob ( 14% difference) and opport unit ies t o advance, provide a
career, and part icipat e in decision making ( 5% difference each) .
Table 18 also shows a similar list based upon level of agreement on employees
obligat ions t owards t heir employer. Here, higher levels of agreement are evident
compared t o t he ot her list . Most oft en agreed upon is respect t he norms and regulat ions
of t he company ( 78%) , followed by being punct ual, a good t eam player et c. Again,
differences bet ween t emporary and permanent employees were few. Differences in
excess of five per cent were found on only t hree it ems: give innovat ive suggest ions,
assist ot hers wit h t heir work, develop t heir skills. For each difference, permanent
employees were more likely t o agree wit h t heir employers t han t emporary employees.

3
Note that the analysis only covers items on which one or both parties said there had been a promise. Items on
which both parties agreed that no promise had been made are not included in the calculation of the level of
agreement.

93
Tabl e 18. Agreement bet ween employees and employer report s of employers and employees obligat ions wit hin t he psychological
cont ract

Agr eement
( % )
Agr eement
( % )
Agr eement
( % )
Agr eement
( % )
Li st of Empl oy er Obl i gat i ons
Empl oy er s

per manent
w or k er s
Empl oy er s

t empor ar y
w or k er s
Li st of Empl oy ee Obl i gat i ons
Empl oy er s

per manent
w or k er s
Empl oy er s

t empor ar y
w or k er s
1. Provide employees wit h a safe
working environment
62 61
1. Respect t he norms and
regulat ions of t he company
78 78
2. Provide employees wit h a good
working at mosphere
58 56 2. Be punct ual ( prompt ) 75 75
3. Ensure fair t reat ment by
managers and supervisors
55 53 3. Be a good t eam player 74 72
4. Help in dealing wit h problems
encount ered out side work
54 54
4. Meet t he performance
expect at ions for t he j ob
74 75
5. Provide an environment free
from violence and harassment
50 49 5. Assist ot hers wit h t heir work 71 65
6. Provide employees wit h a
reasonably secure j ob
52 38
6. Work overt ime or ext ra hours
when required
63 60
7. Provide employees wit h
opport unit ies t o advance and grow
46 35
7. Show loyalt y t o t he
organizat ion
62 58
8. Provide employees wit h good
pay for t he work t hey do
40 40
8. Be polit e t o cust omers/ public
even when t hey are rude &
unpleasant
60 60

94
9. Allow employees t o part icipat e
in decision- making
37 30
8. Work ent husiast ically on j obs
t hey would prefer not t o do
60 60
10. Provide employees wit h a j ob
t hat is challenging
36 33
10. Volunt eer t o do t asks out side
t heir j ob descript ion
59 56
11. Be flexible in mat ching
demands of non- work roles wit h
work
33 30
10. Develop new skills and
improve t heir current skill 59 54
12. Provide employees wit h
int erest ing work
30 29 12. Prot ect your company s image 58 56
13. Provide employees wit h a
career
24 18
12. Develop t heir compet encies t o
be able t o perform efficient ly in
t he j ob
58 58
14. I mprove fut ure employment
prospect s of t he employees
23 20
14. Provide t he organizat ion wit h
innovat ive suggest ions for
improvement
43 34
15. Provide possibilit ies t o work
t oget her in a pleasant way
20 17
15. Take t he responsibilit y for
t heir career
42 42
16. Accept an int ernal t ransfer if
necessary
36 35
17. Go t o work even if t hey don t
feel part icularly well
25 25

95
6. 2. Ant ecedent s of agr eement bet w een empl oy ees and empl oy er s about
t he cont ent of t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act
A new variable was const ruct ed t o reflect t he level of agreement wit hin t he PC. Mat ched
obligat ions were added t oget her t o form a sum score of number of obligat ions agreed
upon. The proport ion of agreement for each employee was calculat ed by dividing t he sum
score wit h t he t ot al number of obligat ions report ed by each employee. The proport ion of
obligat ions agreed upon by bot h part ies was calculat ed for bot h employer and employee
obligat ions. The mean proport ion of agreement on employer obligat ions was calculat ed at
0. 64 ( or 64%) . For employee obligat ions t he proport ion of agreement was slight ly higher
( 0. 72 or 72%) . Table 19 shows result s of a mult iple regression analysis aiming t o ident ify
t he ant ecedent s of agreement for employer and employee obligat ions.
A number of individual and organisat ional fact ors t hat were assumed t o have an influence
on level of agreement wit hin t he PC were chosen as independent variables. Employment
cont ract was considered t o be t he most import ant variable of int erest as it is t he variable
cent ral t o t his st udy. Ot her individual fact ors t hat were t hought t o be pot ent ially
influent ial of t he level of agreement were age, posit ion/ j ob level, t enure, working hours
and union membership. The role of t enure was support ed by a st udy from Tekleab and
Taylor ( 2002) . The more t ime spent in t he work place t he more one could learn about
what may be expect ed from management and what is generally expect ed from
employees. Union membership could also cont ribut e t o clarificat ion of t he t erms implied
in t he psychological cont ract . Organisat ional size and ownership are added as possible
cont ribut ing organisat ional fact ors. I t is possible t hat anonymit y and dist ance bet ween
managers and employees would be great er in larger organisat ions. The st udy by Tekleab
and Taylor ( 2002) also showed t hat exchange bet ween managers and employees in t he
company was relat ed t o a higher level of agreement . The same role could be played by
HR policies and pract ices in t he company.
The variance explained by t he proposed ant ecedent s was relat ively similar for bot h
measures of agreement . Having a permanent posit ion in t he organisat ion t oget her wit h
longer weekly working hours were significant ly relat ed t o agreement on bot h employer
and employee obligat ions. Older workers were less likely t o have agreement on bot h
groups of obligat ion. Company size was an import ant predict or; in bot h cases a smaller
company was relat ed t o higher levels of agreement . Working in privat ely owned
companies was generally relat ed t o a higher level of agreement . There were also some
significant effect s of differences bet ween t he sect ors.

96
Tabl e 19. Hierarchical regression analyses of t he ant ecedent s of agreement on t he
cont ent of t he psychological cont ract ( adj ust ed for range of promises) St andardized
coefficient s
Agr eement
empl oy er
pr omi ses
n = 3742
Agr eement
empl oy ee
pr omi ses
n = 3872
Manufact uring sect or . 05* * . 12* * *
Educat ion sect or - . 08* * * - . 06* *
Age - . 07* * * - . 12* * *
Gender ( 0= woman, 1= man) 0. 01 - 0. 01
Occupat ional Posit ion 0. 02 0. 02
Union member 0. 02 0. 00
Tenure - 0. 03 - 0. 02
Work hours . 07* * . 10* * *
Employment cont ract ( 0 = not
perm, 1= perm)
. 07* * . 11* * *
Size of organizat ion - . 06* * - . 08* * *
Ownership ( 0= public,
1= privat e)
. 16* * * . 08* * *
HR pract ices 0. 00 0. 04
Adj ust ed R
2
0. 08 0. 09
* * * p < . 001, * * p < . 01
Compar i son of mean scor es of cont ent and f ul f i l ment of t he psy chol ogi cal
cont r act
The mean scores on t he PC variables as report ed by bot h employees and t heir employers
are present ed in Figures 10 and 11. Figure 10 present s report s on t he cont ent of t he PC
and figure 11 report s on report s of t he fulfilment of t he PC. I t is import ant t o point out
t hat t hese are average scores and do not represent t he diversit y of views held by
employees wit hin each organisat ion. However, it is apparent t hat , on average, employers
believe t hat t hey offer more t o t heir employees t han t heir employees report . However
bot h employees and employers report t hat permanent employees receive more promises
from t heir organisat ions. Report s regarding t he obligat ions made by employees are more
mat ched, wit h an agreement t hat permanent employees offer slight ly more t han
t emporary employees.

97
Fi gur e 10. Employer and employees report s of mut ual obligat ions of permanent and
t emporary employees
Fi gur e 11. Employer and employees report of fulfilment of t he obligat ions of
permanent and t emporary employees
An int erest ing finding regarding t he report s of t he fulfilment of t he PC is t hat employers
report t hat t hey fulfil t heir obligat ions t o bot h permanent and t emporary employees t o
t he same degree on average. I n cont rast , permanent employees report t hat t heir PCs are
less fulfilled t han t emporary employees. Therefore a great er discrepancy exist s bet ween
what employers and employees report regarding t he PC of permanent employees.

98
Summar y
This brief sect ion has present ed some preliminary findings exploring t he ext ent t o which
employers and t heir employees agree about t he promises made and t he ext ent t o which
t hese promises have been met :
1) Levels of agreement are generally only modest .
2) Employers appear more likely t o agree wit h t heir permanent employees about
t he promises t hat have been made.
3) Bot h sides are more likely t o believe t hat t hey have kept t heir own promises t han
t he ot her side has kept t heirs.
6.3. Mul t i l evel anal y ses of count r y and sect or ef f ect s
6.3.1. Count r y l ev el di f f er ences
As background for t he explorat ion and int erpret at ion of similarit ies and differences
concerning t he psychological cont ract bet ween t he PSYCONES count ries, we describe t he
count ry cont ext s for t he period during which t he dat a- collect ion t ook place ( 2003- 2004) .
I ndicat ors for t he six societ al dimensions described earlier were updat ed t o reference
years as close as possible t o t he dat a- collect ion. Appendix 3 provides t he six ident ified
societ al dimensions and t heir indicat ors wit h source and reference year.
Laws and regulat ions First ly, laws and regulat ions define t he zone of negot iabilit y, t he
bargaining space for employer and employee. A narrow zone of negot iabilit y may
const rain t he widt h of t he psychological cont ract s cont ent . Secondly, sanct ions for
violat ion incorporat ed in laws and regulat ions may relat e t o fulfilment or breach of t he
psychological cont ract . Logically, numerous sanct ions for violat ions may inhibit breach.
Thirdly, laws and regulat ions concern t he balance bet ween social wellbeing in a welfare
economy and self- help in a market economy. Box plot s of t he four indicat ors reveal t hat
t he UK is an out lier wit h a very wide zone of negot iabilit y and very few sanct ions for
violat ions, while I srael is an out lier wit h a very low score for welfare st at e.
I ndust rial relat ions syst em ( I RS) . Since t he I RS const ruct s employer- employee
exchanges on various levels ( societ al, indust ry, organizat ional, and workplace) , it may
affect t he psychological cont ract on t he individual level as well. The power of t he unions
in t he I RS is reflect ed by t rade union densit y. The collect ive bargaining coverage
det ermines bargaining boundaries in t he psychological cont ract . Box plot s of t he t wo
indicat ors show no out liers. However, when t he count ries are proj ect ed in a t wo-

99
dimensional space by t heir t rade union densit y and collect ive bargaining coverage ( see
Figure 12) , t he posit ions of t he UK, Spain, Sweden and Belgium are in different ways,
dist inct ive.
Fi gur e 12. The relat ion bet ween collect ive bargaining coverage and t rade union densit y
Labour market and economic syst em The degree of welfare in a societ y, as an out come
of t he economic syst em, may influence t he psychological cont ract in it s cont ent , it s
fulfilment or breach, and it s st at e. The current and ant icipat ed labour market bears
heavily on employment cont ract s and may affect t he promises made and kept in t he
psychological cont ract . Plot s of t he five indicat ors only show out liers for part - t ime
employment , namely t he Net herlands has a very high rat e while Spain has a very low
rat e.
Educat ional syst em The relat ionship of t he educat ional syst em and t he psychological
cont ract is t hreefold. First ly, t he educat ional syst em const rains or facilit at es t he firms
abilit y t o obt ain employees wit h t he skills t hey need. Perhaps promises are bet t er kept
for employees t hat are scarce. Secondly, t he educat ional syst em const rains t he
individuals market power and as such his/ her power in negot iat ing t he cont ent of
psychological cont ract . Thirdly, t he educat ional syst em est ablishes school- t o- work
pipelines and prepares for new employment and opport unit ies t o engage in psychological

100
cont ract s. Plot s show one out lier, I srael, wit h very high percent age of educat ional
expendit ure.
Family orient at ion I t includes a special focus on gender issues such as female
employment and societ al at t it ude t owards working mot hers. Where t here are close family
t ies, reflect ed for example in a large family, single- parent household, and dual- earners
household, employees may seek t o negot iat e psychological cont ract s t hat sat isfy t he
family needs. Alt hough we assume collect ive responsibilit y of societ y, employers, unions,
and families for family- responsive init iat ives, it is clear t hat individual informal
arrangement bet ween employee and employer ( such as t he psychological cont ract ) can
prevent and/ or reduce work- family conflict s. Depending on t he societ al at t it ude t owards
t heir working, mot hers may be under varying degrees of pressure t o bargain t heir
psychological cont ract s. Box plot s of six indicat ors reveal several out liers. ( i. e. , fert ilit y
rat e, divorces, family t ies, and at t it ude t owards working mot hers) . The fert ilit y rat e is
very high in I srael, while Spain is an out lier wit h a very low fert ilit y rat e.
The PSYCONES web based expert s j udgment survey provides dat a on t he st rengt h of
family t ies. The correlat ion bet ween t he indicat ors fert ilit y rat e and st rengt h of family
t ies st rengt h of family t ies is negat ive ( r= - . 23, p= . 63, N= 7) . Especially, Spain has t he
lowest fert ilit y rat e and t he st rongest family t ies ( bot h out liers) . Spain is also an out lier
wit h very low divorce rat e. The UK has a very low score on st rengt h of family t ies.
Finally, Sweden is an out lier wit h a very posit ive at t it ude t owards working mot hers.
Finally, in relat ion t o t he psychological cont ract , cult ural values can const rain ones
abilit y t o ent er int o agreement s in t he first place ( Rousseau & Schalk, 2000c, Schalk &
Rousseau, 2001) . Secondly, since cult ure is likely t o shape percept ions of obligat ions,
cult ural values can influence t he kinds of exchanges t hat are negot iable in t he cont ent of
t he psychological cont ract . Thirdly, since cult ure is likely t o shape what const it ut es
breach, cult ural values regarding t he meaning of promises kept can affect t he fulfilment
or breach of t he psychological cont ract . Fourt hly, t he st at e of t he psychological cont ract
can be det ermined by cult ural values such as fairness and t rust . Box plot s of t he seven
indicat ors show t hat I srael is an out lier for t hree cult ural values ( low on Harmony, high
on Embeddedness, and low on Egalit arianism) and Spain is an out lier for Egalit arianism
wit h a high score. When looking at Schwart z cult ural map of t he world ( Schwart z,
1994a) , Belgium, Germany, t he Net herlands, Spain and Sweden are in t he West Europe
region of values wit h high import ance of egalit arianism and int ellect ual aut onomy. These
are cult ures in which individuals are viewed as aut onomous but subj ect t o legit imat e
expect at ions t o concern t hemselves volunt arily wit h t he welfare of t heir fellow cit izens
( Schwart z, 1994b, p. 111) . I n t hese count ries, values such as curiosit y,

101
broadmindedness, creat ivit y, equalit y, freedom, helpfulness, honest y, loyalt y,
responsibilit y, and social j ust ice, are import ant ( Schwart z, 1994b, 1999) . I srael and t he
Unit ed Kingdom are in t he English- speaking region of values wit h high import ance
regarding affect ive aut onomy and mast ery. These are ent repreneurial cult ures in which
mast ering and cont rolling t he environment are cent ral goals ( Schwart z, 1994b, p. 111) .
I n t hese count ries, values such as pleasure, enj oying and excit ing life, varied life,
ambit ion, choosing own goals, compet ence, daring, independence and success, are
import ant ( Schwart z, 1994b, 1999) . All PSYCONES count ries fall in t hese t wo adj acent
regions of values and are t hus rat her similar in t heir scores on t he seven cult ural values
dimensions.
6.3.2. Sect or l ev el
I n t he PSYCONES st udy, t hree sect ors were select ed for t heir variance in skill level:
manufact uring ( low skilled) , Ret ail or service ( medium skilled) , and Educat ion ( high
skilled) . The rat ionale behind t he choice for t hese levels relat es t o possible differences
regarding employee wellbeing issues and regarding t he expect at ions workers have
t owards t he ( hiring) organisat ion. Table 20 displays t he number of organisat ions per
sect or ( bet ween bracket s) followed by t he number of respondent s across t hese
organisat ions.
Tabl e 20. Samples according t o sect ors
Sw eden Ger many Net her -
l ands
Bel gi um UK Spai n I sr ael
Manufact ur-
ing
( 7) 259 ( 9) 215 ( 14) 246 ( 6) 211 ( 4) 389 ( 15) 385 ( 7) 382
Ret ail or
Service
( 11) 179 ( 8) 187 ( 12) 267 ( 8) 217 ( 6) 140 ( 9) 264 ( 9) 229
Educat ion ( 9) 292 ( 11) 226 ( 12) 290 ( 8) 211 ( 7) 114 ( 20) 293 ( 10) 349
Below is t he st andardizat ion of each sect or as used in t he PSYCONES sampling
procedures:
1) Manufact uring: For t he manufact uring sect or, t he main focus was direct ed
t owards manufact uring companies producing product s for t he consumer
market s. Business- t o- business manufact urers were not acquired. Hence, t he
focus was on organisat ions such as food manufact urers, comput er
manufact urers, et c. This sect or was included t o sample for lower- skilled
workers.

102
2) Ret ail or Service: This sect or includes organisat ions in t he ret ail sect or such as
shops as well as organisat ions giving service t o cust omers ( e. g. , insurance
companies) . The key crit erion was t hat t hese organisat ions should sell product s
t o consumers. This sect or was included t o sample medium- skilled workers, such
as salesmen, but also back- office workers.
3) Educat ion: The educat ional sect or was used t o sample for high- skilled workers.
This sample includes primarily t eachers or lect urers from several t ypes of
educat ional inst it ut ions. Grammar schools and High schools were included, but
also colleges and universit ies.
Summar y
There are differences bet ween t he PSYCONES count ries for 12 of t he 27 societ al
indicat ors across t he six dimensions. No out liers are found for t he dimension I RS.
Tent at ive int erpret at ion of differences concerning t he psychological cont ract result ing
from st at ist ical analysis at t he organizat ional and individual level in t erms of societ al
indicat ors, suggest s t hat :
1) Belgium and Germany are very similar t o t he ot her PSYCONES count ries, since
no out liers appear for t hese t wo count ries.
2) Most dist inct ive is I srael wit h six out liers across four dimensions. This is an
int erest ing finding because I srael was included especially t o compare wit h EU
count ries. I srael has except ionally scores on welfare st at e ( low) , educat ional
expendit ure ( high) , fert ilit y rat e ( high) , harmony ( low) , embeddedness ( high) ,
and egalit arianism ( low) .
3) Compared t o ot her PSYCONES count ries, t he Net herlands had a high percent age
of part - t ime work.
4) Spain has except ional scores on part - t ime work ( low) , fert ilit y rat e ( low) ,
divorces ( low) , st rengt h of family t ies ( high) , and egalit arianism ( high) .
5) I n comparison wit h t he ot her PSYCONES count ries, Sweden has a very
favourable at t it ude t owards working mot hers.
6) The UK had except ional scores for t he zone of negot iabilit y ( large) , sanct ions for
violat ions ( low) , and family t ies ( low) .

103
6.4. Count r y and sect or di f f er ences of t he or gani zat i onal var i abl es
The result s from mult ilevel analysis of st ruct ural fact ors in t he organizat ion are shown in
t able 21 below. The t able should be read as follows. The first column ( no cont rol) shows
t he residual of t he empt y model. The second column ( cont rolled) displays what is left of
t he residual aft er cont rolling for organizat ional and individual cont rol variables. The
percent age in t he column indicat es how much variance is NOT explained by t he cont rol
variables. The columns organizat ion, sect or, and count ry include t he variances
explained by t hese levels, compared t o t he column 2 dat a. The t able shows t hat t he
t ypes of t emporary workers hired by organizat ions are most ly dependent on t he
organizat ion level ( bet ween 74 and 100%) but also dependent on count ry ( up t o 20%) ,
except for hiring t emporaries on j ob- creat ion schemes ( 0%) .
Result s show t hat , when t he t ot al explained variance is put t o 100%, a considerable part
of t he variance is explained by t he differences bet ween organizat ions ( ranging from 51%
t hrough 97%) , some part by t he differences bet ween t he count ries ( up t o 44%) , and a
minor part by t he sect or level ( maximum 10%) . Most count ry dependent are t he
percent age of union members and t he influence of unions on HR pract ices. The lowest
effect s of count ry differences in t his t able come for HR pract ices where organizat ional
fact ors account for most of t he variance. The psychological cont ract as report ed by
managers follows t he general pat t ern, most of t he variance is explained by organizat ional
differences but t here are also some differences bet ween count ries t hat seem t o have an
effect . Report ed employee cont ent and delivery of deal have t he highest values ( 12-
16%) . Again t he effect of sect or level differences is very small.

104
Tabl e 21. Variances explained in organizat ion level variables
N No cont r ol Cont r ol l ed
( 100% )
Or gani zat i on Sect or Count r y
Percent age
t emporary
194 0, 07 92% 0, 06 0, 06 90% 0, 00 6% 0, 00 5%
Prospect
concerning
workforce
193 0, 49 84% 0, 41 0, 36 88% 0, 01 2% 0, 04 10%
Vacancies 191 0, 71 92% 0, 65 0, 60 91% 0, 01 1% 0, 05 7%

Percent age Union
members
147 1078, 69 69% 740, 43 375, 12 51% 36, 78 5% 328, 52 44%
Union influence:
cont ract s
191 1, 25 96% 1, 20 1, 05 87% 0, 09 7% 0, 06 5%
Union influence:
Hr Pract ices
191 1, 15 89% 1, 03 0, 75 73% 0, 04 4% 0, 24 23%
Union influences:
Working con.
191 1, 17 94% 1, 10 0, 89 81% 0, 06 6% 0, 14 13%

Cont ent Employers
Obl. perm
188 11, 34 87% 9, 83 8, 77 89% 0, 14 1% 0, 93 9%
Cont ent
Employees Obl.
Non- Perm
186 13, 43 83% 11, 18 9, 67 87% 0, 19 2% 1, 31 12%

105

Delivery Deal
Employees Perm
187 0, 30 80% 0, 24 0, 21 88% 0, 00 2% 0, 03 11%
Delivery Deal
Employees Non-
Perm
184 0, 29 78% 0, 23 0, 20 88% 0, 00 1% 0, 03 11%

Cont ent Employers
Obl. perm
202 27, 15 59% 15, 96 13, 50 85% 0, 12 1% 2, 35 15%
Cont ent
Employees Obl.
Non- Perm
202 29, 86 64% 18, 99 15, 90 84% 0, 05 0% 3, 03 16%
Delivery Deal
Employees Perm
183 0, 32 83% 0, 27 0, 23 86% 0, 00 1% 0, 04 14%
Delivery Deal
Employees Non-
Perm
180 0, 34 79% 0, 27 0, 23 86% 0, 00 2% 0, 03 12%

HR- Pract ices
Permanent s
202 0, 94 100% 0, 94 0, 83 89% 0, 05 5% 0, 06 6%
HR- Pract ices all
employees
202 1, 89 76% 1, 44 1, 38 96% 0, 02 2% 0, 04 3%
HR- Pract ices
t emporarys
202 4, 04 93% 3, 76 3, 51 93% 0, 11 3% 0, 14 4%

106
I t is also int erest ing t o look at t he composit ion of t he t emporary workforce as report ed
by organizat ions in t he PSYCONES- count ries ( see t able in appendix 5) . As for t he
different t ypes of t emporary workers hired by t he companies t he t able can be found in
appendix) . The t ypes of t emporary workers hired by organizat ions are most ly dependent
on t he organizat ion level ( bet ween 74 and 100%) but also dependent on count ry ( up t o
20%) , except for hiring t emporaries on j ob- creat ion schemes ( 0%) . Post - hoc analyses of
count ry differences shows some int erest ing t endencies. A clear difference bet ween
count ries is t he low percent age of fixed- t erm workers in I srael compared t o most
count ries, while t hey have a relat ively high number of t emporary agency workers. Dut ch
organizat ions in t he sample make relat ively more use of daily/ on- call workers, while
I srael makes more use of probat ion employees. I srael also makes more frequent use of
consult ant s in our sample.
Looking at t he composit ion of t he t emporary workforce across t he t hree sect ors, t hree
result s are wort h ment ioning. First , t he educat ional sect or makes more use of fixed- t erm
workers compared t o t he ot her t wo sect ors. On t he ot her hand, t hey make less use of
t emporary agency workers and t raining arrangement s.
Next t able ( t able 22) shows how companies in t he different count ries differ in t heir
mot ives for using t emporary employees. Generally, differences bet ween count ries are
small and explain only a small part of t he variance ( see t able in appendix) . Mot ives such
as replacement due t o long absence, unfilled vacancies, limit ing core workers, and
t est ing new employees are part ially det ermined by t he count ry ( up t o 20%) . On t he level
of t he sect ors, t he mot ive t o cope wit h peaks in product ion is somewhat dependent on
sect or ( 9%) . Wit h respect t o t he mot ives for hiring t emporary workers, some differences
bet ween count ries were ident ified.
I sraeli organizat ions make relat ively low use of t emporaries t o replace permanent
workers on long absences such as sickness and pregnancy. Spanish organizat ions in our
sample make relat ively more use of t emporary workers t o fill vacancies. Third, Swedish
organizat ions report working unusual hours as an import ant mot ive for hiring
t emporaries. Differences bet ween sect ors were also unusual. The educat ional
organizat ions report a lower use of t emporary workers t o cope wit h peaks in product ion.
This is very logical because what kind of product ion would t here be in educat ion?
However, t hey report a higher score on hiring t emps t o occupy unfilled vacancies.

107
Tabl e 22. Post - hoc analyses on mot ives for hiring t emporary workers
N F Sw e Ger Net Bel UK Spa I sr
Peaks in
product ion
185 1, 19 2, 91 3, 52 3, 12 2, 80 3, 49 3, 15 3, 73
Replace due
t o short
absence
188 1, 65 2, 77 2, 62 2, 70 3, 25 3, 72 2, 73 2, 44
Replace due
t o long
absence
187 3, 91* * 3, 73 2, 94 3, 36 3, 95 3, 22 3, 37 2, 18
Unfilled
vacancies
182 7, 40* * * 1, 56 1, 47 2, 00 2, 31 2, 38 3, 28 1, 71
Specialized
skills
184 1, 58 1, 82 1, 64 2, 31 1, 73 2, 10 2, 35 2, 07
Limit ing core
workers
183 4, 74* * * 1, 31 1, 68 2, 60 2, 14 1, 11 2, 14 2, 50
I mproving
performance
182 , 62 1, 93 1, 88 1, 87 1, 81 1, 96 1, 51 1, 99
Test ing new
emplyees
185 4, 62 4, 30 2, 35 3, 25 2, 25 2, 79 3, 00 3, 85
Working
unusual
hours
185 2, 62* 2, 46 1, 31 1, 54 1, 73 1, 65 1, 54 1, 76
Saving
salary cost s
184 1, 63 1, 34 1, 97 1, 88 1, 53 1, 15 1, 90 1, 91
Saving
t raining
cost s
185 1, 24 1, 11 1, 07 1, 22 1, 04 1, 17 1, 24 1, 34
Saving
benefit cost s
184 2, 90- , 97 1, 64 1, 51 1, 04 1, 44 1, 70 2, 16
* p< . 05, * * p< . 01, * * * p< . 001
Summar y
Only t aken int o account clear significant result s on variables not suffering from t oo many
missing values, t he conclusions wit h respect t o t he employer level variables are t he
following:
1) The maj or part of not individual variance is explained by t he organizat ion level.
Count ry has some effect and sect or has only a minor effect .

108
2) I n general t here are more similarit ies bet ween count ries t han differences.
3) The count ry differences are:
a) Sweden report s t he highest influence of unions on HR pract ices. From t he
societ al dat a we recall t hat Sweden has t he st rongest union densit y.
b) Wit hin t he HR pract ices, Germany report s t he lowest t raining t o bot h
permanent and t emporary employees. However, looking at t he t ypes of
t emporary workforce, Germany report s t raining as t he highest .
c) Belgium report s t he most narrow cont ent of t he psychological cont ract
for bot h permanent and t emporary employees. We recall from t he
societ al dat a t hat Belgium has high collect ive bargaining coverage.
Furt hermore, Belgium report s a high percent age of fixed t erm wit hin t he
t ypes of t emporary workforce.
d) Wit hin t he HR pract ices, t he UK report s t he highest t raining t o t emporary
employees. e) Spain report s t he broadest cont ent of t he psychological
cont ract for t emporary employees.
f) I srael is except ional in t he t ypes of t emporary workforce wit h low
percent age of fixed t erm and high percent ages of t emporary agency,
probat ion, and consult ant s.
4) I n general t here are more similarit ies bet ween sect ors t han differences.
5) The few sect or differences seem logical and include: percent age of t emporary
and t ype of t emporary workforce, union influence, HR pract ices, accident s.
6) There are only few int eract ions wit h count ry or sect or. The significant
int eract ions are hard t o int erpret .
6.5. Empl oy ee l evel ex pl or at i ons usi ng mul t i l evel anal y ses
This sect ion present s similarit ies and differences bet ween count ries and sect ors based on
quant it at ive dat a gat hered t hrough quest ionnaires from employees. I n t his sect ion we
analyse also t he individual level t oget her wit h organizat ion, sect or and count ry level.
Most int erest ing here is perhaps t o look at t he psychological cont ract t oget her wit h some
of t he ot her int ervening variables which could be influenced by several levels.

109
Tabl e 23. Explained variances of t he int ervening variables
( 100% )
I ndi v i dual Or gani zat i on Sect or Count r y
Cont ent employers
obligat ions
5271 20, 90 92% 19, 21 17, 52 91% 1,13 6% 0, 21 1% 0, 48 3%
Cont ent
employees
obligat ions
5284 17, 54 96% 16, 81 14, 79 88% 1,00 6% 0, 35 2% 0, 88 5%
Delivery deal
Employers obl.
4999 0, 70 91% 0, 64 0, 59 92% 0,04 6% 0, 00 0% 0, 02 3%
Delivery deal
Employees obl.
5188 0, 26 91% 0, 24 0, 22 92% 0,01 3% 0, 00 0% 0, 01 5%
Trust 5285 1, 01 93% 0, 94 0, 84 89% 0, 07 7% 0, 00 0% 0, 04 4%
Fairness 5294 0, 87 92% 0, 80 0, 71 89% 0, 05 6% 0, 00 0% 0, 04 5%
Trust / fairness
combined ( st at e)
5297 0, 82 92% 0, 75 0, 67 88% 0,05 7% 0, 03 0% 0, 04 5%
Violat ion of PC 5183 0, 75 91% 0, 68 0, 61 90% 0, 04 7% 0, 00 0% 0, 02 4%
Core HR Pract ices 5118 4, 02 94% 3,79 3, 43 90% 0, 40 10% 0, 13 3% 0, 11 3

Employabilit y 5310 1, 12 88% 0, 98 0,86 88% 0, 04 4% 0, 00 0% 0, 09 9%
Job I nsecurit y 5311 0, 97 83% 0, 81 0,69 85% 0, 09 11% 0, 01 1% 0, 04 4%

110
Aut onomy 5291 0, 81 74% 0, 60 0, 52 87% 0, 05 8% 0, 01 2% 0, 02 3%
Skill Ut ilizat ion 5296 0, 89 69% 0, 61 0, 53 87% 0, 05 8% 0, 03 6% 0, 01 1%
Workload 5322 0, 79 82% 0, 65 0, 55 85% 0, 08 12% 0, 01 1% 0, 04 6%
Wit h respect t o t he int ervening variables, more or less t he same order of import ance of levels appears. The individual level explains 85%
t hrough 95% of t he variance wit h t he lowest values for working condit ions such as work load and skill ut ilizat ion, t he organizat ional level
3% t hrough 12%, t he sect or level 0% t hrough 6% for skill ut ilizat ion, and t he count ry level 1% t hrough 9% for employabilit y.
To measure differences bet ween count ries, post hoc t est s ( Bonferroni) are used. When a count ry scores significant ly different ( maximum
of p < . 05) compared t o four count ries, t he difference is signalled using bold font s.

111
Tabl e 24. Post - hoc analyses on int ervening variables
Cont ent
employers
obligat ions
5271 17, 24* * * 8, 16 8, 12 8, 94 8, 52 10, 34 9, 47 7, 76
Cont ent
employees
obligat ions
5284 9, 42* * * 12, 35 13, 61 12, 01 13, 49 14, 77 14, 59 13, 10
Delivery of t he
deal,
employers
obligat ions
4999 9, 06* * * 3, 50 4, 01 3, 72 3, 77 3, 73 3, 68 3, 62
Delivery of t he
deal employees
obligat ions
5188 20, 11* * * 4, 17 4, 46 4, 20 4, 24 4, 34 4, 35 4, 45
Trust 5285 9, 84* * * 2, 93 3, 41 3, 40 3, 40 3, 05 3, 26 3, 00
Fairness 5294 14, 11* * * 2, 71 3, 44 3, 42 3, 39 3, 09 3, 23 2, 92
Trust &
Fairness
Combined
5297 13, 30* * * 2, 95 3, 43 3, 41 3, 40 3, 08 3, 35 2, 95
Violat ion of
Psychological
Cont ract
5183 10, 23* * * 2, 40 2, 13 2, 18 2, 08 2, 36 2, 13 2, 55
HR pract ices 5118 6, 72* * * 3, 35 3, 55 4, 22 3, 77 4, 19 3, 33 3, 70

Employabilit y 5310 32, 76* * * 3, 23 2, 54 3, 10 2, 95 3, 52 3, 34 3, 42
Job insecurit y 5311 9, 74* * 2,18 2, 54 2, 36 2, 29 2, 52 2, 12 1, 93

Aut onomy 5291 6, 54* * * 3, 45 3, 28 3, 41 3, 36 3, 40 3, 31 3, 70
Skill Ut ilizat ion 5296 3, 32* * 3, 56 3, 67 3, 55 3, 50 3, 36 3, 55 3, 68
Workload 5322 11, 52* * * 3, 33 3, 09 2, 82 2, 86 3, 12 2, 90 3, 32
* p < . 05, * * p < . 01, * * * p < . 001
Wit h respect t o t he psychological cont ract , t he sample shows t hat employees in t he UK
expect more from t heir organizat ions in comparison t o employees in t he ot her count ries.
Toget her wit h Spain, UK workers also promise significant ly more compared t o ot her
count ries, while Dut ch employees in t he sample promise less compared t o t heir
colleagues from ot her count ries. The dat a also show t hat fulfilment of t he employers

112
obligat ions is highest in Germany. Swedish and Dut ch workers generally fulfil t heir
promises less compared t o t he ot her count ries. Wit h respect t o t he variables measuring
t he st at e of t he PC, Swedish workers score low, t oget her wit h I srael. However, I srael also
report s a low violat ion of t he PC.
As for t he working condit ions t here is no significant difference in aut onomy. However
count ries differ in how employees perceive skill ut ilizat ion where Spain is lower t han t he
ot hers. As for work load, Swedish and I sraeli employees report t he highest values and
t he Net herlands is significant ly lower t han all ot her count ries.
Looking at t he variables measuring t he psychological cont ract , t he effect of sect or is
weak. Only t he cont ent of t he obligat ions from bot h employers and employees is
significant ; workers in t he manufact uring sect or report higher expect at ions from bot h t he
employer and t hemselves. I n addit ion, workers in t he Ret ail and Sales sect or experience
t o have significant ly more HR pract ices compared t o t he ot her t wo sect ors. Workers in
t he manufact uring sect or report a higher level of j ob insecurit y. Sect or also influences j ob
charact erist ics; wit h respect t o aut onomy and skill ut ilizat ion, educat ional workers score
higher compared t o manufact uring and ret ail and sales.
6.6. Count r y and sect or di f f er ences i n heal t h and w el l bei ng of empl oy ees
The out come variables in t he employee model are largely dependent on individual fact ors
( explained variance ranging from 87% t hrough 97%) ( see t able in appendix 5) . On t he
higher levels, including organizat ion, sect or, and count ry, none of t he variables is
considerably dependent on each of t hese levels. Especially sect or hardly has any
influence ( explained variance 0% and 1%) . The organizat ional level explains some
variat ion ( up t o 8%) at t it udes wit h respect t o t he organizat ion and t he j ob, such as
organizat ional commit ment and j ob sat isfact ion. Healt h indicat ors are not dependent on
organizat ional fact ors. Count ry does have some influence on t hese variables ( up t o 9%) .
To measure differences bet ween count ries, post hoc t est s ( Bonferroni) are used. When a
count ry scores significant ly different ( maximum of p < . 05) compared t o four count ries,
t he difference is signalled using bold font s.

113
Tabl e 25. Post - hoc analyses on dependent variables
Job
Sat isfact ion
5331 11, 46* * * 3, 75 4, 16 4, 16 4, 10 3, 71 4, 00 4, 02

Sick leave 5268 6, 15* * * 2, 10 1,84 1, 95 1, 80 2, 19 1, 79 2, 03
Sick presence 5249 29, 75* * * 2, 54 2, 52 2, 09 2, 31 2, 61 2, 78 3, 01
Accident s 5264 3, 65* * * 1, 25 1, 13 1, 12 1, 14 1, 21 1, 20 1, 17
I ncident s 5252 1, 88 1, 27 1,19 1, 23 1, 22 1, 34 1, 19 1, 20

Work- Relat ed
Mood:
Anxiet y-
Cont ent ment
5295 19, 60* * * 2, 26 2, 62 2, 24 2, 45 2, 63 2, 56 2, 51
Work- Relat ed
Mood:
Depression-
Ent husiasm
5278 16, 86* * * 2, 06 2, 27 1, 84 2, 00 2, 26 2, 01 2, 11
I rrit at ion 5309 16, 71* * * 2, 79 2, 76 2, 57 2, 99 2, 90 3, 01 3, 27
Posit ive work-
home
int erference
5288 23, 58* * * 2, 62 2, 61 3, 00 3, 09 2, 81 3, 04 3, 14
Occ. Self-
efficacy ( low
alpha! )
5306 46, 63* * * 3, 90 3, 68 3, 94 3, 81 4, 07 3, 96 4, 30
Life
sat isfact ion
5293 15, 91* * * 4, 96 5, 02 5, 51 5, 24 5, 02 5, 33 5, 28
General healt h
SF - 36
5293 8, 62* * * 4, 01 3, 88 3, 98 3, 83 3, 85 4, 02 4, 10

Perceived
Performance
5304 7, 70* * * 4, 00 4, 08 4, 04 4, 04 3, 97 3, 92 4, 17
Organizat io-
nal
Commit ment
5330 12, 51* * * 3, 67 3, 92 3, 93 3, 92 3, 92 4, 10 4, 18
I nt ent ion t o
quit
5319 29, 40* * * 2, 27 1, 43 1, 76 1, 73 2, 21 1, 66 1, 85
* p < . 05, * * p < . 01, * * * p < . 001

114
On t he healt h- relat ed variables, t here are many differences bet ween count ries. Sick
presence is int erest ing; I srael scores higher compared t o all count ries but Spain. Sweden
and t he Net herlands report low scores on Work- Relat ed Mood: Anxiet y- Cont ent ment . The
Dut ch employees also score low on t he ot her psychological fact or, work- relat ed mood:
Depression- Ent husiasm, while Germany and t he UK report high levels of t his variable.
Wit h respect t o irrit at ion, again, Dut ch employees report a low mean, and I srael report s
high levels of irrit at ion. Germany and Sweden have a low mean wit h regard t o posit ive
work- home int erference, and German employees also report low occupat ional self-
efficacy. Wit h respect t o life sat isfact ion, Dut ch employees report high levels of
sat isfact ion, while Swedish employees are relat ively less sat isfied ( alt hough t hey st ill
report a high level of life sat isfact ion) . Belgian employees report t he lowest general
healt h.
Wit h respect t o t he organizat ional at t it udes, I srael again t akes an int erest ing posit ion.
They score ( significant ly) highest on perceived performance and organizat ional
commit ment . Wit h regard t o t he lat t er, Sweden scores significant ly lower compared t o
ot her count ries. This could affect int ent ion t o quit , on which Sweden scores high,
t oget her wit h t he UK. The German dat a on t he ot her hand show a low int ent ion t o quit .
Summar y
Only t aken int o account clear significant result s on variables not suffering from t oo many
missing, t he conclusions on t he employee level explorat ions are t he following:
1) The maj or part of variance is explained by t he individual level. Organizat ion has
some effect ( maximum 12% of explained variance) while count ry and sect or
have only a minor effect s ( maximum respect ively 9% and 6% of explained
variance) . The few int eract ions count ry x sect or are difficult t o int erpret .
2) There are largely more similarit ies bet ween count ries t han differences.
3) The count ry differences are:
a) Sweden report s t he poorest wellbeing. This coincides wit h low scores of
choice variables and on social support . Also, t he delivery of t he employee
deal and t he st at e of t he psychological cont ract are low in Sweden.
b) Germany report s poor wellbeing, in spit of high delivery of t he
employers deal. Also, Germany scores low on employabilit y but high on
work involvement .

115
c) The Net herlands have good wellbeing. This coincides wit h low work load
and wit h narrow cont ent and delivery of t he psychological cont ract for
employees. d) Belgium keeps a middle posit ion wit hin t he PSYCONES
count ries. But for low general healt h t here are no except ional scores on
employee dat a.
e) UK report s low work involvement and low skill ut ilizat ion. I t report s t he
broadest cont ent of t he psychological cont ract ( bot h for employers and
employees) . We recall from t he societ al dat a t hat t he UK has a wide zone
of negot iabilit y, few sanct ions for violat ions and low union densit y and
coverage. As wellbeing is concerned, t he UK report s low j ob sat isfact ion,
high depression- ent husiasm, and high int ent ion t o quit .
f) Spain report s broad cont ent of t he psychological cont ract for employees.
I t has no except ional scores on wellbeing.
g) I srael is except ional in t erms of high work involvement , high role clarit y,
high sick presence, high irrit at ion, and low j ob insecurit y. Concerning t he
psychological cont ract , I srael report s t he lowest score on t he st at e and
t he highest on violat ion.
4) There are largely more similarit ies bet ween sect ors t han differences.

116
I V. CONCLUSI ONS AND POLI CY I MPLI CATI ONS
The design of t he PSYCONES proj ect has given us comparable dat a from more t han 5000
permanent and t emporary workers employed in companies and organisat ions across six
European count ries and I srael. Three sect ors are included in t he st udy: educat ion, food
manufact uring and ret ail. The dat a also gives an overview of t he opinions of bot h
employers and t heir employees about t emporary work. Furt hermore, it is t he first large-
scale European st udy of t he psychological cont ract . I t provides dat a from a mult i- facet ed
measure and permit s analyses of t he relat ive import ance of different facet s of t he PC.
Again, we have t he advant age of mat ching employer and employee dat a. At t his point ,
we are only beginning t o report result s, and more will emerge during t he next few years.
The large sample and variet y of measures offer a lot of possibilit ies for furt her
explorat ion of organizat ional behaviour and individual wellbeing. The summary below
will give a brief overview of conclusions t o be drawn from t he first analyses of t he seven-
count ry sample.
1. Concl usi ons
1. 1. Tempor ar y w or k posi t i v el y r el at ed t o sat i sf act i on and w el l - bei ng
The aim of t his large int ernat ional st udy was t o explore t he relat ionship bet ween t ype of
employment cont ract and workers sat isfact ion and wellbeing. An addit ional aim was t o
explore t he role of t he PC as a pot ent ial mediat or of t his relat ionship. The research was
conduct ed in t he cont ext of a policy debat e and a series of European legislat ive act ivit ies
t hat have been based on t he assumpt ion t hat t hose on t emporary cont ract s are
significant ly disadvant aged. I ndeed, t his was t he basis of our first hypot hesis. Our result s
failed t o support t his assumpt ion and t he relat ed hypot hesis. I ndeed, t hose on
permanent employment cont ract s report slight ly lower levels of sat isfact ion and well-
being on almost all our measures. This is even more surprising considering t he addit ional
finding t hat permanent employees were far more likely t han t emporary employees t o
indicat e t hat t hey had t heir cont ract of choice. This result proved robust also when
cont rolling for a range of possible confounding fact ors, bot h individual and work- relat ed.
I t is import ant at t his st age t o emphasise t hat lower levels of sat isfact ion and well-
being does not necessarily imply low levels. While t here are significant differences
bet ween t he t wo broad employment cont ract cat egories, bot h t end t o be on average
more posit ive t han negat ive on most of t he out come variables. Therefore, we are left
wit h t he unant icipat ed and count er- int uit ive but quit e robust finding t hat t hose on
permanent employment cont ract s report lower levels of sat isfact ion and wellbeing t han
t hose on t emporary cont ract s.

117
1.2. How gener al ar e t he r esul t s?
A crit ical quest ion is of course t he generalisabilit y of t hese result s. Alt hough our sample
of t emporary workers was large ( n = 1981) and het erogeneous, a maj orit y ( 62%) had
fixed t erm cont ract s. The fact t hat mean t enure on t he j ob was relat ively long ( more t han
t wo years for t emporary workers) , as was t ime remaining on t he j ob, gives an indicat ion
of relat ive st abilit y. The most frequent ly report ed mot ive by employers for hiring
t emporary workers was t hat t hey needed subst it ut es during longer absence of permanent
workers. Alt hough we have a variat ion of cont ract s among t he t emporary workers, t he
sample does not consist of casual workers t o any large ext ent . The maj orit y has
relat ively st able employment and seem t o be relat ively well prot ect ed. Casual workers in
really insecure employment and bad working condit ions are not t ypically included. Thus,
a careful conclusion is t hat t he result s at least can be generalized t o relat ively st able
t emporary workers on t ime- limit ed cont ract s of some durat ion. However, it s import ant
t o underline t hat fixed t erm cont ract s const it ut e t he most common cont ract form among
t emporary workers across Europe.
A few addit ional comment s need t o be made about generalisabilit y. The sample consist ed
of employees on different j ob levels wit h a large group of blue collar workers but also
including int ermediat e level whit e collar workers and professionals. Alt hough we had a
limit ed range of occupat ions, t he conclusion is t hat wit h some caut ion result s seem t o be
valid across several j ob levels. Some caut ion is warrant ed however regarding conclusions
about count ry and sect or differences because t he sample is not represent at ive in t his
regard.
I s it t hen fair t o say t hat t emporary employment is bet t er and more preferable t o
employees t han t he st andard form? Our answer t o t his quest ion would probably be Not
in general. There are several reasons for t his argument :
Evidence from t he survey t o employees showed t hat t emporary employees in all
count ries want a higher level of securit y of employment . Only a minorit y of t he sample
st at e t hat t he t emporary cont ract is t he one t hat t hey prefer. Most of t hem report "push"
mot ives ( e. g. I t was t he only t ype of cont ract I could get ) inst ead of being pulled by
posit ive mot ives t owards accept ing t he cont ract ( e. g. I t gives me more freedom ) .
Anot her point in t he same direct ion is t he st rong negat ive associat ion bet ween
percept ions of j ob insecurit y and wellbeing, which seems t o be st ronger t han t he effect of
employment cont ract . Similarly, expect at ion of cont ract ext ension was a dominant fact or
and st rongly associat ed wit h wellbeing among t he t emporaries.

118
What we can say clearly however, is t hat a t emporary j ob does not always seem t o be
precarious or ent ail negat ive healt h effect s. To clarify t his conclusion we use t he
mult idimensional definit ion used by Rodgers and Rodgers ( 1989)
4
and t he ESOPE proj ect
( 2004) . They define precarious employment as low qualit y j obs which are bad for t he
wellbeing and healt h of employees. The definit ion builds on four dimensions:
1) Temporal - degree of st abilit y or cert aint y of cont inuing t he j ob;
2) Organizat ional - cont rol over working condit ions, pace, income et c;
3) Prot ect ion by law, collect ive agreement s or pract ice against unfair t reat ment ,
dismissal et c, but also social prot ect ion in t erms of access t o social securit y
benefit s during illness, accident s, unemployment et c;
4) Economic in t erms of low income and vulnerabilit y.
There is a variat ion in t he condit ions of t emporary workers in our st udy and some are
probably vulnerable in several of t he senses list ed above. However, t he maj orit y, wit h
relat ively long fixed t erm cont ract should perhaps be labelled flexible and not precarious.
Their working condit ions do not seem t o affect eit her t heir j ob sat isfact ion or t heir healt h
and wellbeing in a negat ive way. Their relat ively long t enure wit h t he company probably
means t hat t hey are relat ively well prot ect ed. Alt hough t emporary employees had a
lower level of aut onomy and skill ut ilizat ion and oft en less qualified j obs compared t o
t hose on permanent open- ended cont ract s, we find ot her fact ors t hat seem t o be more
import ant . Several of t hese fact ors concern relat ions bet ween managers and t heir
subordinat es in t he workplace. Fact ors consist ent ly associat ed wit h lower worker well-
being are violat ions of t he psychological cont ract s, low levels of fulfilment of perceived
promises and commit ment s made by t he organisat ion, lack of support from supervisors
and managers and last but not least a heavy work load. These fact ors apply t o workers
on permanent employment cont ract s at least as much if not more t han t o t hose on
t emporary cont ract s.

4
A similar argument and definition of precarious employment was presented in Cano (2000).

119
1.3. Vi ol at i on of t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act ( PC) af f ect s t he r el at i onshi p
bet w een empl oyment cont r act and w el l - bei ng
I t seems plausible t o hypot hesise t hat permanent workers have a different kind of PC
wit h more ext ensive, more complex and more ambiguous or relat ional reciprocal
obligat ions, expect at ions and promises. These will be posit ive t o t he ext ent t hat t hey
offer great er breadt h and dept h but may be more difficult t o fulfil. The second broad
hypot hesis t hat guided t he research was t herefore t hat t he PC, measured in a variet y of
ways, would mediat e t he relat ionship bet ween t he employment cont ract and t he range of
out come measures. There was some support for t his hypot hesis in t he evidence of full or
part ial mediat ion of a number of relat ionships. I n t his cont ext , it was t he measure of
violat ion of t he PC t hat appeared t o be most st rongly associat ed wit h out comes. The
cont ent breadt h had relat ively lit t le associat ion wit h out comes. On t he ot her hand,
workers views on t heir own promises t o t heir organisat ion and t he degree t o which t hese
had been fulfilled did have rat her more impact . These are int erest ing findings t hat merit
much more analysis. Despit e some mediat ion by t he PC measures, t here was st ill
evidence t hat t ype of employment cont ract was significant ly associat ed wit h a number of
out comes and t hat in most cases t his showed t hat t hose on permanent cont ract s
report ed more negat ive out comes t han t hose on t emporary cont ract s.
Since t he PC only act s as a full mediat or on t wo of t he 13 dependent variables, t his
leaves much t o be explained. The t hird implicit hypot hesis in t he st udy was t hat four
ot her classes of variables - employment prospect s ( including perceived j ob securit y) ,
volit ion, j ob charact erist ics and support - would act as addit ional mediat ors. However, t he
result s showed very lit t le support for t his hypot hesis. Given t he quit e ext ensive lit erat ure
emphasising t he import ance of being on cont ract of choice, t his was a surprising finding.
We had expect ed t hat t he PC would be t he most import ant mediat or and wit h t he limit ed
impact of t he ot her variables, t his view was support ed.
A broader psychological cont ract implies more commit ment s and higher expect at ions
from managers. I f t his is part of a fair deal where permanent employees feel t hat t hey
get equit able rewards for t heir effort s, t he broader PC would not be a problem. Result s
indicat e however, t hat permanent employees oft en have t he feeling t hat t he cont ract has
been violat ed by employers or t hat t hey are unable t o fulfil t heir commit ment s
t hemselves. The most problemat ic part of t he work condit ions report ed is t hat of a high
workload which would confirm result s from ot her research. An example is a st udy from
t he UK, where Burchell, Lapido and Wilkinson ( 2002) report ed t hat t hreat s of j ob losses,
downsizing and work int ensificat ion affect core employees more t han t emporary workers.

120
1.4. Ful f i l ment of pr omi ses and commi t ment s af f ect s sat i sf act i on of bot h
empl oy er and empl oy ees
There was some furt her support for t he mediat ing role of t he PC in t he analysis of t he
employer dat a. Alt hough t he sample was much smaller ( n= 202) , and t he result s
t herefore have t o be t reat ed wit h some caut ion, t here was evidence t hat employers
percept ion of t he ext ent t o which bot h permanent and t emporary employees met t heir
obligat ions t o t he organisat ion mediat ed t he relat ionship bet ween st ruct ural and policy
variables specifically organisat ion size and differences in t he applicat ion of HR pract ices
and employer sat isfact ion wit h t he performance of permanent and t emporary workers.
On t he employee side t here were similar result s in t he sense t hat if employees perceived
t hat employers fulfilled t heir part of t he psychological cont ract , t his was relat ed t o higher
levels of j ob sat isfact ion and a range of ot her indicat ors of wellbeing. The repeat ed
occurrence of t his result across a range of different out comes gives st rong support t o t he
meaningfulness of int roducing t he PC concept in any analysis aiming t o explain out comes
of working for bot h part ies involved in t he employment relat ionship.
1.5. Di f f er ences bet w een t he psy chol ogi cal cont r act s of per manent and
t empor ar y empl oy ees i mpl y di f f er ent t r eat ment
The mat ching of employer and employee descript ions of t he cont ent of t he PC and how it
relat es t o t he employment cont ract clearly confirms t hat bot h part ies have higher
expect at ions of mut ual cont ribut ions for permanent as compared t o t emporary
employees. The cont ent of t he psychological cont ract in t erms of promises made is
broader for t he permanent ly employed. This means t hat employers have higher
expect at ions and are prepared t o give more in ret urn as part of t he employment deal.
Also t he permanent ly employed t hemselves report a wider responsibilit y t owards t heir
organisat ion compared t o t he t emporary workers. Again t his is mat ched wit h higher
expect at ions of ret urns.
This is import ant especially against t he background of report s from employers of equal
t reat ment of permanent and t emporary workers. A small maj orit y st at e t hat t here is no
difference ( 53%) in t reat ment of workers on different employment cont ract s. This reply
seems t o be t he official policy, whereas t he more det ailed report s about t he promises and
obligat ions made t o permanent and t emporary workers give an impression of more wide-
spread inequalit y.

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1.6. Ty pe of empl oyment cont r act not t he most i mpor t ant pr edi ct or of
w el l - bei ng
I t is import ant t o recognise t hat t he analysis of employee dat a has highlight ed t he role of
t he employment cont ract and it s significant associat ion wit h a range of out comes
associat ed wit h sat isfact ion and wellbeing. This needs t o be set in cont ext . While most of
t he pot ent ial mediat ors failed t o operat e in t his role, t hey can st ill be st rongly associat ed
wit h a number of t he out comes and in so doing are more influent ial t han t he nat ure of
t he employment cont ract . A glance at Table 13 reveals t hat t his was indeed t he case. I f
we t ake t he average variance account ed for in work relat ed healt h, general healt h and
work at t it udes as an indicat or of relat ive import ance, permanent employment cont ract
has a mean effect of 0.06, whereas workload ( 0. 07) and violat ion of t he PC ( 0. 14) bot h
have st ronger effect s. Receiving organizat ional support ( 0. 10) , lower fulfilment of t he PC
( 0. 12) and wit h higher j ob insecurit y ( 0. 10) , a less fulfilled PC ( 0. 11) j ob of choice ( 0. 22)
as well as aut onomy ( 0. 08) are ot her fact ors wit h relat ively st rong effect s.
I n short , most of t he mediat ing variables are significant ly associat ed wit h at least some
of t he out comes and are oft en more st rongly associat ed wit h t hem t han t ype of
employment cont ract . While t hese result s provide a wider basis for underst anding t he
fact ors associat ed wit h worker sat isfact ion and wellbeing, t hey do not det ract from t he
significance of t hese findings highlight ing t he negat ive role of being in permanent as
opposed t o t emporary employment . Despit e all t he different variables cont rolled for and
invest igat ed, permanent workers st ill report poorer out comes on several of t he healt h
and wellbeing variables compared wit h t emporary workers.
1.7. Di f f er ences bet w een count r i es ex pl ai n par t of v ar i at i on bet w een
or gani zat i ons
One crit ical part of t he PSYCONES st udy was t he explorat ion in more dept h of differences
bet ween count ries and sect ors in t he cont ext of a mult ilevel analysis. The aim was t o
increase t he relevance of result s on a European level by effort s t o est imat e count ry
effect s and carefully defining societ al dimensions and indicat ors t o compare count ries.
The choice of mult ilevel analyses as t he preferred way of comparing effect s of individual,
organizat ion sect or and count ry differences was a way of aiming furt her t han previous
research. I nt erpret at ions about count ry differences however, must be made bearing in
mind t he non- represent at ive samples. This means t hat result s are not t ypical for any of
t he count ries but have t o be limit ed t o part icipat ing companies and organizat ions in t he
t hree sect ors in each count ry.

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The mult ilevel analyses showed t hat most of t he variat ion remaining
5
bet ween st ruct ural
feat ures of part icipat ing work unit s could be explained by organizat ional level fact ors
( 8590%) . However, result s indicat ed t hat count ry differences bet ween t he companies did
have an impact , generally explaining about 10- 15% of t he remaining variance. On t he
ot her hand, and rat her unexpect edly, sect or differences explained almost none of t he
variat ion in organizat ional charact erist ics. The general conclusion however was t hat
similarit ies bet ween part icipat ing count ries were larger t han differences.
Most count ry- dependent fact ors were t he percent age of union members and t he influence
of unions on HR pract ices. Furt her probing int o t he issue of union membership reveals
t hat t here seems t o be a difference bot h in t he psychological cont ract s of members and
non- members of unions and in t heir at t it udes t owards t he organizat ion ( Claes & Schalk,
congress pres. 2005) . Non- members generally appeared t o perceive more promises
made by t he organizat ion t han members of unions. On t he ot her hand, level of
agreement wit h t he employer on promises and commit ment s made was generally higher
for union members. Furt hermore, unionized employees report ed higher levels of
commit ment t owards t he organizat ion. Like several ot her issues at t his st age of t he
proj ect , t here is more work t o be done t o underst and and explain t hese findings.
1.8. Di f f er ences bet w een or gani zat i ons cont r i but e t o var i at i on i n
i ndi v i dual at t i t udes
A second part of mult ilevel analyses was t o invest igat e how t he different levels could
cont ribut e t o explaining variat ion in individual at t it udes and j ob percept ions. The maj or
part of variat ion in individual responses was explained by fact ors considered at t he
individual level ( 85- 90%) . However, t he organizat ional level also had some influence
here but t o a much more limit ed degree ( up t o 12% of variance explained) , highest for
individual percept ions of working condit ions such as workload but also j ob insecurit y and
HR pract ices. There were also small cont ribut ions from count ry differences ( 3- 6%) but
again very lit t le from t he sect or level. Furt her analyses revealed t hat t he organizat ional
level explained some variat ion in individual at t it udes such as j ob sat isfact ion and
organizat ional commit ment . For healt h- relat ed out comes, t here were only very small
cont ribut ions from higher levels. Again t hese mult ilevel analyses will be furt her explored
as part of ongoing work and publicat ions.
A final not e must be made about t he t est of int eract ions bet ween count ry and sect or on
t he relat ionship bet ween t ype of cont ract and out come variables as well as t he

5 Variance not explained by individual and organizational control factors introduced.

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relat ionship bet ween PC variables and out come variables. The aim was t o check whet her
t he relat ionships t hat we found differed bet ween count ries. There were very few
int erpret able int eract ions meaning t hat t he conclusions discussed above seem t o be valid
in all part icipat ing count ries. Violat ions of t he psychological cont ract t hus seem t o have
similar negat ive effect s on employee sat isfact ion and wellbeing in all part icipat ing
count ries.
2. Pol i cy i mpl i cat i ons
The changing nat ure of employment , and especially t he increase of various forms of
t emporary employment s cont ract s, has been t he focus of discussions among bot h
researchers and polit ical debat es among policy makers and social part ners across
Europe. The deviat ion from t he st andard employment cont ract , i. e. open ended full t ime
employment , has been t he t opic of much concern and t he implicat ions are import ant for
all t hose involved in t he shaping of fut ure labour market . Council direct ives have
support ed various measures in favour of equal t reat ment of t emporary and permanent
workers building on agreement bet ween social part ners. A general conclusion from
PSYCONES research is t hat alt hough we have most ly relat ively st able t emporaries in our
sample, st rivings t owards equal t reat ment seem t o have been successful, at least t o
some ext ent . An example would be t hat employers describe no difference ( 53%) or small
differences ( 35%) in t heir t reat ment of workers on t emporary and permanent cont ract
compared t o permanent workers. St ill, t here remain variat ions in t he equalit y of
t reat ment in HR pract ices bot h bet ween part icipat ing sect ors and count ries and t hese
differences are import ant t o highlight . Furt hermore, level of inequalit y seems t o be
relevant since it is negat ively relat ed t o how managers report t hat t heir employees fulfil
t heir obligat ions against t he organizat ion. A high level of equal t reat ment is relat ed t o
higher levels of fulfilment .
Result s for employee well being confirm, t hat t here are indeed differences remaining. The
most crit ical aspect concerns informal relat ions bet ween managers and subordinat es in
t he workplace. This is indicat ed by t he breadt h of t he psychological cont ract in t erms of
promises and commit ment s exchanged, and even more import ant ly, t hat t hese promises
are fulfilled. I n t his case, however, permanent employees seem t o be t he losers wit h
broader psychological cont ract s more difficult t o fulfil. These result s indeed highlight t he
need for equalit y of t reat ment as an import ant issue in t he work place wit h far- reaching
consequences bot h for employers and employees. I n addit ion t o equalit y however, fut ure
policies should perhaps emphasize j ust ice in t reat ment as a second main cat chword.

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2.1. I mpl i cat i ons f or Eur opean pol i cy mak er s
2.1.1. Def i ni t i ons of t empor ar y empl oy ment
Conclusions about t he development of t emporary employment have been hampered by
variat ions in t he definit ions used. As a consequence bot h official st at ist ics and research
endeavours have been difficult t o compare bot h wit hin t he EU and wit h ot her count ries.
The OECD definit ion t hat we used ( see fig. 5) was not wit hout short comings but st ill
worked reasonably well and allowed comparing bet ween part icipat ing count ries and
companies/ organizat ions. I mproved definit ions and measurement s seem crit ical for
st at ist ics which form t he basis bot h for conclusions about development and fut ure policy
endeavours. For t he fut ure, it seems crit ical t o separat e t emporary and fixed t erm
cont ract s from precarious forms of employment i. e. j obs wit h negat ive effect s for healt h
and wellbeing. Our result s clearly indicat e t hat improved definit ions should be t he basis
for fut ure measurement and st at ist ics. I t seems crit ical t o bet t er discriminat e t emporary
workers in t erms of t ime frame of cont ract and fut ure prospect s.
2.1.2. Job secur i t y
cont ract s are significant ly disadvant aged. One of t he crit ical negat ive feat ures of
t emporary work is j ob insecurit y. The findings in PSYCONES, consist ent across
part icipat ing sect ors and count ries, were somewhat of a paradox. A maj orit y of t he
t emporary employees wit h relat ively st able cont ract s report ed t hat t hey would prefer a
more secure cont ract and t hey perceived lower levels of j ob securit y t han t heir
permanent colleagues. Nevert heless, t hey report ed higher levels of wellbeing t han t hose
on permanent cont ract s cont rolling for every possible confounding fact ors t hat we could
t hink of. One of t he clues t o t his paradox seems t o lie in t he psychological cont ract . I f j ob
securit y is not part of t he PC of t emporaries t hey dont experience t he negat ive effect s of
a perceived breach in t he same way as permanent s do.
While we can support t he import ance of prot ect ion of workers including t emporary
workers, we find no evidence of an exploit ed, insecure minorit y in our sample. On t he
ot her hand, our research, perhaps wit h a somewhat biased sample, does highlight t he
het erogeneit y of t emporary workers. For permanent workers however it seems more
import ant t han we expect ed t o discuss t he implicat ions of j ob insecurit y. Furt hermore,
t here are condit ions in t he work place t hat could mit igat e t he negat ive effect s of j ob
insecurit y. Support from supervisors and feeling of fair t reat ment are such examples
elucidat ed in our result s

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2. 1. 3. Job qual i t y
permanent employment . Workload in t erms of for example pressure for t ime appears as
one of t he crit ical fact ors affect ing wellbeing in our st udy and values are consist ent ly
higher among t he permanent employees across sect ors and count ries. Among t he work
charact erist ics, we find also higher levels of aut onomy and skill development among t he
permanent employees compared t o t emporaries but t hese posit ive effect s are clearly
out weighed by t he negat ive effect s of t he higher workload. Furt hermore, t he broader
psychological cont ract among permanent employees means a broader commit ment
t owards t he j ob t han t emporary workers. The feeling t hat employers break t heir part of
t he deal seems t o have a marked negat ive effect , in essence t hat permanent employees
feel unfairly t reat ed.
t o include j ob qualit y and clarificat ion and fulfilment of t he promises mut ually made in
order t o prevent st ress and increases in t he levels of sickness absence.
2.2. I mpl i cat i ons f or empl oy er s
I n t he aft ermat h of repeat ed organizat ional change and personnel reduct ions it seems t o
be import ant t hat consequences of perceived violat ions or breaches of t he psychological
cont ract need t o be t aken care of. I ssues of j ob qualit y among permanent employees
need t o be addressed. Low levels of support from t he organizat ions is anot her crit ical
fact or relat ed t o employee wellbeing. Permanent employees need bet t er j ob design and
deserve as much organisat ional support as t he newcomers or t emporaries in t he work
place.
Equal t reat ment and non- discriminat ion of t emporary workers cont inue t o be import ant
bot h in a formal and informal sense. The formal part concerns HR policies and pract ices
in t he organizat ion, t he informal part ent ails a need t o highlight relat ions in t he work
place. These consist of t he cont ent of t he psychological cont ract , i. e. t he exchange of
employer and employee commit ment s, and even more import ant t hat t he promises and
commit ment s made are fulfilled t o a reasonable degree. To avoid violat ions of t he PC
seems t o be crit ical and rest ruct uring and organisat ional change have t o be managed
wit hout violat ions.
Finally, t here are some quest ions about t he accuracy of employer percept ions of
t emporary workers from our research. A maj orit y of employers report high levels of equal

126
t reat ment of t emporary and permanent workers. At t he same t ime bot h employers and
employees consist ent ly report t hat t emporary employees have less ext ensive
commit ment s t owards t he organizat ion t han permanent s. I n line wit h t his bot h part ies
report also t hat employer promises are less far- reaching for t emporaries compared t o
2.3. I mpl i cat i ons f or uni ons
Job qualit y and in part icular t he workload of core workers needs t o be t aken care of t o
avoid fut ure st ress relat ed problems. The evidence suggest s t hat unions should cont inue
t o support progressive HR pract ices in t he int erest s of t heir members. Also from a union
perspect ive, it seems import ant t o st rive for flexibilit y, securit y and qualit y of j obs.
Union membership is generally low among t emporary workers in all count ries. I t seems
import ant for t he fut ure of unions t o increase t he support for t emporary workers. I n
some cases it seems t hat t emporary work can be an ( not - so- bad) alt ernat ive t o
permanent employment but only under cert ain condit ions elucidat ed here such as:
relat ive st abilit y of cont ract , support from t he organisat ion and supervisors, increase
employabilit y and chance t o get ext ensions of cont ract s. Also for t emporaries it seems
j ust as crit ical t o avoid violat ions of t he promises and commit ment s made by t he
organisat ion.
Union membership in our result s seems t o be relat ed t o several posit ive out comes also
on t he company level such as higher levels of organisat ional commit ment . Also t here
seems t o be differences in t he psychological cont ract of union members. However, t hese
result s are st ill preliminary and will be published wit hin a few mont hs.
3. I mpl i cat i ons f or f ut ur e r esear ch
On of t he limit at ions t o t he PSYCONES proj ect is t he cross- sect ional dat a. Fut ure
research needs t o conduct longit udinal st udies of t emporary work in different life cycles
and wit h a longer t ime frame. Fut ure st udies also need t o incorporat e casual workers t o a
higher degree and perhaps ot her sect ors.
Our dat a do not really support not ions about dist inct ions in at t it udes bet ween subgroups
of t emporary workers divided by qualificat ions or educat ion. Result s can not confirm
argument s about a dist inct ion bet ween high skill/ free workers who volunt arily ent er
int o t emporary employment versus low skill/ precarious worker who want more securit y
made by e. g. Marler, Barringer and Milkovich ( 2002) . I n t he PSYCONES result s,
educat ion level has almost no associat ion in t he regressions wit h out comes. The
professionals in our sample, i. e. t eachers, do not seem t o be more posit ive t owards

127
t emporary employment t han t he sales personnel in ret ail or t he blue collar workers in
manufact uring. Neit her t he free agent nor t he precarious employment t ypes seems t o be
sufficient in an effort t o adequat ely explain our findings. The psychological cont ract and
especially t he fulfilment of mut ual obligat ions proved t o give some possible clues t o
explain t he diversit y. Furt hermore, it is no longer enough t o use fulfilment non- fulfilment
as t he only dimension for violat ion/ breach. Our research has confirmed t he value of t he
added measure of violat ion. Since it seems so import ant for out comes, t he furt her
development of a robust measure of violat ion should be a priorit y.
Earlier research has t o a very high degree concent rat ed on what t he organisat ion
promise t o it s employees and most ly how t he PC is perceived by employees. I n t his
st udy, focussing on t he employers side has proved it s value for t he exchange and needs
furt her explorat ion and inclusion in t heoret ical models. Finally, t he measures of promises
and commit ment s from employees - t he employee side of t he PC is anot her of t he
dimensions of t he psychological cont ract which has not been st udied t o a large ext ent .
Agreement or disagreement and mat ching of bot h part ies is definit ely an excit ing area for
fut ure research, t ouched upon in t his st udy.
Gender issues relat ed t o employment cont ract is one of t he research quest ions st ill
remaining t o be report ed from t he PSYCONES. There seems t o be import ant gender
relat ed differences in t he mot ives t o accept t emporary work and in t he meaning t hat it
has for t he individual. At least one paper about t his t opic is in preparat ion and will be
present ed during 2006. Anot her int erest ing road t o t ravel for fut ure st udies and t heories
concerns t he meaning of j ob insecurit y. Maybe we need t o re- t hink t he nat ure of j ob
insecurit y. I t seems import ant for out comes but t he more insecure t emporary workers
have more posit ive out comes. Evidence suggest s t hat t emporaries suffer less from j ob
insecurit y t han permanent s: while j ob insecurit y result s in poor wellbeing, unfavourable
at t it udes and unproduct ive behaviour for permanent s, no such effect s are found for
t emporaries. Research on t he psychological cont ract may be useful in underst anding t his
int eract ion effect : init ial evidence suggest s t hat j ob securit y is not part of t emporaries
expect at ions as part of t heir psychological cont ract , and hence, j ob insecurit y does not
breach t heir psychological cont ract ( De Cuyper & De Wit t e, in press) .
Last but not least , t he similarit ies bet ween part icipat ing count ries were larger t han t he
differences. Alt hough we included part icipant s from nort h, sout h, east ( Germany) and
west we st ill feel t hat it would be valuable t o replicat e t he st udy in some of t he new
East ern European member st at es.

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V. DI SSEMI NATI ON AND EXPLOI TATI ON OF RESULTS
There are t hree maj or t arget groups for disseminat ion of result s of PSYCONES bot h on a
nat ional and a European level: companies, social part ners, and policy makers. The
int ernat ional research communit y forms a fourt h maj or arena for t he disseminat ion of
result s. All issues relat ed t o disseminat ion of result s are described in more det ail in t he
report from WP8.
A public report from t he pilot phase of t he proj ect was published by t he grant giver,
SALTSA ( Joint Programme for Working Life Research) in t he beginning of 2003 ( I saksson
et al, 2003) . SALTSA is j oint undert aking by t he Swedish confederat ions of employees and
Swedens Nat ional I nst it ut e for Working Life. SALTSA is a channel t o t he Swedish unions
and will be used for t he disseminat ion and discussion of result s from t he PSYCONES.
As part of dat a collect ion, we cont act ed a number of companies including employers,
employees and union represent at ives. Feed back of result s and discussions of t heir
int erpret at ion gave ample opport unit ies t o disseminat e result s. The t ot al number of
part icipat ing organizat ions was more t han 200 and most of t hem have received some
kind of writ t en report about t he result s from t heir own company and comparing t o ot her
companies in t he sect or. Most of t his work was already carried out during 2004 in all
count ries. Nat ional report s have been writ t en in some count ries. All nat ional t eams have
been encouraged t o arrange work shops t o present result s t o t he social part ners bot h
from t he nat ional and cross- nat ional samples. Some act ivit ies have already t aken place
( see list below) and more will come in t he beginning of 2006.
Several part ners are frequent ly invit ed t o give lect ures t o managers and ot her audiences
in nat ional congresses. I n t he beginning of t he proj ect period we present ed result s from
t he pilot st udy and discussed our t heories and design for t he PSYCONES. Towards t he
end of t he proj ect we have present ed preliminary result s. The list below gives several
examples of present at ions where preliminary result s have been present ed. We also
arranged a work shop wit h t he NUEWO proj ect in St ockholm in April 2003 t o exchange
ideas and experiences during planning of our st udy.
The proj ect has a web page ( www. uv. es/ ~ psycon) , which was made open t o t he public
already in August 2003. The public report s prepared as part of Work Packages have been
published on t he web page. Especially t he st at e of t he art report giving an overview of
research on t he relat ionship bet ween employment cont ract s and employee and
organizat ional wellbeing has a pot ent ial int erest for a broader public. Researchers are
probably t he main t arget group but t he summaries in t he report could also be of int erest

129
bot h for policy makers, union and employer represent at ives. The report was published by
t he European Commission during 2005 ( EUR 21 266) . Ext ended nat ional chapt ers have
been published in an edit ed book by Ashgat e during 2005 ( De Cuyper, I saksson & De
Wit t e 2005) .
The PSYCONES t eam has been act ive in most European congresses for researches and
pract it ioners in our area during t he whole durat ion of t he proj ect . I nit ially we present ed
and discussed result s from t he pilot phase but during 2005 result s from t he main st udy
have also been present ed. One symposium was arranged in t he 11t h European Congress
of Work and Organizat ional Psychology in Lisbon in 2003. Two symposia wit h eight
present at ions of result s from t he proj ect were arranged for t he 12t h European Congress
of Work and Organizat ional Psychology in I st anbul in May 2005. A symposium was also
arranged at t he European Congress of Psychology in Granada Spain in July 2005 wit h
t hree present at ions from our proj ect . Addit ional cont ribut ions for 2006 have already been
planned.
The young researchers have also been very act ive and successfully cont ribut ed by
present ing post ers and oral present at ions of result s based on pilot dat a from nat ional
samples. A list of report s and present at ions is given at t he end of t his report . The proj ect
will result in 6- 7 doct oral dissert at ions during t he years t o come.
Most part ners have present ed result s in nat ional congresses, e. g. Spain, Germany,
Belgium and Sweden. A number of papers were present ed in t he Spanish congress of
Social Psychology ( Mlaga) , European Conference on Work and Organizat ional
Psychology in Healt h Care ( Viena) . A present at ion in t he Summer school 2004, organized
by t he Spanish Open Universit y ( July in Avila) has also been made by t he Spanish
part ner.
A large number of publicat ions are planned t o come out most ly by j oint work of t wo or
more count ry t eams. The cont ent of t he final book is also planned in a draft version and
t he work has been divided bet ween us.
Nat ional t eams are encouraged t o arrange work shops in t heir count ries wit h
represent at ives from t he t hree t arget groups ( policy makers, managers, unions) besides
from t he scient ific communit y. We have also expressed our willingness t o present result s
in Brussels t o policy makers on a European level at some suit able occasion in t he near
fut ure. We feel convinced t hat t his will be bot h relevant and meet great int erest among
bot h social part ners and policy makers.

130
Li st of publ i cat i ons, conf er ence- pr esent at i ons and ot her paper s
Publicat ions from t he whole PSYCONES t eam
Claes, R. , De Wit t e, H. , Schalk, R. , Guest , D., I saksson, K. , Krausz, M. , Mohr, G., & Peiro,
J. M. ( 2002) . Het psychologisch cont ract van vast e en t ij delij ke werknemers ( The
psychological cont ract of permanent and t emporary workers) . Gedrag en Organisat ie,
15( 6) , 436- 455.
De Cuyper, N. ; I saksson, K. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2005) ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s and
wellbeing among European workers. Aldershot : Ashgat e.
I saksson, K. , Bernhard, C. , Claes, R. , De Wit t e, H. , Guest , D., Krausz, M. , Mohr, G. ,
Peir, J. M. & Schalk, R. ( 2003) . Employment Cont ract s and Psychological Cont ract s in
Europe. SALTSA Report 2003: 1.
PSYCONES ( 2003) Psychological Cont ract ing across Employment Sit uat ions. St at e of t he
art report EUR 21 266. European Commission.
Disseminat ion act ivit ies by part ners
1. Nat ional inst it ut e for working Life Sweden
Bernhard- Oet t el, C. & I saksson, K. ( 2005) . Work- relat ed wellbeing and j ob
charact erist ics among t emporary workers in Sweden. En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H.
De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s and wellbeing among European workers, pp. 177-
200. Ashgat e.
I saksson, K & Krausz M. ( 2003) . Comparison of t he I mpact of Permanent and Cont ingent
Employment Cont ract s on Psychological Cont ract s. Paper present ed in t he 11t h EAWOP
congress in Lisbon, May 2003.
I saksson, K. ( 2003) . Frndrade relat ioner i arbet slivet ( Changing employment
relat ions) . Oral present at ion in t he Swedish Associat ion of Psychology, April 2003.
I saksson, K. ( 2004) . Psykologiska kont rakt frndrade relat ioner i arbet slivet .
( Psychological cont ract s and changing employment relat ions) Conference present at ion
based on a t heoret ical overview. April 28
I saksson, K. ( 2005) . Comparat ive perspect ives on t he psychological cont ract and
employee wellbeing. I nt roduct ion t o t he symposium at t he XI I t h European Congress on
Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15 May, I st anbul, Turkey.

131
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symposium at t he XI I t h European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12-
15 May, I st anbul, Turkey.
I saksson, K. , Guest , D. & Bernhard- Oet t el, C. ( 2005) . Agreement on t he psychological
cont ract : Ant ecedent s and consequences. Paper present ed at t he 9t h European Congress
of Psychology, 3- 8 July, Granada, Spain.
I saksson, K. ; De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2005) . Employment cont ract s and wellbeing
among European Workers. I nt roduct ion. En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e
( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s and wellbeing among European workers, pp. 1- 13.
Ashgat e.
I saksson, K. & Bellaagh, K. ( 2005) . Psykologiska kont rakt - frndrade relat ioner i
arbet slivet ( Psychological Cont ract s - Changing Employment Relat ions) Arbet e och Hlsa
2005: 15.
2. Universit y of Leipzig
Rigot t i, T. ( 2004) . Psychological cont ract s in employment . Regional group of saxonia of
work- and organisat ional psychologist s in t he professional associat ion of German
psychologist s. Oct ober, 2004 in Dresden.
Rigot t i, T. ( 2004) . Psychological Cont ract s in t he School cont ext . Conference of t he
cant onal cadres of schools of Swit zerland. July 2004 in Leukerbad, Swit zerland. Rigot t i,
T. ( 2005) . Zwischen Unsicherheit und Flexibilit t . I mpu! se 49, Landesvereinigung fr
Gesundheit
Niedersachsen. Rigot t i, T. , & Mohr, G. ( 2003) . Der Psychologische Vert rag so flexibel
wie die Zukunft der Arbeit ? Paper present ed in t he 3rd . Tagung der Fachgruppe Arbeit s-
und Organisat ionspsychologie der DGPs, 22. - 24. Sept ember 2003, Mannheim.
Rigot t i, T. , & Mohr, G. ( 2004) . Der Erklrungswert des Psychologischen Vert rages in drei
organisat ionalen Kont ext en. I n W. Bungard, B. Koop & C. Liebig ( Eds. ) , Psychologie und
Wirt schaft leben. Akt uelle Themen der Wirt schaft s- psychologie in Forschung und Praxis
( pp. 446- 451) . Mering: Rainer Hampp.
Rigot t i, T. & Mohr, G. ( 2004) . Versprochene Beeren fllen die Krbe nicht . Der
Psychologische Vert rag als Prdikt or fr Wohlbefinden und Gesundheit . [ Promised berries
don t fill t he basket . The psychological cont ract as a predict or of wellbeing and healt h] .
Oral present at ion on t he 6t h Congress of Healt h Psychology ( Leipzig, 15. - 17- 03. 2004) .

132
Rigot t i, T. & Mohr, G. ( 2005) . German flexibilit y: Loosening t he reins wit hout losing
cont rol. En N. De Cuyper,
K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s and wellbeing among European
workers, pp. 75- 102. Ashgat e.
Rigot t i, T. & Mohr, G. ( 2005) . I nt er pares? Gleiche Bedingungen und doch
unt erschiedliche Psychologische Vert rge. Vort rag auf der 4. Facht agung fr Arbeit s- und
Organisat ionspsychologie. Paper present ed at t he German Congress of Work and
Organizat ional Psychology, 19- 21 Sept ember, Bonn.
Rigot t i, T. , Mohr, G & Schalk, R. ( 2003) . Cross- Count ry Comparisons of t he Psychological
Cont ract and Employee Well- Being. Paper present ed in t he 11t h EAWOP congress in
Lisbon, May 2003.
Rigot t i, T. , Mohr, G. & Mller, A. ( 2004) . Arbeit nehmerverpflicht ungen: Eine
vernachlssigt e Dimension des Psychologischen Vert rages [ Employees obligat ions: A
neglect ed dimension of psychological cont ract s] . Oral present at ion on t he 44t h Congress
of German societ y of psychology ( DGPs) ( 26. - 30. 09. 2004) .
Rigot t i, T. , Mohr, G. , Mller, A. & De Cuyper, N. ( 2004) . The Psychological Cont ract and
it s posit ive pot ent ials: Making promises and keep t hem creat es an at mosphere of t rust
and fairness. Oral present at ion on t he 28t h I nt ernat ional Congress of Psychology
( Beij ing, 08. - 13- 08. 2004) .
Rigot t i, T. , Mohr, G. & Pabst , A. ( 2005) . What makes t he difference? Temporary
cont ract s, personalit y t rait s and t he psychological cont ract . Paper present ed at t he XI I t h
European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15 May, I st anbul,
Turkey.
Rigot t i, T. & Silla, I . ( 2005) . Employment relat ions: Looking at det erminant s for
employees wellbeing. Paper present ed at t he 9t h European Congress of Psychology, 3- 8
July, Granada, Spain.
Rdiger, A. , Rigot t i, T. , & Mohr, G. ( 2003) . Flexibilisierung der Arbeit swelt und ihre
Auswirkungen auf Zufriedenheit , Gesundheit und Leist ungsbereit schaft . Paper present ed
at t he 9. Dresdener Symposium fr Psychologie der Arbeit - Flexibilisierung der Arbeit ,
Dresden.
Scheel, T. , Rigot t i, T. & Mohr, G. ( 2005) . Der Psychologische Vert rag im Kont ext
organisat ionaler Det erminant en. Vort rag auf der 4. Facht agung fr Arbeit s- und

133
Organisat ionspsychologie. Paper present ed at t he German Congress of Work and
Organizat ional Psychology, 19- 21 Sept ember, Bonn.
3. Tilburg Universit y
Jong, J. de & Schalk, R. ( 2004) . I t s only t emporary Exploring individual det erminant s
of percept ions of equit y among t emporary employees . Paper present ed at t he EGOS
Colloquium, Lj ublj ana, Slovenia.
Jong, J. , Bernhard- Oet t el, C. , Silla, I . , de Wit t e, H. and Cuyper, N. ( 2005) . Mot ives and
preferences of t emporary workers from a cross- nat ional perspect ive. Paper present ed at
t he XI I t h European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15 May,
I st anbul, Turkey.
Jong, J. & Schalk, R. ( 2005) . Organizat ional Det erminant s of Perceived ( I n) Equalit y
among Temporary Workers in t he Net herlands: a Mult ilevel analysis. Paper present ed at
t he XI I t h European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15 May,
I st anbul, Turkey.
Jong, J. & Schalk, R. ( 2005) . Temporary employment in t he Net herlands: Bet ween
flexibilit y and securit y. En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds.) . Employment
cont ract s and wellbeing among European workers, pp. 119- 151. Ashgat e.
4. Ghent Universit y
Claes, R. & Schalk, R. ( 2005) . Unionisat ion, HR pract ices, psychological cont ract ,
organizat ional commit ment , j ob sat isfact ion: Cross- nat ional analysis of t heir cross- level
links. Paper present ed at t he XI I t h European Congress on Work and Organizat ional
Psychology, 12- 15 May, I st anbul, Turkey.

5. Universit y of Leuven
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2003) . Cont ract ual Flexibilit y and Job I nsecurit y. Main and
I nt eract ion Effect s on Out come variables. Post er present ed for t he 11 t he European
Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, EAWOP, Lisbon, May 2003.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2003) . Tij delij k werk en Jobonzekerheid. Hoofd- en
int eract ie- effect en op j obt evredenheid, organisat iebet rokkenheid, performant ie en
verloopint ent ie ( Temporary work and j ob insecurit y: Main and int eract ion effect s on j ob

134
sat isfact ion, organizat ional commit ment , performance and t urnover int ent ion) . Paper
present ed for de Markt dag Sociologie in Nij megen, 22 mei 2003.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2003) . Tij delij k werk en j obonzekerheid. Of hoe obj ect ieve
en subj ect ieve arbeidskwalit eit int erageren ( Temporary work and j ob insecurit y. The
int eract ion of obj ect ive and subj ect ive insecurit y) . Paper gepresent eerd op de
Arbeidsmarkt onderzoekersdag 2003, Sessie 2: ' Kwalit eit van de arbeid onder druk?' ,
VUB, Brussel, 26 mei 2003.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2003) . Tij delij k werk en j obonzekerheid. De impact
opobt evredenheid, organisat iebet rokkenheid, performant ie en verloopint ent ie
( Temporary work and j ob insecurit y: t he impact on j ob sat isfact ion, organizat ional
commit ment , performance and t urnover int ent ion) . I n: Herremans, W. ( Red. ) , De
arbeidsmarkt in Vlaanderen. Verslagboek Arbeidsmarkt onderzoekersdag 2003. Leuven:
St eunpunt Werkgelegenheid, Arbeid en Vorming, p. 95- 114.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2004) . Temporary work, j ob insecurit y and volit ion in t heir
relat ion wit h different out come variables. Paper present ed at t he Third I nt ernat ional
Conference on Unemployment and Healt h. Universit y of Bremen, Germany, 23- 25
Sept ember.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2004) . Too ( in) secure t o feel good? A psychological
cont ract approach t o cont ract permanency, j ob insecurit y and volit ion in t heir relat ion
wit h j ob sat isfact ion. Paper accept ed for t he Fift h Conference on Psychology and Healt h,
Rolduc Conference Cent re, Kerkrade, t he Net herlands, May 10- 12.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2005) . Job charact erist ics: The case of t emporary
workers. Paper present ed at t he XI I t h European Congress on Work and Organizat ional
Psychology, 12- 15 May, I st anbul, Turkey.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2005) . Temporary employment in Belgium: I s it really
precarious? En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s
and wellbeing among European workers, pp. 51- 73. Ashgat e.
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2005) . The impact of employabilit y on wellbeing,
at t it udes and behaviour: t he case of t emporary workers. Paper present ed at t he I COH
congress healt h impact of unemployment , underemployment and informal labour:
problems of developed and developing count ries .
De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2005) . Tij delij k maar t evreden ( Temporary, but happy) .
Over. Werk. Tij dschrift van het St eunpunt WAV, 15( 1) , 143- 147.

135
De Cuyper, N. ; De Wit t e, H. & I saksson, K. ( 2005) . Employment cont ract s. How t o deal
wit h diversit y? En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds.) . Employment cont ract s
De Cuyper, N. ; De Wit t e, H. & I saksson, K. ( 2005) . Psychological cont ract s. How t o deal
wit h complexit y? En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment
cont ract s and wellbeing among European workers, pp. 35- 49. Ashgat e.
De Cuyper, N. ; De Wit t e, H. & I saksson, K. ( 2005) . Temporary employment in Europe:
Conclusions. En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s
De Wit t e, H. , De Cuyper, N. , Bernhard, C. , I saksson, K. & Peir, J. M. ( 2005) . On t he
relat ionship bet ween t emporary employment and t he psychological cont ract . Paper
present ed at t he XI I t h European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15
May, I st anbul, Turkey.
Declerck, V. , De Cuyper, N. & De Wit t e, H. ( 2005) . Temporary employment as st epping
st one: explanat ion for t he inconsist encies in research on t he relat ionship bet ween
cont ract preference and wellbeing of t emporary workers. Post er present ed at t he 2005
meet ing of t he Belgian Associat ion of Psychological sciences.
6. Kings College
Clint on, M. & Guest , D. ( 2004) . Fulfilment of t he psychological cont ract and associat ed
work at t it udes: The role of fairness and t rust . I n Proceedings of Annual BPS Occupat ional
Psychology Conference 2004 ( pp. 60- 64) . St rat ford; UK.
Clint on, M. ( 2005) . An Empirical Dist inct ion bet ween Job Uncert aint y and Job I nsecurit y
among Temporary Workers. Paper present ed at t he XI I t h European Congress on Work
and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15 May, I st anbul, Turkey.
Clint on, M. ( 2005) . Uncert aint y, I nsecurit y and Temporary Working: A Concept ual and
Theoret ical. Analysis Proceedings of t he Occupat ional Psychology Conference of t he
Brit ish Psychological Societ y, Warwick ( pp. 128- 130) .
Guest , D. ( 2003) . Employment Cont ract s, Psychological Cont ract s and Employee Well-
Being Across Europe. I nt roduct ion t o symposium in t he 11t h EAWOP congress in Lisbon,
May 2003.

136
Guest , D. ( 2003) . Employment Cont ract s, t he Psychological Cont ract and Employee
Out comes: An Analysis and Review of t he Evidence. Research Paper 19. The
Management Cent re, Kings College, London.
Guest , D. ( 2004) . Employment Cont ract s, t he Psychological Cont ract and Employee
Out comes: An Analysis and Review of t he Evidence. I nt ernat ional Journal of Management
Review, 5/ 6, 1, 1- 19.
Guest , D. & Clint on, M. ( 2005) . Cont ract ing in t he UK: Current research evidence on t he
impact of flexible employment and t he nat ure of psychological cont ract s. En N. De
Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s and wellbeing among
European workers, pp. 201223. Ashgat e.
Guest , D. & I saksson, K. ( 2005) . Employment Cont ract s, t he Psychological Cont ract and
Employee Well- Being: Result s From a Seven- Count ry St udy. Paper present ed at t he XI I t h
European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15 May, I st anbul,
Turkey.
7. Universit y of Valencia
Caballer, A. ; Silla, I . ; Gracia, F. & Ramos, J. ( 2005) . Current evidence concerning
employment cont ract s and employee/ organizat ional wellbeing among workers in Spain.
En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s and wellbeing
among European workers, pp. 153- 175. Ashgat e.
Est reder, Y. , Ramos, J. & Caballer, A. ( 2005) . El cont rat o psicolgico desde la perspect iva
de la empresa y del t rabaj ador: influencia de las polt icas de recursos humanos y la
cont rat acin t emporal ( The psychological cont ract from t he perspect ive of bot h employer
and employee: influence of human resources pract ives and t emporary cont ract s) . Paper
present ed at t he I X Nat ional Congress of Social Psychology , 20- 23 Sept ember, La
Corua, Spain.
Est reder, Y. , Ramos, J. , Caballer, A. , Gracia, F. J. & Peir, J. M. ( 2005) . Differences in t he
psychological cont ract s bet ween t emporary and permanent employees from t he point of
view of employers and workers. Paper present ed at t he 9t h European Congress of
Psychology, 3- 8 July, Granada, Spain.
Fort es- Fereira, L. , Moliner, C. & Silla, I . & Gracia F. ( 2003) . Cont ingent work and t he
out comes: role of t he st at e of psychological cont ract . Post er present ed for t he 11 t he
European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, EAWOP, Lisbon, May 2003.

137
Gonzlez- Morales, M. G. , Fras, A. , Maas, M. A. & Caballer, A. ( 2003) . Consequences of
j ob insecurit y. Paper present ed at t he I X European Congress on Work and Organizat ional
Psychology. Lisbone, 14- 17 May.
Gracia, F. J. , & Peir, J. M. ( 2005) . New employment relat ions, employment flexibilit y and
psychological cont ract . I nt roduct ion t o symposium at t he 9t h European Congress of
Psychology, 3- 8 July, Granada, Spain.
Peir, J. M. ( 2005) . Psychological Cont ract in employers and employees: one import ant
aspect of mediat ion act ivit ies in companies. I naugural lect ure of t he I Nat ional Congress
of Mediat ion in Ent erprises on t he t opic of Organizat ional Cult ure Psychological Cont ract
and Mediat ion, 11t h March, Valencia, Spain.
Peir, J. M. , De Wit t e, H. , Gracia, F. , De Cuyper, N. ( 2003) . The impact of Cont ract
permanency and Psychological cont ract on Employee Well- being and Relat ed Out comes.
Paper present ed at t he I X European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology.
Lisbone, 14- 17 May.
Ramos, J. & Caballer, A. ( 2005) . Cont rat o psicolgico y flexibilidad laboral ( Psychological
cont ract and work flexibilit y) . I nt roduct ion t o t he symposium at t he I X Nat ional Congress
of Social Psychology, 20- 23 Sept ember, La Corua, Spain.
Ramos, J. , Maas, M. A. , Solanes, A. , Agut , S. ( 2003) . Cont enido y est ado del cont rat o
psicolgico: Un anlisis de las percepciones de los t rabaj adores ( Cont ent and st at e of
psychological cont ract : Employees percept ions) . Trabaj o present ado en el VI I I Congreso
Nacional de Psicologa Social. Mlaga, 9- 11 de Abril.
Ramos, J. , Peir, J. M. , Caballer, A. & Gracia, F. ( 2003) . Relat ionships bet ween
psychological cont ract and work out comes among permanent and cont ingent workers .
Paper present ed at t he VI I I ENOP European Conference on Organizat ional Psychology
and Healt h care Change and Qualit y in Human services work , 8- 11 Oct ober, 2003.
Viena, Aust ria.
Silla, I . ( 2003) . Job insecurit y and healt h relat ed- out comes in different t ypes of
t emporary employees. Mast er Thesis present ed at t he I nt eruniversit ary Doct oral
Programme on Work and Organizat ional Psychology. Valencia, 10t h December. Direct ors:
Jos M. Peir y Francisco J. Gracia.
Silla, I . , Fernndez, E. , Gracia, F. J. ( 2003) . Diferencias en el cont enido del cont rat o
psicolgico ent re t rabaj adores permanent es y t emporales de empresas pblicas y
privadas. ( Psychological cont ract in permanent and t emporary employees from public

138
and privat e companies) . Paper present ed at t he VI I I Congreso Nacional de Psicologa
Social. Mlaga, 9- 11 de Abril.
Silla, I . , Gracia, F. and Peir, J. M. ( 2005) . Diferencias en el cont enido del cont rat o
psicolgico en funcin del t ipo de cont rat o y de la gest in empresarial pblica o privada
( Psychological cont ract in permanent and t emporary employees from public and privat e
companies) . Revist a de Psicologa Social, 20 ( 1) , 61- 72.
Silla, I . , Gracia, F. y Peir, J. M. ( 2005) . Job insecurit y and healt h- relat ed out comes in
different t ypes of t emporaries. Economic and I ndust rial Democracy, 26 ( 1) , pp. 91- 120.
Silla, I . , Gracia, F. ; Peir, J. M. & Fort es, L. ( accept ed for publicat ion) . El est ado del
cont rat o psicolgico y su relacin con la salud psicolgica de los empleados. Psicot hema,
18.
Silla, I . , Gracia, I . , Caballer, A. , Sora, B. & Bres, I , ( 2004) Cont rat os de empleo y
cont rat o psicolgico en Europa. Result ados de un est udio pilot o ( Employment cont ract s
and psychological cont ract across Europe. A pilot st udy. ) . I I Jornadas de I nvest igacin en
Psicologa en la Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, 28 de Abril
Silla, I . , Sora, B. & Gracia, F. ( 2003) . Job insecurit y and healt h relat ed out comes in
permanent and nonpermanent workers. Post er present ed for t he 11 t he European
Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, EAWOP, Lisbon, May 2003.
Sora, B. & Caballer, A. ( 2005) . Est udio de las consecuencias de la inseguridad laboral. El
papel modulador del apoyo organizacional ( Consequences of j ob insecurit y: The
moderat ing role of organizat ional support ) . Paper present ed at t he I X Nat ional Congress
of Social Psychology , 20- 23 Sept ember, La Corua, Spain.
Sora, B. & Caballer, A. ( 2005) . Job insecurit y and it s consequences: The moderat ing role
of j ust ice. Post er present ed at t he 9t h European Congress of Psychology, 3- 8 July,
Granada, Spain.
8. Bar I lan Universit y
Krausz, M. & St ainvart z, N. ( 2005) . Enployment cont ract s and psychological cont ract s in
I srael. En N. De Cuyper, K. I saksson & H. De Wit t e ( Eds. ) . Employment cont ract s and
wellbeing among European workers, pp. 103- 117. Ashgat e.
Krausz, M. ( 2005) . The psychological Cont ract Seen from The Organizat ional Perspect ive:
Effect s of Organizat ional Promises and Violat ions upon Employees Performance. Paper

139
present ed at t he XI I t h European Congress on Work and Organizat ional Psychology, 12- 15
May, I st anbul, Turkey.

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146
VI I . ANNEXES
List of Annexes
Annex 1. List of Work packages and t he st at us of deliverables
Annex 2. List of it ems included in quest ionnaires t o employees and t he organizat ional
represent at ives
Annex 3. List of indicat ors of societ al dimensions
Annex 4. Tables report ing result s from quest ionnaires t o organizat ions and t heir
employees
Annex 5. Tables report ing result s of mult ilevel analyses regarding count ry and sect or
effect s
1. Li st of Wor k pack ages and t he st at us of del i ver abl es
Tabl e 1. List of Work packages and t he st at us of deliverables
Del i v er abl e
No
Del i v er abl e/ t i t l e Nat ur e &
Di ssemi nat i on
l ev el
Responsi bl e
par t ner s6/ St at us
1: 1
Overview of current evidence
concerning employment cont ract s
and employee wellbeing
R/ PU 5 and 3/ C
2: 1
Result s from pilot phase present ed
in workshop
W/ Re All/ C
2: 2 Result s from pilot phase R/ PU 1 and 8/ C

6- mont h progress report t o t he
commission
R/ Re 1/ C
3: 1 I nt erview schedule for employers R/ CO 2 and 5/ C
3: 2 Quest ionnaire for employees R/ CO 2 and 5/ C
3: 3 Work book R/ CO 2 and 5/ C

commission
R/ Re 1/ C
4: 1
Societ al det erminant s of t he
R/ CO 4 and 3/ C

147

commission
R/ Re 1/ C
5: 1
I ndividual and organizat ional
det erminant s of psychological
cont ract s: dat a collect ion and
analysis
R/ Re 8 and 6/ C
6: 1
Psychological cont ract s and
employee wellbeing: dat a collect ion
and analysis
R/ Re 6 and 8/ C

commission
R/ Re 1/ C
7: 1
Differences bet ween sect ors and
count ries affect ing t he psychological
cont ract
R/ Re 3 and 4/ C
8: 1 A web page for t he proj ect . W/ PU 8 and 1/ C
8. 2
List of publicat ions, present at ions
from proj ect
R/ PU 8 and 1/ C
8: 3
Summary of result s present ed t o
public by press release
R/ PU 8 and 1/ C
8: 4
Summary of result s present ed in
web page
R/ PU 8 and 1/ C
8: 5
A book, bringing t oget her t he
findings and lessons from t he st udy,
t o be published aft er complet ion of
t he proj ect .
To be published aft er proj ect
Final report t o t he commission R/ PU 1/ C
R = Rest rict ed, PU = Public, C = complet ed 6 Two part ners had main responsibilit y but
all part ners were involved and cont ribut ed

148
2. Li st of i t ems i ncl uded i n quest i onnai r es t o empl oy ees and t he or gani sat i on
r epr esent at i v e
I t em Var i abl e Aut hor s k Val ue Label s Lev el of
measur ement
CONTROL VARI ABLES
Q30 Age psy 1 Number Cont inuous
Q31 Sex PSY 1
0 male
1 female
Nominal
Q36 Educat ional level PSY
Differing bet ween
count ries
Ordinal
Q36b
Years of full- t ime
educat ion
PSY
Number
Cont inuous
Q32
Privat e social
support
PSY 1
1 no, alone
2 no wit h
parent s/ family/ fri
ends
3 yes
Nominal
Q33
Financial
cont ribut ion
PSY 1
1 sole earner
2 main earner
3 j oint earner
4 cont ribut ory
earner
Ordinal
Q34 Dependent s PSY 1 Number Cont inuous
Q35
Homework
responsibilit ies
PSY 1
1 no someone
else
2 equally
responsible
3 yes
Nominal
Q1 Occupat ion/ Job PSY 1 Text Nominal
Q2 Posit ion PSY 1
1 unskilled blue-
collar worker
2 skilled blue
collar worker
3 lower level
whit e collar
worker
4 int ermediat e
whit e collar
worker
5 upper whit e
collar worker
6 management or
direct or
Ordinal
Q5 Supervision PSY 1
0 no
1 yes
Nominal

149
Q7
Main j ob vs.
ot her paid j ob
PSY 1
0 no
1 yes
Nominal
Q7a
Hours in
addit ional j ob( s)
PSY 1
Number
Cont inuous
Q6
Union
membership
PSY 1
0 no
1 yes
Nominal
Q3 Work hours PSY 1 Number Cont inuous
Q3a Work syst em PSY 1
0 no
1 yes
Nominal
Q4aym q4am
Q4ad
Tenure PSY 1
Numbers
Cont inuous
Q16a q16h
Core HR-
Pract ices
PSY 8
1 No
2 Yes
3 Dont know
Nominal
I NDEPENDENT VARI ABLES
Q9 Type of cont ract PSY 1
0 no
1 yes
Nominal
Q9_p
Different
permanent
cont ract s
PSY 1
Count ry specific
( not asked in all
count ries)
Nominal
Q9_t a
Different non-
permanent
cont ract s
PSY 1
1 fixed t erm
2 permanent wit h
agency
3 t emporary wit h
agency
4 daily/ on- call
5 probat ion
6 t raining
7 seasonal
employment
8 j ob creat ion
9 subcont ract or
10 consult ant
11 ot her
Nominal
Q9_t ao
Ot her non-
permanent
cont ract
PSY 1
Text
Nominal
Q9_t by
q9_t bm
q9_t bd
Durat ion ( years)
Durat ion
( mont hs)
Durat ion ( days)
PSY 1
Numbers
Cont inuous
Q9_t cy
q9_t cm
q9_t cd
Time left ( years)
Time left
( mont hs)
Time left ( days)
PSY 1
Numbers
Cont inuous

150
Q9_t dy
q9_t dm
q9_t dd
Hist ory ( years)
Hist ory ( mont hs)
Hist ory ( days)
PSY 1
Numbers
Cont inuous
I NTERVENI NG VARI ABLES
Q17a q17o
Employers
Obligat ions
( Cont ent ,
breach)
PSY 15
Q19a q19q
Employees
Obligat ions
( Cont ent ,
breach)
PSY 17
0 no
1 yes, but
promise not kept
at all
2 yes, but
promise only kept
a lit t le
3 yes, promise
half kept
4 yes, and
promise largely
kept
5 yes, and
promise fully kept
Cont inuous
Q20a Q20G
St at e of t he
Psychological
cont ract
PSY 7
1 not at all
5 t ot ally Cont inuous
Q18a- q18f
Violat ion of t he
psychological
Cont ract
PSY 6
Q21d, q22b,
q23d, q23h
Job insecurit y
( De Wit t e,
2000)
4
Q21b, q21f,
q22e, q23c
Employabilit y De Wit t e 4
Q10a- q10d
Employee
expect at ionS
PSY 4
Q12a- q12d
Cont ract of
choice/ Volit ioN
PSY 4
Q11a- q11i Mot ives PSY 9
Q8a, q8b
Kind of work of
choice
PSY 2
1 st rongly
disagree
2 somewhat
disagree
3 part ly agree,
part y disagree
4 somewhat agree
5 st rongly agree
Cont inuous
Q13a, q13d,
q13h
Role ambiguit y ( Price, 1997) 3
Q13b, q13e,
q13f, q13i
Aut onomy
( Rosent hal,
Guest &
Peccei, 1996)
4
Q13c, q13g,
q13j , q13k
Skill ut ilizat ion
( Van Der
Doef & Maes,
1999)
4
1 rarely or never
2 not oft en
3 somet imes
4 rat her oft en
5 very oft en or
always
Cont inuous

151
Q14a- q14d Time pressure
( Semmer,
Zapf &
Dunckel,
1999)
4

Q22d, q22i,
q22m, q23f
Organizat ional
support ( POS)
( Eisenberger,
Fasolo &
Davis-
Lamast ro,
1990)
4
Q21j , q22a,
q22f, q23b
Social support by
supervisor
( Van Der
Doef & Maes,
1999)
4
1 st rongly
disagree
2 somewhat
disagree
3 part ly agree,
part y disagree
4 somewhat agree
5 st rongly agree
Cont inuous
DEPENDENT VARI ABLES
Q21e, q21h,
q22k, q23i
Job sat isfact ion ( Price, 1997) 4
1 st rongly
disagree
2 somewhat
disagree
3 part ly agree,
part y disagree
4 somewhat agree
5 st rongly agree
Cont inuous
Q27a- q27f Life sat isfact ion PSY 6
1 very dissat isfied
7 very sat isfied
Cont inuous
Q28a Sick leave PSY 1
Q28b Sick presence PSY 1
Q28c Accident s PSY 1
Q28d I ncident s PSY 1
1 never
2 Once
3 2- 3 t imes
4 4- 5 t imes
5 more t han 5
t imes
Ordinal
Q26a- q26d
Posit ive work-
home
int erference
( Mohr, 1986;
Mohr &
Rigot t i,
2003;
Wagena &
Geurt s,
2000)
4
1 rarely or never
2 not oft en
3 somet imes
4 rat her oft en
5 very oft en or
always
Cont inuous
Q25a- q25h I rrit at ion
( Mohr, 1986;
Mohr &
Rigot t i,
2003)
8
1 st rongly
disagree
2 quit e st rongly
disagree
3 somewhat
disagree
4 pert ly agree,
part ly disagree
5 somewhat agree
6 quit e st rongly
agree
7 st rongly agree
Cont inuous

152
Q21k, q22g,
q22l
Occupat ional
self- efficacy
( Schyns &
Von Collani,
2002)
3
1 st rongly
disagree
2 somewhat
disagree
3 part ly agree,
part y disagree
4 somewhat agree
5 st rongly agree
Cont inuous
Q29a General Healt h
1 poor
2 fair
3 good
4 very good
5 excellent
Q29b- q29e
( Ware, 1996;
1999)
5
1 definit ely false 2
most ly false
3 not false, not
t rue
4 most ly t rue
5 definit ely t rue
Cont inuous
Q24a- q24l
Affect ive Well-
being
( Warr, 1990) 12
1 rarely or never
2 not oft en
3 somet imes
4 rat her oft en
5 very oft en or
always
Cont inuous
Q15a. - q15f Performance
( Abramis,
1994)
6
1 very badly
2 rat her badly
3 neit her well nor
badly
4 rat her well
5 very well
Cont inuous
Q21g, q22h,
q22p, q23g
I nt ent ion t o quit ( Price, 1997) 4
Q21a, q21i,
q22j , q22n,
q23a
Organisat ional
commit ment
( Cook & Wall,
1980)
5
Q21c, q22c,
q22o, q23e
Work
involvement
( Kanungo,
1982)
4
1 st rongly
disagree
2 somewhat
disagree
3 part ly agree,
part y disagree
4 somewhat agree
5 st rongly agree
Cont inuous

153
Tabl e 2. List of variables in t he employers quest ionnaire
I t em Var i abl e Aut hor s k Val ue Label s Lev el of
measur ement
CHARACTERI STI CS OF THE COMPANY/ ORGANI SATI ON
Hr_1a
Number of
employees

1

Coninuous
Hr_1b
Number of
permanent
employees

1

Coninuous
Hr_2a
Organisat ional
form ( public or
privat e)

1
0 public 1 privat e
Nominal
Hr_2b
Organisat ional
form

1
1 single
independent
est ablishment not
belonging t o
anot her body
2 head office of
different
est ablishment s
3 one of a number
of different
est ablishment s
wit hin a larger
UK- owned
organisat ion/ inst it
ut ion
4 t he sole UK
est ablishment of a
foreign owned
organisat ion
5 one of a number
of different
est ablishment s
wit hin a larger
foreign- owned
organisat ion
Nominal
Hr_2c
Responsibilit y on
HRpolicies

1
1 yes, fully
responsible
2 yes, j oint
responsible
3 no
Nominal
Hr_3a hr_3k
Present s of non-
permanent
cont ract s

11
1 not present
2 present , but
small minorit y
3 present , but
minorit y
4 present , about
half of t he non-
Ordinal

154
permanent
workforce
5 present ,
maj orit y
6 Present , large
maj orit y
Hr_4a
Percent age of
union memers

1
0 none
9 dont know
Cont inuous
Hr_4b
Percent age of
female
employees

1
0 none
9 dont know Cont inuous
Hr_5a
Number of
employees past
t hree years

1
1 yes, decreased
2 yes, increased
3 no change
Nominal
Hr_6
Prospect
concerning
workforce

1
1 grow
2 st ay same
3 get smaller
Ordinal
HUMAN RESOURCES POLI CI ES AND PRACTI CES
Hr_7a- hr_7e HR pract ices

5
1 No
2 Yes, but mainly
t o permanent
workers
3 Yes, t o all
workers
4 I dont know
Nominal
Hr_7f Equal t reat ment

1
1 yes, exact ly t he
same
2 no, small
differences
3 no rat her large
differences
Nominal
Hr_8a
Permanent
t raining

1
0 none
9 dont know
Cont inuous
Hr_8b
Non- permanent
t raining

1
0 none
9 dont know
Cont inuous
Hr_9a
Permanent
feedback

1
0 none
9 dont know
Cont inuous
Hr_9b
Non- permanent
feedback

1
0 none
9 dont know
Cont inuous
Hr_10a
Permanent
benefit s

1
0 none
9 dont know
Cont inuous
Hr_10b
Non- permanent
benefit s

1
0 none
9 dont know
Cont inuous
Hr_11a-
hr_11l
Mot ives

12
1 never 2 not
oft en 3
somet imes
Cont inuous

155
4 rat her oft en
5 very oft en
Hr_12a
Sat isfact ion non-
permanent s

1
7 very st aisfied
Cont inuous
Hr_12b
Sat isfact oin
permanent s

1
7 very st aisfied
Cont inuous
Hr_13a
I nfluence on
employment
cont ract s
1
Hr_13b
I nfluence on HR-
pract ices
1
Hr_13c
I nfluence on
working
condit ions

1
1 no influence
2 lit t le influence
3 moderat e
influence
4 much influence
5 very much
influence
Cont inuous
Hr_14 Vacancies

1
1 very easy
2 easy
3 so- so
4 difficult
5 very difficult
Cont inuous
PERFORMANCE I NDI CATORS
Hr_15a
Quit
( permanent s)

1

Hr_15b
Dismissal
( permanent s)

1

Hr_15c
Sick leave
( permanent s)

1

Hr_15d
Accident s
( permanent s)

1

Hr_16a
Quit ( non-
permanent s)

1

Hr_16b
Dismissal ( non-
permanent s)

1
Hr_16c
Sick leave ( non-
permanent s)

1
Hr_16d
accident s( non-
permanent s)

1
Cont inuous

156

EMPLOYER- EMPLOYEE RELATI ONS
Hr17a-
hr_17o
Employers
Obligat ions
( Cont ent / breach)
- permanent

15
0 no
1 yes, but
promise not kept
at all
2 yes, but
promise only kept
a lit t le
3 yes, promise
half kept
4 yes, and
promise largely
kept
5 yes, and
promise fully kept
Cont inuous
Hr18a-
hr_18o
Employers
Obligat ions
nonpermanent

15
Hr_19a-
hr_19q
Employees
Obligat ions
permanent

17
Hr_20a-
hr_20q
Employees
Obligat ions
non
permanent

17

157
Tabl es 3. Reliabilit y of scales across count ries
Sw eden Ger many Net her l ands Bel gi um UK Spai n I sr ael Tot al
I nst r ument s/ I t ems alpha alpha alpha alpha alpha alpha alpha alpha
Cont r act
ex pect at i ons
3 it em scale
0. 85 0. 91 0. 83 0. 79 0. 74 0. 85 0. 74 0. 91
Pul l Mot i ves
5- it em scale
0. 75 0. 66 0. 75 0. 78 0. 63 0. 78 0. 75 0. 74
Vi ol at i on of PC
6- it em scale
0. 86 0. 79 0. 82 0. 88 0. 85 0. 89 0. 83 0. 85
Fai r ness & Tr ust
7- it em scale
0. 87 0. 87 0. 83 0. 89 0. 91 0. 89 0. 86 0. 88
Fai r ness
4- it em scale
0. 78 0. 78 0. 73 0. 81 0. 82 0. 82 0. 75 0. 78
Tr ust
3- it em scale
0. 75 0. 80 0. 72 0. 83 0. 86 0. 82 0. 82 0. 81
Wor k I nvol vement
3- it em scale
0. 71 0. 73 0. 85 0. 80 0. 82 0. 82 0. 81 0. 79

158
Job I nsecur i t y
4- it em scale
0. 87 0. 83 0. 82 0. 88 0. 88 0. 81 0. 84 0. 83
Empl oy abi l i t y
4- it em scale
0. 89 0. 88 0. 92 0. 90 0. 84 0. 88 0. 86 0. 89
Aut onomy
5- it em scale
0. 82 0. 84 0. 80 0. 74 0. 80 0. 82 0. 74 0. 80
Sk i l l Ut i l i sat i on
4- iem scale
0. 81 0. 80 0. 79 0. 76 0. 86 0. 80 0. 85 0. 81
Wor k l oad
4- it em scale
0. 82 0. 76 0. 76 0. 73 0. 79 0. 83 0. 68 0. 77
Per cei ved Or g.
Suppor t
4- it em scale
0. 86 0. 79 0. 83 0. 83 0. 85 0. 83 0. 80 0. 82
Per cei ved
Super v i sor y Suppor t
4- it em scale
0. 81 0. 80 0. 83 0. 82 0. 90 0. 89 0. 81 0. 84
Job Sat i sf act i on
4- it em scale
0. 81 0. 84 0. 81 0. 83 0. 84 0. 81 0. 79 0. 82
Wor k - r el at ed
Anx i et y
6- it em scale
0. 81 0. 84 0. 81 0. 83 0. 84 0. 81 0. 79 0. 82
Wor k - r el at ed
Depr essi on
6- it em scale
0. 83 0. 79 0. 85 0. 88 0. 87 0. 85 0. 75 0. 83

159
Occupat i onal Sel f -
Ef f i cacy
3- it em scale
0. 67 0. 54 0. 62 0. 60 0. 68 0. 68 0. 59 0. 66
Posi t i ve Wor k - Li f e
I nt er f er ence
4- it em scale
0. 78 0. 77 0. 80 0. 80 0. 86 0. 85 0. 85 0. 83
I r r i t at i on
8- it em scale
0. 89 0. 87 0. 86 0. 90 0. 88 0. 87 0. 83 0. 86
Li f e Sat i sf act i on
6- it em scale
0. 82 0. 81 0. 80 0. 85 0. 86 0. 84 0. 84 0. 84
Gener al Heal t h
5- it em scale
0. 76 0. 68 0. 76 0, 79 0. 80 0. 78 0. 77 0. 77
I nt ent i on t o Qui t
4- it em scale
0. 84 0. 79 0. 79 0. 82 0. 82 0. 85 0. 79 0. 82
Or gani sat i onal
Commi t ment
4- it em scale
0. 67 0. 67 0. 69 0. 73 0. 69 0. 78 0. 69 0. 72
Per cei ved
Per f or mance
6- it em scale
0. 78 0. 76 0. 77 0. 79 0. 82 0. 79 0. 78 0. 79

160
3. Li st of i ndi cat or s of soci et al di mensi ons
Tabl e 1. I ndicat ors for t he six dimensions aiming t o measure count ry differences
I ndi cat or Def i ni t i on and/ or Oper at i onal i sat i on Sour ce +
y ear
Law s and r egul at i ons
Zone of negot iabilit y Terms and condit ions of employment t hat
societ y allows eit her t he worker or t he firm t o
negot iat e. Means on 1- 7 rat ing scale.
PSYCONES
2003
Sanct ions for violat ion Sanct ions for violat ing t erms and condit ions
t hat were negot iat ed. Means on 1- 7 rat ing
scale.
PSYCONES
2003
Welfare st at e* Percent age of GDP spent on social prot ect ion.
Eurost at
2001
Social benefit s for
unemployment *
Percent age of GDP spent on income
maint enance and support in cash or in kind in
connect ion wit h unemployment .
Eurost at
2000
I ndust r i al r el at i ons sy st em
Trade union densit y* Percent age of gainfully employed and salary
earners ( excluding unemployed) .
EI RO 2000
Collect ive bargaining
coverage*
Proport ion of workers t hat have t heir pay or
condit ions set , at least t o some ext ent , by
collect ive agreement .
EI RO 1998-
2001
Labour mar k et and economi c sy st em
GDP per capit a* GDP per head in EUR.
Eurost at
2002
Net annual income*
Mean/ median net annual income ( equivalised
wit h EU15= 13420) .
Eurost at
1998
Tot al employment rat e* Percent age of civilian and armed employment
and all persons aged 15- 64 years who during a
specified brief period were in paid employment
or selfemployment .
Eurost at
2002
Part - t ime employment * Percent age of t ot al employment .
Eurost at
2003
Unemployment rat e* Percent age of labour force: wit hout
employment during t he reference week;
available t o st art work wit hin t he next 2 weeks;
act ively sought employment at some t ime
during t he previous 4 weeks; had no
employment and had already found a j ob t o
st art lat er.
Eurost at
2003

161
Educat i onal sy st em
Educat ional expendit ure
Percent age of GDP for public and privat e
educat ion, all levels.
OECD 2000
School expect ancy Expect ed years of schooling of full- and part -
t ime scholars under current condit ions,
excluding children under t he age of five.
OECD 2001
Exposure t o comput ers
Number of personal comput ers per 1000
people.
World Bank
2001
Fami l y or i ent at i on
Persons per household* Household: having a shared residence and
common arrangement s. A household comprises
eit her one person living alone or persons living
at t he same address wit h common
housekeeping, i. e. sharing at least one meal a
day or sharing a living or sit t ing room. Means.
Eurost at
2002
Fert ilit y rat e Average number of children t hat would be born
alive t o a woman during her lifet ime if current
fert ilit y rat es were t o cont inue.
Eurost at
2002a
Divorces Number of divorces per 1000 people.
Eurost at
2001b
Female employment * Percent age of t ot al employment ( 15- 64 years) .
Eurost at
2002
Family t ies
St rengt h of family t ies. Means on 1- 7 rat ing
scale.
PSYCONES
2003
At t it ude t owards working
mot hers
At t it ude t owards working mot hers. Means on 1-
7 rat ing scale.
PSYCONES
2003
Cul t ur al val ues
Harmony Cult ural emphasis on fit t ing harmoniously in
t he environment . Means on - 1 t o 7 scale for
st udent samples.
Schwart z
25/ 02/ 200
3
Embeddedness Cult ural emphasis on maint enance of t he st at us
quo, propriet y, and rest raint of act ions or
inclinat ions t hat might disrupt t he solidarit y
group or t he t radit ional order. Means on - 1 t o 7
scale for st udent samples.
Schwart z
25/ 02/ 200
3
Hierarchy Cult ural emphasis on t he legit imacy of an
unequal dist ribut ion of power roles and
resources. Means on - 1 t o 7 scale for st udent
samples.
Schwart z
25/ 02/ 200
3
Mast ery Cult ural emphasis on get t ing ahead t hrough
act ive self- assert ion. Means on - 1 t o 7 scale for
st udent samples.
Schwart z
25/ 02/ 200
3

162
Affect ive aut onomy Cult ural emphasis on t he desirabilit y of
individuals independent ly pursuing affect ively
posit ive experience. Means on - 1 t o 7 scale for
st udent samples.
Schwart z
25/ 02/ 200
3
I nt ellect ual aut onomy Cult ural emphasis on t he desirabilit y of
individuals independent ly pursuing t heir own
ideas and int ellect ual direct ions. Means on - 1 t o
7 scale for st udent samples.
Schwart z
25/ 02/ 200
3
Egalit arianism Cult ural emphasis on t ranscendence of selfish
int erest s in favour of volunt ary commit ment t o
promot ing t he welfare of ot hers. Means on - 1
t o 7 scale for st udent samples.
Schwart z
25/ 02/ 200
3
* Dat a provided by I sraelian colleagues
a
For I srael: World Bank 1998
b
For I srael:
Cent ral Bureau of I srael 1999

163
4. Tabl es r epor t i ng r esul t s f r om quest i onnai r es t o or gani zat i ons and t hei r empl oyees
Tabl e 1. Means, st andard deviat ions, and proport ions of t he HR pract ice variables across count ries
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Kr usk al -
Wal l i s Test
Mann-
Whi t ney
Var i abl e
Tot al SW GR NE BE UK SP I S (
2
) Si g U
M 11. 34 11. 15 8. 75 16. 30 16. 58 8. 46 2. 63 20. 95
( SD) ( 26. 33) ( 30. 24) ( 24. 01) ( 22. 03) ( 25. 71) ( 25. 44) ( 22. 14) ( 33. 89)

8 ( a, b) .
Training and
development
a

mean rank 85. 67 83. 73 102. 06 89. 42 71. 31 67. 34 96. 12 11. 75 0. 07
M 9. 89 31. 85 11. 15 10. 00 - 10. 00 10. 71 4. 63 10. 43
( SD) ( 35. 85) ( 37. 52) ( 43. 84) ( 32. 12) ( 40. 59) ( 36. 89) ( 22. 48) ( 33. 36)

9 ( a,b) .
Performance
appraisal
a

mean rank 118. 85 93. 12 94. 28 65. 27 89. 25 87. 63 99. 11 16. 45 0. 01
1> 3, 4, 6
4< 2, 3, 6, 7
M 7. 91 9. 81 0. 80 8. 43 4. 50 8. 57 13. 33 5. 45
( SD) ( 26. 44) ( 24. 67) ( 18. 23) ( 29. 62) ( 17. 12) ( 30. 34) ( 26. 38) ( 35. 68)

10 ( a, b) .
Performance-
relat ed pay
a

mean rank 96. 48 86. 60 100. 74 84. 52 80. 46 104. 61 86. 48 7. 90 0. 24

M 1. 47 1. 56 1. 25 1. 79 1. 09 0. 94 1. 73 1. 38
( SD) ( 1. 49) ( 1. 25) ( 1. 26) ( 1. 61) ( 1. 23) ( 1. 34) ( 1. 82) ( 1. 32)

Overall
inequalit y ( in
favour of
perms)
b

mean rank 110. 28 95. 25 113. 71 88. 14 78. 24 106. 08 100. 04 7. 17 0. 31

a % gap bet ween perms- t emps; b no. of answers inequalit y in favour of perms from it ems 7a- 7e plus no. of gaps over 10% from it ems
8a- 10b

164
Tabl e 2. Mot ives for employing t emporary cont ract s as report ed by employers ( n = 202)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Var i abl e
Tot al SW GR NE BE UK SP I S F Si g. 2 Tur k ey
M 3. 19 2. 85 3. 62 3. 22 2. 86 3. 20 3. 18 3. 47 1. 02 0. 41 0. 03 11a. I t helps t o
mat ch st aff t o
peaks
( SD) ( 1. 38) ( 1. 37) ( 1. 23) ( 1. 39) ( 1. 72) ( 1. 37) ( 1. 31) ( 1. 26)
M 2. 80 2. 96 2. 56 2. 72 3. 32 3. 20 2. 69 2. 42 1. 52 0. 17 0. 05 11b. I t covers
st aff short - t erm
absence
( SD) ( 1. 25) ( 1. 34) ( 1. 18) ( 1. 16) ( 1. 39) ( 1. 14) ( 1. 13) ( 1. 42)
4, 1> 2
M 3. 25 3. 85 2. 73 3. 39 3. 86 3. 20 3. 21 2. 21 5. 35 0. 00 0. 15 1, 3, 4, 6> 7
11c. I t covers
mat ernit y or longer
periods st aff
absence
( SD) ( 1. 28) ( 1. 29) ( 1. 28) ( 0. 99) ( 1. 35) ( 1. 08) ( 1. 18) ( 1. 27)

M 2. 12 1. 74 1. 35 2. 09 2. 14 2. 47 2. 93 1. 71 5. 66 0. 00 0. 16 6> 1, 2, 3, 7
11d. We are
ot herwise unable t o
fill vacancies
( SD) ( 1. 30) ( 1. 02) ( 0. 89) ( 0. 95) ( 1. 20) ( 1. 06) ( 1. 68) ( 1. 21)
M 2. 00 1. 85 1. 54 2. 39 1. 55 2. 40 2. 13 2. 06 2. 45 0. 03 0. 08
11e. We can bring
in specialist skills
( SD) ( 1. 16) ( 1. 23) ( 0. 94) ( 1. 05) ( 1. 10) ( 1. 05) ( 1. 18) ( 1. 43)

M 1. 97 1. 33 1. 60 2. 69 1. 95 1. 57 1.95 2. 39 3. 88 0. 00 0. 12 3> 1, 2
11f. We need t o
freeze on
permanent st aff
numbers
( SD) ( 1. 34) ( 0. 37) ( 1. 29) ( 1. 39) ( 1. 49) ( 0. 64) ( 1. 34) ( 1. 65)
M 1. 78 1. 73 1. 81 1. 89 1. 73 2. 14 1. 53 1. 94 0. 85 0. 53 0. 03 11g. I t can
improve our
performance
( SD) ( 1. 03) ( 1. 00) ( 1. 32) ( 1. 03) ( 1. 12) ( 1. 02) ( 0. 71) ( 1. 11)

165
1> 2, 4, 5, 6
M 3. 12 4. 22 2. 54 3. 11 2. 41 2. 29 3.10 3. 84 5. 52 0. 00 0. 16 7> 4, 5
11h. We offer t rial
periods before
employing a
permanent
employee
( SD) ( 1. 58) ( 1. 28) ( 1. 58) ( 1. 48) ( 1. 50) ( 1. 43) ( 1. 57) ( 1. 34)

M 1. 69 2. 30 1. 42 1. 53 1. 73 1. 71 1. 54 1. 74 1. 91 0. 08 0. 06
11i. We would like
t o have personnel
for unusual
working hours
( SD) ( 1. 11) ( 1. 58) ( 0. 85) ( 0. 77) ( 1. 31) ( 0. 91) ( 0. 92) ( 1. 24)
M 1. 71 1. 44 1. 92 1. 94 1. 36 1. 43 1. 65 2. 11 1. 73 0. 12 0. 06
11g. I t saves wage
cost s
( SD) ( 1. 08) ( 0. 93) ( 1. 44) ( 1. 14) ( 0. 72) ( 0. 64) ( 1. 00) ( 1. 24)
M 1. 19 1. 07 1. 04 1. 22 1. 09 1. 29 1. 17 1. 63 3. 42 0. 00 0. 10 7> 1, 2, 4, 6
11k. I t saves
t raining cost s
( SD) ( 0. 51) ( 0. 26) ( 0. 19) ( 0. 42) ( 0. 29) ( 0. 46) ( 0. 49) ( 1. 06)
M 1. 48 1. 07 1. 58 1. 53 1. 14 1. 36 1.53 2. 26 3. 23 0. 00 0. 10 7> 1, 4
11l. I t saves
fringe- benefit cost s
( SD) ( 1. 03) ( 0. 26) ( 1. 27) ( 1. 05) ( 0. 35) ( 0. 63) ( 1. 17) ( 1. 36)

166
Tabl e 3. Cont ract durat ion, t ime remaining on cont ract and cont ract hist ory by cont ract
t ype
Cont r act
dur at i on
Ti me
r emai ni ng
Cont r act
hi st or y

Mont hs Mont hs Year s
Mean 15. 6 7. 9 3. 1
N 1133 1068 1093
Fixed- t erm
SD 25. 7 13. 7 4. 4
Mean 17. 6 5. 4 2. 9
N 36 34 32
Permanent wit h agency
SD 51. 5 20. 5 5. 4
Mean 5. 9 3. 1 1. 6
N 139 137 131
Temporary wit h agency
SD 12. 8 9. 8 2. 5
Mean 7. 8 2. 2 4. 0
N 81 80 80
Daily/ on call
SD 23. 7 13. 2 8. 0
Mean 11. 5 6. 7 2. 6
N 86 82 80
Probat ion
SD 16. 2 11. 4 3. 9
Mean 22. 1 11. 0 1. 9
N 93 95 92
Training
SD 17. 1 20. 0 1. 7
Mean 6. 6 2. 2 2. 3
N 76 75 78
Seasonal employment
SD 11. 9 3. 3 3. 7
Mean 10. 4 4. 2 4. 6
N 39 30 35
Job creat ion
SD 17. 7 3. 6 5. 0
Mean 13. 8 2. 9 5. 2
N 25 25 24
Subcont ract or
SD 25. 2 5. 0 6. 5

167
Mean 51. 7 10. 7 3. 6
N 10 9 9
Cont ract or
SD 70. 0 23. 4 6. 4
Mean 13. 0 5. 5 2. 8
N 35 33 35
Ot her
SD 27. 1 14. 2 3. 2
Mean 14. 3 6. 8 2. 9
N 1753 1668 1689
Tot al
SD 25. 1 13. 7 4. 4

168
Tabl e4. Mot ives for t emporary work by t ypes of nonpermanent cont ract PSYCONES
q11a q11b* q11c* q11d* q11e q11f * q11g* q11h q11i
Di f f i cul t
t o f i nd a
per man-
ent j ob.
Sui t s
pr esent
needs
( f ami l y ,
st udy ,
et c)
Hi gher
w age
t han
ot her
cont r act s
I t gi ves
me mor e
f r eedom
Hope t o
gai n a
per man-
ent
cont r act
Suppl e-
ment ar y
i ncome
Gai n
ex per i -
ence
w i t h
di f f er ent
t ask s/ j o
bs
The
cont r act
of f er ed
w i t h t he
j ob I
w ant ed
Onl y t y pe
of
cont r act
I coul d
get
Pul l
Mot i ves
( * combi -
ned)
Fixed- t erm Mean 2. 38 2. 25 1. 83 2. 14 3. 46 1. 97 2. 92 3. 57 3. 45 2. 24
n= 1179 SD 1. 45 1. 52 1. 18 1. 37 1. 50 1. 39 1. 50 1. 47 1. 52 1. 03
Agency -
perm
Mean 2. 39 2. 42 2. 06 2. 27 3. 71 1. 82 3. 09 3. 59 3. 24 2. 33
n= 38 SD 1. 50 1. 50 1. 43 1. 42 1. 59 1. 21 1. 53 1. 42 1. 54 0. 99
Agency -
t emp
Mean 3. 02 2. 79 1. 80 2. 57 3. 35 2. 24 3. 02 2. 78 3. 13 2. 52
n= 145 SD 1. 48 1. 62 1. 14 1. 37 1. 48 1. 49 1. 43 1. 47 1. 47 1. 06
Daily/ on call Mean 2. 52 3. 39 1. 85 2. 96 2. 51 3. 13 2. 88 3. 01 3. 22 2. 84
n= 87 SD 1. 56 1. 58 1. 14 1. 37 1. 36 1. 64 1. 34 1. 43 1. 48 0. 96
Probat ion Mean 2. 17 2. 23 1. 73 1. 78 4. 01 1. 70 2. 75 3. 85 3. 44 2. 04
n= 88 SD 1. 42 1. 48 1. 12 1. 17 1. 38 1. 23 1. 60 1. 42 1. 60 0. 96
Training Mean 1. 89 2. 92 1. 57 1. 79 3. 58 1. 71 3. 33 3. 46 3. 03 2. 30
n= 103 SD 1. 28 1. 82 1. 01 1. 13 1. 53 1. 13 1. 53 1. 49 1. 62 0. 91

169
Seasonal Mean 2. 62 2. 92 2. 06 2. 45 3. 17 2. 38 2. 91 2. 96 3. 23 2. 57
n= 142 SD 1. 52 1. 60 1. 18 1. 41 1. 49 1. 48 1. 41 1. 50 1. 56 1. 03
Job creat ion Mean 3. 63 2. 41 1. 44 1. 76 4. 31 2. 21 3. 40 2. 00 3. 86 2. 29
n= 40 SD 1. 61 1. 35 0. 86 1. 07 1. 25 1. 25 1. 06 1. 52 1. 55 0. 71
Subcon-
t ract or
Mean 2. 75 2. 45 1. 85 2. 45 2. 80 1. 95 2. 70 3. 30 3. 62 2. 38
n= 27 SD 1. 80 1. 47 1. 09 1. 39 1. 40 1. 50 1. 53 1. 53 1. 60 1. 17
Cont ract or Mean 1. 33 3. 29 3. 14 4. 29 2. 00 1. 71 2. 29 3. 14 2. 00 2. 94
n= 10 SD 0. 52 1. 70 1. 77 1. 25 1. 15 0. 95 1. 11 2. 04 1. 53 0. 57
Ot her Mean 2. 46 2. 64 2. 19 2. 50 3. 75 1. 65 3. 57 3. 78 3. 22 2. 74
n= 38 SD 1. 43 1. 59 1. 33 1. 60 1. 40 1. 20 1. 25 1. 63 1. 56 1. 21
Tot al Mean 2. 44 2. 43 1. 83 2. 20 3. 44 2. 03 2. 96 3. 43 3. 38 2. 32
n= 1897 SD 1. 48 1. 58 1. 17 1. 38 1. 51 1. 41 1. 48 1. 51 1. 53 1. 03

170
Tabl e 5. Number and percent age of missing values for each st udy variable
Tot al Temp Per m
n= 5344 n= 1993 n= 3351

Mi ssi ng Mi ssi ng Mi ssi ng
Age 118 2. 2% 43 2. 2% 75 2. 2%
Sex 69 1. 3% 22 1. 1% 47 1. 4%
Educat ion 64 1. 2% 17 0. 9% 47 1. 4%
Domest ic sit uat ion 120 2. 2% 43 2. 2% 77 2. 3%
Financial cont ribut ion 155 2. 9% 65 3. 3% 90 2. 7%
No. financial dependent s 244 4. 6% 100 5. 0% 144 4. 3%
Domest ic responsibilit y 179 3. 3% 55 2. 8% 124 3. 7%
Work I nvolvement 30 0. 6% 13 0. 7% 17 0. 5%
Occupat ional Level 182 3. 4% 78 3. 9% 104 3. 1%
Hours 136 2. 5% 58 2. 9% 78 2. 3%
Night shift s 120 2. 2% 42 2. 1% 78 2. 3%
Tenure in years 127 2. 4% 66 3. 3% 61 1. 8%
Supervision 79 1. 5% 26 1. 3% 53 1. 6%
Union membership 80 1. 5% 36 1. 8% 44 1. 3%
Addit ional j ob( s) 59 1. 1% 18 0. 9% 41 1. 2%
Core HR- Pract ices 7 0. 1% 4 0. 2% 3 0. 1%
Cont ent ( Employer Ob' s) 74 1. 4% 34 1. 7% 40 1. 2%
Fulfilment ( Employer
Ob' s)
346 6. 5% 160 8. 0% 186 5. 6%
Violat ion 162 3. 0% 65 3. 3% 97 2. 9%
Fairness 60 1. 1% 27 1. 4% 33 1. 0%
Trust 51 1. 0% 23 1. 2% 28 0. 8%
Cont ent ( Employee
Ob' s)
61 1. 1% 30 1. 5% 31 0. 9%
Fulfilment ( Employee
Ob' s)
157 2. 9% 67 3. 4% 90 2. 7%
Job insecurit y 34 0. 6% 16 0. 8% 18 0. 5%
Employabilit y 35 0. 7% 12 0. 6% 23 0. 7%
Volit ion 91 1. 7% 23 1. 2% 68 2. 0%

171
Job of choice 81 1. 5% 32 1. 6% 49 1. 5%
Profession of choice 171 3. 2% 67 3. 4% 104 3. 1%
Role clarit y 78 1. 5% 37 1. 9% 41 1. 2%
Aut onomy 54 1. 0% 27 1. 4% 27 0. 8%
Skill ut ilisat ion 49 0. 9% 21 1. 1% 28 0. 8%
Workload 23 0. 4% 11 0. 6% 12 0. 4%
Organisat ional support 36 0. 7% 18 0. 9% 18 0. 5%
Supervisory support 21 0. 4% 8 0. 4% 13 0. 4%
Occupat ional self-
efficacy
39 0. 7% 16 0. 8% 23 0. 7%
Posit ive work- life
int erference
57 1. 1% 23 1. 2% 34 1. 0%
Affect ive wellbeing:
Anxiet y
50 0. 9% 20 1. 0% 30 0. 9%
Affect ive wellbeing:
Depression
67 1. 3% 24 1. 2% 43 1. 3%
I rrit at ion 36 0. 7% 13 0. 7% 23 0. 7%
Sick leave 77 1. 4% 35 1. 8% 42 1. 3%
Sick presence 96 1. 8% 44 2. 2% 52 1. 6%
Accident s 81 1. 5% 35 1. 8% 46 1. 4%
I ncident s at work 93 1. 7% 41 2. 1% 52 1. 6%
Job Sat isfact ion 14 0. 3% 6 0. 3% 8 0. 2%
Organizat ional
Commit ment
15 0. 3% 6 0. 3% 9 0. 3%
I nt ent ion t o quit 26 0. 5% 14 0. 7% 12 0. 4%
Perceived Performance 41 0. 8% 19 1. 0% 22 0. 7%
General healt h - SF- 36 52 1. 0% 23 1. 2% 29 0. 9%
Life sat isfact ion 52 1. 0% 19 1. 0% 33 1. 0%

172
Tabl e 6. Mean scores on t he scales measuring int ervening and dependent variables
Ty pe of Empl oy ment Cont r act Tot al
Non- per manent Per manent

Mean SD n Mean SD n Mean SD n t si g
Psy chol ogi cal cont r act
Empl oy er ' s obl i gat i ons
Cont ent 8. 68 4. 57 5216 7. 78 4. 51 1947 9. 21 4. 52 3269 - 11. 03 . 000
Fulfilment 3. 69 0. 84 4946 3. 78 0. 86 1823 3. 64 0. 82 3123 5. 88 . 000
Violat ion 2. 29 0. 86 5128 2. 15 0. 84 1916 2. 38 0. 86 3212 - 9. 03 . 000
Fairness 3. 18 0. 93 5238 3. 31 0. 94 1958 3. 10 0. 92 3280 8. 11 . 000
Trust 3. 17 1. 00 5229 3. 29 1. 01 1954 3. 10 0. 99 3275 6. 74 . 000
Empl oy ee' s obl i gat i ons
Cont ent 13. 39 4. 17 5230 12. 73 4. 39 1951 13. 78 3. 98 3279 - 8. 66 . 000
Fulfilment 4. 31 0. 51 5135 4. 36 0. 52 1914 4. 29 0. 50 3221 4. 80 . 000
Empl oyee pr ospect s
Job insecurit y 2. 21 0. 97 5254 2. 67 1. 01 1965 1. 93 0. 82 3289 27. 418 . 000
Employabilit y 3. 17 1. 06 5253 3. 19 1. 01 1969 3. 16 1. 08 3284 1. 03 . 301
Vol i t i on
Cont ract of
choice
3. 32 1. 29 5198 2. 32 1. 07 1958 3. 93 1. 01 3240 - 53. 43 . 000

173
Job of choice 3. 70 1. 14 5207 3.56 1. 18 1949 3. 78 1. 10 3258 - 6. 62 . 000
Profession of
choice
3. 65 1. 23 5118 3. 55 1. 28 1914 3. 72 1. 19 3204 - 4. 68 . 000
Job Char act er i st i cs
Role clarit y 4. 30 0. 83 5211 4.25 0. 85 1944 4. 33 0. 81 3267 - 3. 48 . 000
Aut onomy 3. 41 0. 90 5235 3. 23 0. 91 1954 3. 51 0. 87 3281 - 10. 94 . 000
Skill
ut ilisat ion
3. 56 0. 94 5240 3. 46 1. 02 1960 3. 62 0. 89 3280 - 5. 58 . 000
Workload 3. 06 0. 88 5266 2. 83 0. 89 1970 3. 20 0. 85 3296 - 14. 43 . 000
Suppor t
Organisat ional
support
3. 27 0. 89 5252 3. 33 0. 88 1963 3. 24 0. 89 3289 3. 64 . 000
Supervisory
support
3. 55 0. 94 5268 3. 65 0. 91 1973 3. 49 0. 95 3295 5. 79 . 000
Wor k - r el at ed heal t h
Occupat ional
self- efficacy
3. 97 0. 64 5250 3. 94 0. 66 1965 3. 98 0. 63 3285 - 2. 54 . 011
Posit ive work-
life
int erference
2. 92 0. 91 5231 2. 93 0. 92 1958 2. 91 0. 91 3273 0. 74 . 458
I rrit at ion 2. 92 1. 21 5252 2. 73 1. 18 1968 3. 04 1. 22 3284 - 9. 26 . 000
Affect ive well-
being:
Anxiet y
2. 47 0. 74 5238 2. 40 0. 73 1961 2. 52 0. 74 3277 - 5. 78 . 000

174
Affect ive well-
being:
Depression
2. 07 0. 72 5221 2. 00 0. 71 1957 2. 12 0. 73 3264 - 5. 91 . 000
Repor t ed behav i our s/ i nci dent s
Sick leave 1. 95 1. 02 5209 1. 84 1. 01 1944 2. 01 1. 02 3265 - 5. 98 . 000
Sick presence 2. 56 1. 29 5195 2. 33 1. 25 1937 2. 70 1. 29 3258 - 9. 90 . 000
Accident s 1. 18 0. 54 5207 1. 17 0. 53 1946 1. 19 0. 54 3261 - 1. 07 . 286
Harassment 1. 24 0. 72 5195 1. 20 0. 67 1940 1. 26 0. 74 3255 - 3. 16 . 002
Gener al heal t h r epor t s
General
healt h
3. 97 0. 72 5236 4. 03 0. 71 1958 3. 93 0. 73 3278 4. 91 . 000
Life
sat isfact ion
5. 22 1. 07 5237 5. 23 1. 11 1962 5. 22 1. 04 3275 0. 39 . 698
Wor k - r el at ed at t i t udes
Job
sat isfact ion
3. 98 0. 86 5274 4. 03 0. 85 1975 3. 95 0. 85 3299 3. 31 . 000
Organisat ional
commit ment
3. 96 0. 73 5273 3. 89 0. 76 1975 4. 00 0. 70 3298 - 5. 20 . 000
I nt ent ion t o
quit
1. 85 0. 91 5262 1. 76 0. 87 1967 1. 90 0. 93 3295 - 5. 30 . 000
Self- report ed
performance
4. 04 0. 52 5248 4. 00 0. 53 1962 4. 07 0. 51 3286 - 4. 76 . 000

175
Tabl e 7. Evaluat ion of all alt ernat ive int ervening variables wit h sickness behaviour and incident s at work
Si ck l eave Si ck pr esence Acci dent s Har r assment and
v i ol ence

St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2
Permanent cont ract 0. 11* * * 0.04 0. 12* * * 0. 10* * * 0. 04 0. 01 0. 05* 0. 02
Cont ent of PC 0. 03 0. 04* 0. 04* - 0. 02
Fulfilment of PC - 0. 05* - 0. 06* - 0. 06* - 0. 13* * *
Violat ion of PC 0. 09* * * 0. 09* * * 0. 04 0. 09* * *
Trust 0. 00 0. 01 - 0. 03 0. 05
Fairness - 0. 09* * * - 0. 09* * * - 0. 03 - 0. 04
Cont ent of PC - 0. 02 0. 08* * * - 0. 01 0. 05* *
Fulfilment of PC - 0. 07* * * 0. 06* * 0. 03 0. 03
Job insecurit y - 0. 01 0. 00 0. 00 0. 02
Employabilit y - 0. 03 0. 00 0. 03 0. 06* *
Volit ion
Cont ract of choice 0. 06* * - 0. 05* 0. 01 0. 00

176
Job of choice - 0. 01 - 0. 01 - 0. 01 0. 01
Profession of choice 0. 00 - 0. 02 - 0. 03 0. 01
Role clarit y 0. 05* * 0. 02 - 0. 02 0. 01
Aut onomy 0. 06* * - 0. 02 - 0. 02 - 0. 02
Skill ut ilisat ion 0. 01 0. 01 0. 04 0. 03
Workload - 0. 04 0. 13* * * 0. 04 0. 05*
Support
Organisat ional support 0. 05 0. 04 0. 01 - 0. 01
Supervisory support - 0. 02 - 0. 03 0. 02 - 0. 05

Adj ust ed R
2
0. 09 0. 12 0. 10 0. 16 0. 07 0. 08 0. 04 0. 08
F - value for R
2
change 7. 12 14. 81 3. 85 9. 99
n= 3415 3410 3419 3412

177
Tabl e 8. Evaluat ion of all alt ernat ive int ervening variables wit h work at t it udes and performance
Job sat i sf act i on Or gani sat i onal
commi t ment
I nt ent i on t o qui t Per cei ved
per f or mance

St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2 St ep 1 St ep 2
Permanent cont ract - 0. 12* * * - 0.06* * * - 0. 02 0. 02 0. 11* * * 0. 09* * * 0. 00 - 0. 02
Cont ent of PC - 0. 02 - 0. 04* 0. 04* * - 0. 02
Fulfilment of PC 0. 05* * 0. 02 - 0. 02 - 0. 05* *
Violat ion of PC - 0. 19* * * - 0. 06* * * 0. 22* * * - 0. 05*
Trust - 0. 04* 0. 01 0. 01 - 0. 01
Fairness 0. 03 0. 09* * * - 0. 04* - 0. 10* * *
Cont ent of PC 0. 05* * * 0. 11* * * - 0. 08* * * 0. 05* *
Fulfilment of PC 0. 09* * * 0. 18* * * - 0. 05* * * 0. 31* * *
Job insecurit y - 0. 03* - 0. 05* * 0. 10* * * - 0. 06* *
Employabilit y 0. 00 0. 03* 0. 09* * * 0. 06* * *
Volit ion
Cont ract of choice - 0. 02 0. 00 0. 00 0. 01

178
Job of choice 0. 22* * * 0. 08* * * - 0. 20* * * 0. 04
Profession of choice 0. 14* * * 0. 04* * - 0. 09* * * 0. 03
Role clarit y 0. 01 - 0. 02 - 0. 04* 0. 15* * *
Aut onomy 0. 05* * 0. 04* 0. 00 0. 23* * *
Skill ut ilisat ion 0. 12* * * 0. 08* * * - 0. 05* 0. 10* * *
Workload 0. 02 0. 07* * * 0. 01 0. 03*
Support
Organisat ional support 0. 13* * * 0. 19* * * - 0. 12* * * 0. 09* * *
Supervisory support 0. 08* * * 0. 14* * * - 0. 05* * 0. 02

Adj ust ed R
2
0. 31 0. 61 0. 29 0. 54 0. 23 0. 48 0. 12 0. 37
F - value for R
2
change 147. 55 101. 46 94. 11 76. 72
n= 3431 3431 3430 3419

179
5. Tabl es r epor t i ng r esul t s of mul t i l evel anal y ses r egar di ng count r y and sect or
ef f ect s
Tabl e 1. Post - hoc analyses on t emporary workforce composit ion Based on model on doc
file
Fixed- t erm 189 6, 90* * * 2, 94 2, 00 2, 28 3, 64 2, 26 1, 69 , 62
Temporary
Agency
184 4, 78* * * , 06 , 19 , 51 , 64 , 59 , 32 1, 02
Daily/ on call 181 6, 00* * * , 42 , 53 1, 33 , 06 - , 131 , 39 , 34
Probat ion 181 4, 94* * * 1, 07 , 47 , 39 , 15 , 88 , 26 1, 59
Training 183 5, 14* * * , 78 1, 07 , 15 , 16 , 58 , 26 , 47
Seasonal
employment
172 3, 31* * * , 24 , 26 , 82 - , 02 , 76 , 29 , 60
Job creat ion
Scheme
179 1, 20 , 50 , 11 , 10 , 41 , 02 , 18 , 32
Subcont ract or 181 1, 67 , 46 , 24 , 08 , 09 , 16 , 23 , 41
Consult ant 180 2, 60 , 11 , 17 , 16 , 25 , 28 , 21 , 63
* p< . 05, * * p< . 01, * * * p< . 001

180
Tabl e 2. Explained variances of t ypes of t emporary workers
( 100% )
Fixed t erm 189 2, 802 96% 2, 684 1, 996 74% 0, 142 5% 0, 547 20%
Temporary Agency 184 0, 619 71% 0, 441 0, 346 79% 0, 035 8% 0, 059 13%
Daily/ on call 181 0, 957 98% 0, 940 0, 764 81% 0, 005 1% 0, 171 18%
Probat ion 181 1, 198 79% 0, 947 0, 770 81% 0, 045 5% 0, 132 14%
Training 183 0, 751 87% 0, 656 0, 527 80% 0, 028 4% 0, 101 15%
Seasonal
employment
172 0, 819 68% 0, 553 0, 488 88% 0, 002 0% 0, 064 11%
Job creat ion scheme 179 0, 442 100% 0, 443 0, 442 100% 0, 001 0% 0, 000 0%
Subcont ract or 181 0, 325 81% 0, 262 0, 243 93% 0, 005 2% 0, 015 6%
Consult ant 180 0, 214 78% 0, 167 0, 142 85% 0, 009 5% 0, 017 10%
Ot her 189 1, 018 107% 1, 091 0, 888 81% 0, 026 2% 0, 176 16%

181
Tabl e 3. Explained variances mot ives for hiring t emporaries
( 100% )
Peaks in product ion 185 1, 908 85% 1, 629 1, 417 87% 0, 152 9% 0, 060 4%
Replace due t o
short absence
188 1, 562 92% 1, 434 1, 347 94% 0, 003 0% 0, 084 6%
Replace due t o long
absence
187 1, 640 88% 1, 444 1, 217 84% 0, 052 4% 0, 175 12%
Unfilled vacancies 182 1, 695 97% 1, 652 1, 258 76% 0, 070 4% 0, 325 20%
Specialized skills 184 1, 359 93% 1, 270 1, 154 91% 0, 060 5% 0, 056 4%
Limit ing core
workers
183 1, 808 90% 1, 621 1, 340 83% 0, 046 3% 0, 235 14%
I mproving
performance
182 1, 062 94% 0, 998 0, 957 96% 0, 020 2% 0, 021 2%
Test ing new
employees
185 2, 494 93% 2, 309 1, 939 84% 0, 043 2% 0, 326 14%
Working unusual
hours
185 1, 231 91% 1, 126 1, 001 89% 0, 035 3% 0, 090 8%
Saving salary cost s 184 1, 172 93% 1, 095 1, 023 93% 0, 006 1% 0, 065 6%
Saving t raining
cost s
185 0, 265 66% 0, 174 0, 161 92% 0, 006 4% 0, 007 4%
Saving benefit cost s 184 1, 065 95% 1, 016 0, 916 90% 0, 004 0% 0, 096 9%

182
Tabl e 4. Explained variances of t he out come variables
( 100% )
I ndi v i dual Or gani zat i on Sect or Count r y
Job Sat isfact ion 5331 0, 729 85% 0, 620 0, 554 89% 0, 037 6% 0, 002 0% 0, 023 4%
Sick Leave 5268 1, 044 92% 0, 955 0, 894 94% 0, 045 5% 0, 004 0% 0, 017 2%
Sick Presence 5249 1, 653 93% 1, 542 1,440 93% 0, 017 1% 0, 007 0% 0, 085 5%
Accident s 5264 0, 287 85% 0, 244 0, 237 97% 0, 005 2% 0, 000 0% 0, 002 1%
I ncident s 5252 0, 514 93% 0, 480 0, 465 97% 0, 012 2% 0, 002 0% 0, 002 0%
WRM: Anxiet y- Cont ent m. 5295 0, 547 94% 0,516 0, 482 93% 0, 012 2% 0, 001 0% 0, 023 5%
WRM: Depression- Ent h. 5278 0, 524 92% 0, 484 0, 448 93% 0, 019 2% 0, 001 0% 0, 019 4%
I rrit at ion 5309 1, 473 90% 1, 332 1, 262 95% 0, 019 1% 0, 014 1% 0, 043 3%
7 Posit ive Work- home int erf. 5288 0, 830 93% 0, 770 0, 709 92% 0, 018 2% 0, 002 0% 0, 040 5%
Occ. self- efficacy 5306 0, 412 91% 0, 376 0, 341 91% 0, 004 1% 0, 001 0% 0, 029 8%
Life Sat isfact ion 5293 1, 139 92% 1,044 0, 988 95% 0, 020 2% 0, 005 0% 0, 030 3%
General Healt h 5293 0, 520 97% 0, 502 0,486 97% 0, 007 1% 0, 001 0% 0, 008 2%
Organizat ional Comm. 5304 0, 527 88% 0,466 0, 405 87% 0, 035 8% 0, 006 1% 0, 021 5%
I nt ent ion t o quit 5330 0, 824 93% 0, 770 0, 668 87% 0, 037 5% 0, 001 0% 0, 065 8%
Perceived Performance 5319 0, 272 90% 0,245 0, 228 93% 0, 010 4% 0, 001 0% 0, 005 2%
Not e t hat Work- relat ed Mood: Anxiet y- Cont ent ment , Work- relat ed Mood: Depression- Ent husiasm, and I rrit at ion are negat ive. A high
score on one of t hese variables represent s a high levels of I rrit at ion, and ment al st rains.

183
6. Li st of t abl es and f i gur es i ncl uded i n t hi s r epor t
Table 1. Qualit y management
Table 2. Summary of t he sampling st rat egy
Table 3. Frequencies of usable responses across count ry and sect or
Table 4. Means and proport ions of t he st ruct ural variables across count ries
Table 5. Means, st andard deviat ions and proport ions of t he HR pract ices variables across
count ries
Table 6. Goodness- of- fit summary of t hree models t est ing for sat isfact ion wit h
permanent employees as dependent variable
Table 7. Work relat ed background variables by employment cont ract
Table 8. Job posit ion/ level by employment cont ract and for t he overall sample
Table 9. I ndividual background variables by employment cont ract
Table 10. Dist ribut ion of t emporary cont ract s
Table 11. Result s of regression analyses invest igat ing t he mediat ing role of t he
Table 12. Evaluat ion of all t he int ervening variables and work relat ed and general healt h
Table 13. Average effect sizes of t he st rongest associat es of wellbeing report s
Table 14. Bet a weight s for t he dummy t emporary cont ract t ypes regarding work- relat ed
healt h
Table 15. Bet a weight s for t he dummy t emporary cont ract t ypes regarding work at t it udes
and performance
Table 16. Associat ions of cont ract charact erist ics, cont ract expect at ions and mot ives wit h
work- relat ed healt h
Table 17. Associat ions of cont ract charact erist ics, cont ract expect at ions and mot ives wit h
work at t it udes and performance

184
Table 18. Agreement bet ween employees and employer report s of employers and
employees obligat ions wit hin t he psychological cont ract
Table 19. Hierarchical regression analyses of t he ant ecedent s of agreement on t he
cont ent of t he psychological cont ract
Table 20. Samples according t o sect ors
Table 21. Variances explained in organizat ion level variables
Table 22. Post - hoc analyses on mot ives for hiring t emporary workers
Table 23. Explaining variances of t he int ervening variables
Table 24. Post - hoc analyses on int ervening variables
Table 25. Post - hoc analyses on dependent variables
Figure 1. I nit ial concept ual model for analysing employee wellbeing in PSYCONES
Figure 2. Revised concept ual model
Figure 3. Model of t he employer dat a
Figure 4. Societ al core dimensions linked t o t he psychological cont ract
Figure 5. Cat egories of employment cont ract s based on cont ract t ype and durat ion
Figure 6. The const it uent element s of t he psychological cont ract in t he quest ionnaire
Figure 7. The levels in t he PSYCONES proj ect
Figure 8. Final st ruct ural model for sat isfact ion wit h permanent employees wit h
st andardized coefficient s
Figure 9. Final st ruct ural model for sat isfact ion wit h t emporary employees wit h
st andardized coefficient s
Figure 10. Employer and employees report s of mut ual obligat ions of permanent and
t emporary employees
Figure 11. Employer and employees report of fulfilment of t he obligat ions of permanent
and t emporary employees
Figure 12. The relat ions bet ween collect ive bargaining coverage and t rade union Densit y
European Commission
EUR 23155 EU RESEARCH ON SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
Psychological Contracts across Employment Situations - PSYCONES
Luxembourg: Offce for Offcial Publications of the European Communities
2007 188 pp. 21,0 x 29,7 cm
ISBN 978-92-79-07784-5
How to obtain EU publications
Our priced publications are available from EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu/), where you
can place an order with the sales agent of your choice.
The Publications Offce has a worldwide network of sales agents. You can obtain their contact
details by sending a fax to (352) 29 29-42758.
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