Awell-established construct for better understanding the exchange that characterises
the worker–organisation relationship is that of the ‘psychological contract’ (PC), i.e. the
individual worker’s subjective understanding of obligation-based exchanges with the
organisation (Conway and Briner, 2009). While PC research has identified individual differences
(e.g. Edwards et al., 2003; Raja et al., 2004) as important factors shaping the worker–organisation
relationship, new research possibilities are emerging from recent research investigating four
positive psychological attributes – self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience – that form a
broader concept called ‘psychological capital’ (PsyCap) (Luthans et al., 2004).
There have been no published studies relating the two concepts, and none examining their
joint impact on a worker’s response to perceived failure by the organisation to meet its
commitment to the worker–organisation relationship. Hence, our study aims: to advance PC
and PsyCap research by testing a novel theoretical model predicting likely worker response,
as a joint function of an individual’s level of PsyCap and PC type; and by locating our study
in the volunteer context, to publish the first empirical evidence that the joint application of
the two constructs can contribute to a better understanding of the consequences of a
perceived failure by the organisation to affirm its ongoing support for the volunteer–
organisation relationship.