From the outside looking in: The development of newcomer job future ambiguity

Abstract

Understanding the development of newcomers' job future ambiguity is crucial for their adjustment, especially as the workforce becomes increasingly mobile. Based on Masterson and Stamper's (2003) framework of perceived organizational membership, we examined whether newcomers' experience of psychological contract breach affected their perceived insider status, which in turn influenced their job future ambiguity. We tested our hypotheses using data from a three-wave panel design, involving a sample of 126 recent college graduates in China who had just joined the workforce. Cross-lagged mediation panel analysis indicated that psychological contract breach had a negative effect on subsequent perceived insider status and job future ambiguity, and perceived insider status acted as the underlying mechanism through which psychological contract breach partially influenced subsequent job future ambiguity. Our cross-lagged reciprocal analyses further supported that psychological contract breach preceded job future ambiguity and perceived insider status rather than the other way around. Our study contributes to the literature by identifying two untested antecedents of job future ambiguity and providing the first formal empirical testing of the conceptual linkage between psychological contract breach and perceived insider status in the newcomer context. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.