Leadership style and psychological contract

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between leadership style and psychological contract dimensions. The literature suggests that leaders in general and leadership style in particular can influence the psychological contracts of employees. Currently, there is no research as to how leaders perceive such contracts. This qualitative study presents the interview findings of twenty-three leaders working in public and private sector organisations. Differences were found between neutral and transformational leaders. Neutral leaders had a more transactional psychological contract, whereas the transformational leaders had a more relational psychological contract. This study adds to the literature as there is no current framework that considers the relationship between leadership styles with the psychological contract. Overall, the results indicate differences in psychological contract perceptions for different leadership styles.