Abstract:
This research addresses a paradox in the idiosyncratic deal literature. Despite an
overwhelmingly positive orientation towards idiosyncratic deals, mixed results also
abound, with certain studies showing no effect between idiosyncratic deals and
outcomes. This has raised concern amongst scholars about the appropriateness of
the dominant social exchange theoretical lens through which idiosyncratic deals have
been studied. To address this concern, the researcher developed a conceptual model
in which the mediating effect of obligation and entitlement on the relationship between
idiosyncratic deals and psychological contract fulfilment could be examined.
Then, in line with activity theory and disengagement theory, the quality of the
exchange relationship was examined as an alternate mechanism through which
idiosyncratic deals exert their influence on psychological contract fulfilment for older
workers. The research was embedded within a social science context and the
researcher followed a deductive strategy of enquiry. A cross-sectional survey-based
design was followed, and a purposive sampling technique was used to gather data on
subjects 50 years of age and older in South Africa. A key strength of this research was
the structural model used to test the main and indirect effects that included mediation,
moderation and mediated moderation.
The findings make an original contribution by showing a strong relationship between
idiosyncratic deals, as a second order construct and psychological contract fulfilment,
mediated through a high-quality exchange relationship and not through obligation as
posited by the social exchange paradigm. Also, the findings of this research indicate
a statistically significantly positive influence of entitlement on obligation that may serve
as a possible explanation for the lack of a mediating effect for obligation on the
relationship between idiosyncratic deals and psychological contract fulfilment.
