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Psychological Contract of Digital Natives: Are We Measuring What They Expect?

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Redefining the Psychological Contract in the Digital Era

Abstract

The contemporary workplace is continuing to evolve at a rapid pace. Industry 4.0 and the arrival of the youngest generational cohort, the digital natives, calls for innovative and fresh research ideas specifically focusing on the psychological contract of digital natives. The psychological contract is conceptualised as the beliefs, expectations, and obligations in the reciprocal exchange agreement between parties; however, generational cohorts may develop different generation-specific beliefs, expectations, and obligations towards their employment relationship. A continuous problem for psychological contract research has been the measuring of the construct itself. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a narrative review of current psychological contract measures to determine whether they are still relevant in measuring the content of the psychological contract of digital natives specifically. The discussion is based on the Social Exchange Theory (Blau, Exchange and power in social life, New York, 1964) and Equity Theory (Adams, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 2:267–299, 1965) and focussed on the inputs and outcomes of the psychological contract for digital natives. Findings of this review can be useful to provide direction for further research in the psychological contract and generational diversity constructs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Resource Management, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Alda Deas

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  1. Alda Deas
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Melinde Coetzee

  2. Department of Human Resource Management, University of South Africa, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

    Alda Deas

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Deas, A. (2021). Psychological Contract of Digital Natives: Are We Measuring What They Expect?. In: Coetzee, M., Deas, A. (eds) Redefining the Psychological Contract in the Digital Era. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63864-1_16

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