- Published: January 7, 2022
- Updated: January 7, 2022
- University / College: University of Dundee
- Level: Ph.D
- Language: English
- Downloads: 46
Introducing the concept of Schema advances the concept of the psychological contract. A schema refers to the cognitive organization that represents a prototypical abstraction of a concept that is complex. People working in the same setting or members who are of the same society can share elements of schema. A schema can have elements of verbal and non-verbal, conscious or less conscious. Schemas vary in how complex they are depending on the cognitive beliefs (Anderson et al, 1998).
Psychological contracts form schemas with horizontal-vertical structuring. Beliefs on promises and obligations are the basics of complexity. The categories used by individuals in interpreting the lower unit levels represent high levels of complexity. With time, psychological contracts evolve from discrete beliefs to organized interrelated beliefs. Schemas related to employment highly influence psychological contract formation (Rousseau, 2001).
Pre-employment schemas are useful in accounting for differences in psychological contracts. Other schemas contribute to the shared features such as norms and ideologies and the legalisms that are associated with beliefs in the society.
Changing psychological contracts requires people to be motivated to process information more deeply (Rousseau, 2001).
