Evidence for ideological currency in psychological contracts? : A qualitative study in non-profit organizations.

The form of psychological contracts is commonly categorized by its economic or socio-emotional currency, based upon seminal work by Rousseau (1990). Although numerous researchers utilize this conceptualization, relatively few studies have actually ascertained the exact nature of the psychological contract form. In addition, these studies often show methodological shortcomings (Conway & Briner, 2005) and use distinct for-profit samples, calling into question whether the classic distinction between transactional and relational forms is applicable to employees in different sectors, organizations and employment forms. Hence, Thompson and Bunderson (2003) propose the inclusion of a new form characterized by ideological currency. Recent studies have already shown the importance of ideological currency for professional employees such as nurses and academics (O'Donohue & Nelson, 2007; O'Donohue, Donohue & Grimmer, 2007). We argue that the psychological contract of employees from non-profit organizations, especially volunteers, will include an ideological form, in combination with transactional or relational forms. Interviews are currently being carried out with 30 Belgian employees from various non-profit organizations, using the critical incidents technique. Thematic content analysis is then employed to classify reported incidents. The resulting categories are compared to theory and evaluated in light of economic, socio-emotional and ideological currency in the employee-employer exchange relationship. Early results seem to support the existence of an ideological currency within the psychological contract of non-profit sector employees. Implications for both existing theory and future research will be provided.