wp4 deliverable nr 4.1 confidentialpsycon/documentacion/wp4-3110.pdf · 1 wp4 deliverable nr 4.1...

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WP4

DELIVERABLE NR 4.1

CONFIDENTIAL

Contract nr HPSE-CT-2002-00121

Acronym PSYCONES

Title: Societal Dimensions:

Context of the Psychological Contract

Project coordinator: Isaksson, Kerstin,

National Institute for Working Life, Sweden

Reference period: From 2003 01 01 (T4) to 2003 12 31 (T15)

Data of issue of this report: 2003 12 15

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Psychological Contracts across Employment Situations

(PSYCONES)

Societal Dimensions: Context of the Psychological Contract

Partners responsible: Belgium (Gent) and The Netherlands Rita Claes, Frederik Kochuyt René Schalk, Jeroen De Jong Partners involved: Belgium (Leuven): Hans De Witte, Nele De Cuyper Germany: Gisela Mohr, Thomas Rigotti Israel: Moshe Krausz, Noga Staynvarts Spain: José M Peir∧, Amparo Caballer, Francisco Gracia, José Ramos, Inmaculada Silla Sweden: Kerstin Isaksson, Claudia Bernhard UK: David Guest, Michael Clinton

Preliminary draft

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1. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE

PSYCONES, and particularly WP4, agree with the arguments of

Rousseau and Schalk (2000, pp. 10-13) to view psychological contracts in a

cross-national way: (1) expansion of multinational firms and labour markets,

(2) advancing scientific knowledge regarding psychological contracts and their

generalisability across societies, (3) public policy implications of psychological

contracts.

The project approaches the cross-national study of psychological contracts

through “decentralised collective research” with collective responsibility for

some parts of the research and decentralisation of responsibilities for other

parts. The scope is “cross-national” rather than “cross-cultural”. Adapting a

broad definition, cross-cultural research implies the comparison of at least two

cultures in terms of values (Smith, Fischer, & Sale, 2001). On top of that

cultural dimension, WP4 looks for other core societal dimensions affecting the

psychological contract. Westwood, Sparrow, and Leung (2001) stressed the

need to test psychological contracts across national cultures and other cross-

national differences. The focus of WP4 is “between societies”. However, we

recognise that “within societies” large differences may exist at for example the

industrial, the organisational, and the individual level (e.g. Sels, Janssens,

Van den Brande, & Overlaet, 2000, p. 64; Krausz, 2000, p. 134). WP7 will

study the multilevel effects on psychological contracts including the variety of

forms these effects can take (direct, mediating, confounding).

Rousseau and Schalk (2000, p. 5) concluded that the concept of the

psychological contract is only applicable in societies with (1) some degree of

personal freedom, and (2) a minimum degree of social stability (e.g. a stable

monetary system with cash and stock options, goods and job security). The

countries participating in the PSYCONES project (Belgium, Germany, Israel,

the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom) meet these two key

requirements.

WP4 uses the PSYCONES definition of the psychological contract (the

perceptions of the reciprocal promises (expectations and obligations) implied

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in the employment relationship). We deal with content, state, and

fulfillment/breach as aspects of the psychological contract. “Content” is facet-

specific and is defined as the “promises made” by employer and employee. It

implies facets that employees consider they should contribute to the employer

as well as facets that the employer should provide to employees. “State” is the

global extent to which employees perceive that the employer fulfilled

promises, offered fair treatment, was trustworthy. “Fulfillment/breach” is again

facet-specific and is the extent of “promises kept” by employer and employee.

Within the PSYCONES project, the objectives for WP4 are:

1. To identify the societal core dimensions relevant to the psychological

contract.

2. To provide quantitative data on the identified dimensions for cross-

national comparisons, in order:

3. To characterise the currently participating countries;

4. To include "society" in analyses of the "employee well-being model"

(input of WP4 into WP7);

5. To suggest other EU member states for future replication studies.

The current confidential deliverable 4.1 deals with objectives 1, 2, and

3 (partially). Part 2 describes the methodology. In part 3 follows the

identification of the societal dimensions relevant to the psychological contract,

while in part 4 quantitative indicators are provided for these dimensions. Part

5 characterises shortly the PSYCONES countries on the societal core

dimensions through data on the selected indicators. The Conclusions (part 6)

propose societal dimensions' data for inclusion in tests of the model of

employee well-being in WP7. Part 7 holds the references and the

acknowledgements.

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2. DESCRIPTION OF WORK/METHODOLOGY

2.1. Literature study We searched the electronic databases Psyclit, Sociological Abstracts,

Econlit, and the Web of Science for publications (theoretical or databased) in

English from 1993 dealing with societal dimensions and their impact on the

psychological contract in cross-national (e.g. involving at least two countries).

In addition, we asked PSYCONES colleagues to search for publications in

their native language (other than English). We checked the available

deliverables of the project “New Understanding of European Work

Organization (NUEWO).

2.2. Structured interviews with experts We interviewed five experts (Flemish, Dutch) with broadminded

perspective on society (four sociologists and one philosopher) to further

identify societal core dimensions relevant to the psychological contract. We

asked these experts: (1) whether they considered other societal dimensions

affecting the psychological contract or confirmed the six dimensions derived

from the literature study, (2) their suggestions for the most relevant

quantitative indicators for the societal dimensions.

We further interviewed eight experts for specific dimensions (Flemish,

Dutch) in order to check the labelling and definition/description of each

dimension. We asked their expert judgement about the most relevant

quantitative indicators and an eventual combination of indicators into indices.

2.3. Consultation of international census databases and of earlier empirical research findings

For the bulk of the selected indicators quantitative data were available

in EUROSTAT, ILO, EIRO, OECD, World Bank. For one dimension - cultural

values – Schwartz (personal communication, 25/02/2003) provided mean

scores per country on his seven cultural value types.

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2.4. Web-based experts’ surveys For four indicators we didn’t find quantitative data in earlier research or

in census data. We gathered data through two web-based surveys with

subject matter experts. We believe that expert judgements are authoritative

(Budge, 2000) and guarantee control of situational factors associated with the

experimental environment and data integrity (no repeated participation and no

mischievous responding). Advantages of web-based surveys relevant to our

study include the possibility of “expert interrogations” by addressing highly

selected groups (Swoboda, Mühlberger, & Schneeweiss, 1997; Budge, 2000)

at locations remote from us, and the ease and low cost of data collection

(Anderson & Gansneder, 1995; Buchanan & Smith, 1999; Swoboda et al,

1997; Epstein & Dean Klinkenberg, 2002). Following suggestions by Schmidt

(1997) and Swoboda et al. (1997) we dealt with possible problems occurring

with web-based surveys.

The questionnaires were developed as follows. The content consisted

of an introduction on the PSYCONES project. This introduction made clear

that its purpose was scientific. Then followed an appeal to fill the gap of

quantitative data for specific indicators. The introduction to question 1 (with

definitions and examples) was given and then the actual question. The

respondent was asked to fill out the question for his/her country and if

possible also for the other PSYCONES countries. This procedure was

repeated for question 2.

The two questions for the experts in laws and regulations were: Zone of negotiability Narrow Broad 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Belgium Germany Netherlands Spain Sweden UK Israel

Sanctions for violation Mild Severe 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Belgium Germany Netherlands Spain Sweden UK Israel

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The two questions for the experts in family matters were: Strength of family ties Weak Strong 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Belgium Germany Netherlands Spain Sweden UK Israel

Societal attitude towards working mothers Unfavourable Favourable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Belgium Germany Netherlands Spain Sweden UK Israel

The respondent was then invited to provide his/her affiliation for

acknowledgements. The questionnaire concluded with thanking the

respondent and gave instructions for returning the submitted data per e-mail.

The format of the questionnaire prescribed the range of answers (1 through

7), flagged the missings, and provided opportunity to reconsider a given

answer. The survey was handled by MS Frontpage.

The deployment of the two questionnaires had four phases. First,

PSYCONES researchers contacted personally for their country subject matter

experts. They explained the purpose of the upcoming web-based survey and

motivated each expert to participate; although the respondents maintained

their volunteer status. They provided the researchers of WP4 with the expert’s

e-mail address and affiliation. In this way, the respondents knew how they got

into the sample of the Internet-mediated survey. Second, WP4 publicised the

upcoming survey to the experts about three days prior to forwarding the

questionnaire. Third, the questionnaire was forwarded with a deadline for

submitting the data per return e-mail. Fourth, a “thank you” e-mail was sent

upon reception of the submitted survey. Up to three reminders – and

sometimes telephone calls - were addressed to those who didn’t submit data

by the deadline.

The data gathering of the two web-based experts’ surveys took place from

May through September 2003.

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The response rates on the two web-based surveys were largely

satisfactory as can be seen from Tables 1 and 2. Anderson and Gansneder

(1995) reported response rates of e-mail surveys between 41% and 76%.

Huber and Inglehart (1995) considered a response rate of 40% as good. As

far as the number of experts is concerned we obtained a total response rate of

50% for the law and regulations survey and 55% for the family matters survey.

Table 1. Response rate on “Laws and regulations” web-based survey Answers after reminder

Contacted

experts

Experts

agreeing to

participate

Immediate

answer

1

2

3

Belgium 13 10 2 2 3 6

Germany 14 9 1 2 3 3

Israel 6 6 0 2 2 3

Netherlands 10 7 2 2 3 3

Spain 12 12 3 6 6 6

Sweden 8 5 3 4 5 5

UK 10 9 2 2 2 3

Total N 73 58 13/58 20/58 24/58 29/58

Total in % 22.4% 34.5% 41.4% 50.0%

Table 2. Response rate on “Family matters” web-based survey Answers after reminder

Contacted

experts

Experts

agreeing to

participate

Immediate

answer

1

2

3

Belgium 7 7 3 4 5 5

Germany 6 6 0 2 3 3

Israel 5 5 3 3 3 3

Netherlands 10 7 4 6 6 6

Spain 11 11 4 4 4 5

Sweden 7 6 2 3 3 5

UK 10 9 0 0 0 1

Total N 56 51 16/51 22/51 24/51 28/51

Total in % 31.4% 43.1% 47.1% 54.9%

We evaluated the quality of the web-based experts’ surveys first by

examining the answer patterns of national versus other countries’ experts.

Some experts rated their own country and then gave the other countries a

same score (primarily a “4”, sometimes a “5”), while some experts didn’t

differentiate at all (“4” everywhere): we deleted these unreliable opinions.

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Then we used box plots of national and international opinions combined to

identify outliers (1.5 quartile away from the box) and extreme scores (3

quartiles away from the box): we deleted these opinions. Table 3 shows that,

after these deletions, the number of expert opinions per country was

everywhere > 5. Thus, the guideline for interrater reliability by Huber and

Inglehart (1995) was fulfilled.

Table 3. Detailed surveys’ results Range Mean Standard

deviation Number of opinions

Zone of negotiability Belgium Germany Israel Netherlands Spain Sweden UK

1-6 2-6 4-4 3-6 2-5 2-7 4-7

4.07 3.93 4.00 4.64 3.59 4.29 5.73

1.54 1.39 0.00 0.84 0.87 1.76 1.03

14 15 12 14 17 17 15

Sanctions for violation Belgium Germany Israel Netherlands Spain Sweden UK

2-5 2-6 3-6 3-6 2-6 2-6 1-6

3.92 4.46 4.38 4.23 4.00 4.29 3.14

1.24 1.39 0.96 0.83 1.26 1.20 1.35

12 13 16 13 16 14 14

Strength of family ties Belgium Germany Israel Netherlands Spain Sweden UK

4-6 4-4 3-6 3-7 3-7 1-7 2-4

4.87 4.00 4.27 4.33 5.32 4.30 3.40

0.83 0.00 0.70 1.28 1.29 2.11 0.63

15 9 15 18 19 20 15

Societal attitude towards working mothers Belgium Germany Israel Netherlands Spain Sweden UK

3-6 2-5 4-6 2-6 1-4 5-7 3-6

4.72 3.58 4.53 4.00 3.00 6.30 4.53

0.96 0.84 0.84 1.03 0.88 0.57 0.87

18 19 19 20 19 20 17

To evaluate the level of agreement on a country’s score by national

and other countries’ experts we used the box length. A relatively small box

length indicates relatively high agreement among experts, which is also

reflected in a small standard deviation in Table 3. The experts agreed more

about the family matters than about the laws and regulations. For “societal

attitude towards working mothers” there was relatively high agreement across

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all countries. For “strength of family” there was relatively high agreement

except for Sweden. For “zone of negotiability” there was relatively low

agreement especially for Sweden, but also for Belgium and Germany. For

“sanctions for violation” there was relatively low agreement for Belgium and

Germany, but also for Spain and the UK.

2.5. Statistical analysis The gathered quantitative data (census data, web-based surveys,

earlier research findings for the cultural values) were put into a SPSS data file

with country as identification variable (to allow merging with the international

data file from the employers’ and employees’ surveys later on in the project).

All statistical analyses to characterise the PSYCONES countries on the

societal core dimensions relevant for the psychological contract (see part 5)

were performed with SPSS version 11.0 for Windows.

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3. IDENTIFYING SOCIETAL CORE DIMENSIONS 3.1. Results from literature study, NUEWO, and experts’ consultation

We found only two publications. The first publication is the book edited

by Rousseau and Schalk (2000a) with descriptions of the features of the

psychological contract in 12 countries. The second publication is the chapter

by Schalk and Rousseau (2001) that presents a framework for studying

societal effects on the psychological contract. We critically analysed the

descriptions of the psychological contract in 12 countries (Rousseau & Schalk,

2000a) and integrated the conclusions of Rousseau and Schalk (2000b) and

of Schalk and Rousseau (2001). We derived six societal core dimensions

relevant to the psychological contract: (1) laws and regulations; (2) industrial

relations system; (3) labour market; (4) educational system; (5) family

orientation; and (6) cultural values.

We checked the available deliverables of the project “New

Understanding of European Work Organization (NUEWO). These were: (a)

Bergström, O. (2001). Does contingent employment affect the organization of

work? (b) Bergström, O. (2002). Why does the use of contingent employment

differs between industries? and (c) Purcell, J., & Cam, S. (2002). Employment

intermediaries in UK: Who uses them? Only deliverable (a) was cross-national

but irrelevant for WP4’s search for core societal dimensions affecting

psychological contracts, but we found support for our approach, and

suggestions for indicators. To our knowledge there are no other EU projects

dealing with societal dimensions and psychological contracts (or related

topics) in the Fifth Framework or earlier.

The structured interviews confirmed the six dimensions and their

labelling and definition/description, except for the dimension “labour market”

that was enlarged to the “labour market and economic system”. The

structured interviews also provided a wide range of quantitative indicators.

3.2. Identified societal dimensions relevant to the psychological contract We integrated the identified societal core dimensions in the framework

of Kabanoff, Jimmieson, and Lewis (2000).

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Figure 1. Societal core dimensions linked to the psychological contract

Cultural Historical

Background

Laws &

Regulations

Industrial Relations System

Labour Market and Economic

System

Educational

System

Family

Orientation

Cultural Values

Psychological

Contract

Organisational

Policy & Practices

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In Figure 1 we acknowledged the interaction between the societal dimensions

(Scandura & Lankau, 1997; Cipoletta, 1998; Johnson & Lenartowicz, 1998;

De Paola & Scoppa, 2001; Cadin, 2000; Bassanini & Ernst, 2002; Black,

2001; Dallago, 2002). Historical/cultural background includes a mix of political,

social, economic, religious, and cultural environments. Examples of

historical/cultural background are: political system, occupation, colonisation,

revolution, war, societal order, evolution of production system, foundational

sectors, industrialisation, development of labour management (including

labour relations), membership of the European Union, globalisation,

immigration/emigration, and religious diversity. The historical/cultural

background influences the societal dimensions that in turn influence

organisational policy and practices on the one hand, and the psychological

contract on the other hand.

Firms do not respond passively to societal pressure; rather they react

to and sometimes shape societies in several ways (recruitment and selection

practices, training and development activities). Societal factors can act as

constraints on or supports for a firm’s actions (Rousseau & Schalk, 2000, p.

23-24). Kabanoff, Limmieson, and Lewis (2000, p. 32-33) stressed that the

linkage between HRM practices and the psychological contract is reciprocal. It

is stronger than the linkage between HRM practices and societal factors, and

also stronger than the linkage between the psychological contract and societal

factors. HRM practices are one of the major mechanisms through which

employees come to understand the terms and conditions of their employment.

Extension of the model in Figure 1 towards the PSYCONES model of

“employee well-being” will be the focus of WP7.

“Laws and regulations” include the whole of legitimacy facilitators and

constraints shaping the conditions for both the formal employment contract

and the psychological contract.

Firstly, laws and regulations refer to legitimacy constraints affecting the

zone of negotiability. Schalk and Rousseau (2001) defined the “zone of

negotiability” as “the terms and conditions of employment that society allows

either the worker or the firm to negotiate” (p. 134). The zone of negotiability

applies to the formal employment contract and “psychological contracts in

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employment follow a similar pattern” (p. 135). Laws and regulations define the

conditions that can be (or, in some cases, must be) bargained for by

employee and employer. Where these definitions are restrictive, there is a

narrow zone of negotiability. Workers who have a broad zone of negotiability

face fewer constraints, but also have fewer institutional protections and

guaranteed resources (Schalk & Rousseau, 2001, p. 135).

Secondly, laws and regulations enforce promises made in employment

relations by providing sanctions for violating pre-set conditions, e.g. the

breach of the psychological contract.

Thirdly, laws and regulations concern the balance between social well-

being in a welfare economy and self-help etic in a market economy. The

social security net and its costs are important background for the

psychological contract. Schalk and Rousseau (2000, p. 19) acknowledged the

difference between perception of the law by people and the reality of the law

as enforced. Hence, what people believe to be law, affects their behaviour.

“Industrial relations system (IRS)” was defined by Pettinger (2000, p.1) as

“the system by which workplace activities are regulated, the arrangement by

which the owners, managers and staff of organisations come together to

engage in productive activity It concerns setting standards and promoting

consensus. It is also about the management of conflict”. Marginson and

Sisson (2002, p.671) formulated it shortly as “the regulation or governance of

the employment relationship”. The framework of industrial relations is usually

regarded as tripartite (following the landmark 1958 volume of John T. Dunlop).

The traditional three sets of actors are: employers, their representatives and

associations; employees, their representatives and trade unions; and the

government through direct negotiation involving governmental officials,

governmental mediation of employee-employer agreements, and the creation

of laws and statutes specifying conditions of employment. Pettinger (2000)

stated that the tripartite system seldom worked as a balanced whole, but

rather was dominated by each of the three players in turn depending on

external constraints (e.g. political, economic, legal). Schalk and Rousseau

(2000, p. 136) concluded that the status and esteem of government and the

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state differ considerably between countries, which contributes to the relative

importance of the government as a party to the exchange relationship.

Since PSYCONES is an EU project, it is relevant to address some

implications of European integration on industrial relations.

Pettinger (2000) described the European Union view on industrial relations as

based on social partnership and integrative bargaining/social dialogue. This

EU approach was formalised by the European Social Charter of The

Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and it was further incorporated in The Amsterdam

Treaty of 1997. Léonard (2001) anticipated that employers, unions and

governments in the EU will define rules concerning the volume and flows of

employment, and will transform the rules that regulate “the industrial relations

game”. She concluded that taking employment as a major priority in the

relationships among employers, unions and governments, will narrow the

margin for negotiation. Marginson and Sisson (2002) summarised that a

European multi-level IRS (e.g. Community, national, industry, firm) is “in the

making” and that there is no “pre-assumed end point” for developments (p.

686).

The IRS constructs and negotiates employer-employee exchanges on

the societal level and affects the psychological contract at the individual level.

The latter becomes the more relevant if we follow and expand Bellemare’s

viewpoint (2000) and consider individual employees as “end users” and thus

as a fourth actor in some IR systems.

The global industrial peace is conditional for fruitful exchanges, as is the

power of the various parties. IR regimes vary across countries in degree of co-

ordination (Bassanini & Ernst, 2002) e.g. the collective bargaining coverage,

and thereby determine bargaining margins in the psychological contract.

“Labour market and economic system” is defined as the exchange of

labour supply and demand within the broader economic system.

Dallago (2002, p. 954) defined an economic system as “a coordinated set of

formal and informal institutions” that “bounds economic actors, directs their

efforts, and constraints their expectations with respect to economic

interaction”. Examples of formal institutions are company laws, economic

actors such as firms and banks, relations between labour and capital,

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competition practices, government policy. Examples of informal institutions

are family, work habits, consumption habits. According to Cipolletta (1998) the

economic system must foster change, for example by introducing flexibility

(such as part-time work) into the labour market, so solve problems such as

unemployment. Welfare in a country results from the combination of

production factors such as labour, capital, nature, etc. The degree of welfare

of a society as an outcome of the ruling economic system influences the

psychological contract.

Through its allocation function the labour market allocates the production

factor “labour” as efficient as possible in two ways. A technical efficient labour

market refers to the use of the available labour, while an economic efficient

labour market supplies the labour where demanded. Through its dividing

function the labour market regulates income from labour. The current and

anticipated labour market bears heavily on the promises made and kept in the


“Educational system” refers to the whole of provisions of education,

development and training aiming at critical and creative integration of children,

youth and adults in society.

The relationship of the educational system and the psychological

contract is threefold. Firstly, the educational system constraints or facilitates

the firms’ ability to obtain employees with the skills they need. Secondly, the

educational system constraints or facilitates the individual’s market power.

The educational system leads to opportunities for employment advancement,

economic earnings, social status and professional position (Cadin, 2000).

Thirdly, the educational system establishes school-to-work pipelines

(Rousseau & Schalk, 2000, p. 21) and prepares for new employment (for

example ICT related work).

“Family orientation” refers to family structure and family ties. It includes a

special focus on gender issues such as female employment and societal

attitude towards working women.

As De Paola and Scoppa (2001) illustrated for Italy, some firms take

explicit account of family ties. Some examples: hiring individuals belonging to

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the same family; passing jobs on from parents to their children; using family

networks to search for new employees; assigning training of entrants to their

relatives; negotiating labour contracts with “hereditary clauses”. Family ties

operate within the labour market (unemployment, family networks for job

search) and link with “laws and regulations” through labour contracts with

hereditary clauses. The influence of family ties is conditioned by their strength

(link with cultural values).

Lee, Tinsley, and Chen (2000, p. 93) referred to Yang (1993) who

stated that familial orientation dictates that individuals should subordinate their

personal goals, interests, and well-being to the family's goals and interests.

Diaz-Saenz and Witherspoon (2000, p. 165) stated that when family ties are

strong, family is central in life. Reasons for working are then: to support the

family, to have money, to satisfy aspirations, to educate children. Family

issues (sick leave, recommendation of relatives with recruitment) affect

working life. Further, leisure time is invested in recreational activities with the

family (including the extended family of grandparents and cousins). Given the

family structure (e.g. large family, single-parent household, dual-earners

household) and close family ties, workers are pressed to negotiate

psychological contracts that satisfy the family needs. Scandura and Lankau

(1997) argued that employees with family responsibilities may negotiate new

psychological contracts that include family-responsive benefits. Together with

several authors (e.g. Friedman, 1990; Skrypnek & Fast, 1996) they listed

examples of family responsive benefits: child and adult dependent care (e.g.

family-related leave, day care centre, phone-in services, providing information,

financial support, employee assistance programs, resource and referral

services, returning to work after interruption), alternate work arrangements

(e.g. flextime, part-time work, work at home). Although we assume collective

responsibility of state, employers and unions, and family for family-responsive

initiatives, it is clear that individual informal arrangements between employee

and employer (the psychological contract) can prevent and/or reduce work-

family conflicts. Depending on the societal attitude towards their working,

mothers may even be more under pressure to bargain their psychological

contracts.

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“Cultural values” represent, according to Schwartz (1999), “implicitly or

explicitly shared abstract ideas about what is good, right, and desirable in a

society” (p. 25). Cultural values “are the bases for the specific norms that tell

people what is appropriate in various situations” (p. 25). “The explicit and

implicit value emphases that characterise a culture are imparted to societal

members through everyday exposure to customs, laws, norms, scripts, and

organisational practices that are shaped by and express the prevailing cultural

values” (p. 25).

Markus and Kitayama (2003) argued the cultural shaping of

psychological processes. The societal cultural values are reflected and

promoted by customs, norms, practices and institutions. These become lived

experiences in “local” worlds (e.g. the workplace) and result in a set of

habitual psychological tendencies (ways of thinking, feeling, and acting). The

psychological contract can be seen as a specific work-related experience

where employee and employer live out their core cultural values.

In relation to the psychological contract, cultural values can constrain

one’s ability to enter into agreements in the first place (Rousseau & Schalk,

2000, p. 286; Schalk & Rousseau, 2001, p. 135). Secondly, cultural values

can influence the kinds of exchanges that are negotiable in an employment

relationship, i.e. the content of the psychological contract or the “promises

made”. Thirdly, cultural values regarding the meaning of “promises kept” can

affect the fulfilment/breach of the psychological contract. Fourthly, the state of

the psychological contract can be determined by cultural values such as

fairness, trust.

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4. PROVIDING QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS FOR THE IDENTIFIED DIMENSIONS FOR CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISON

We used as criteria for a first screening of indicators:

• Defined in a clear and identical way across sources

• Quantitative

• Suggested by experts

• Available for PSYCONES countries, then for other EU member states,

then for EU candidate member states

• Available from 1993 on

• Minimum three indicators per dimension.

This first screening resulted in a wide range of quantitative indicators

per societal dimension. It included considerations on definition and

operationalisation, source, and availability. We decided that if the data for an

indicator were not available from international statistical data or from earlier

research, it would be gathered through web based experts’ judgement

surveys.

PSYCONES selected during its Stockholm meeting (2-4 April, 2003)

the indicators for which quantitative data will be gathered for inclusion in the

analyses of WP7. Below follows a motivation and a description of each

selected indicator per societal dimension. Table 4 summarises the selected

indicators and includes their source and availability.

4.1. Indicators for “Laws and regulations” We defined “laws and regulations” as the whole of legitimacy facilitators

and constraints shaping the employment conditions, including the


The selected indicators focused on the terms and conditions that

society allows to be negotiated in the psychological contract (zone of negotiability) as well as on the sanctions for violating the negotiated


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Table 4. Selected indicators per societal dimension relevant to the psychological contract

LAWS AND REGULATIONS Indicator Definition and operationalisation Source Availability Zone of negotiability Terms and conditions of employment that society allows either the worker or the firm to negotiate. (Schalk

& Rousseau, 2001, p. 134) Means on 1-7 rating scale.

Web based experts judgement survey. PSYCONES

Sanctions for violation

Sanctions for violating terms and conditions of employment that were negotiated. Means on 1-7 rating scale.

Web based experts’ judgement survey PSYCONES

Welfare state Expenditure of social protection is broken down into social benefits, administration costs, transfers to other schemes and other expenditure. Percentage of GDP.

Eurostat. European social statistics. Social protection expenditure and receipts. Data 1991-2000, p.14. Reference year: 2000.

PSYCONES* EU 9/9, CA 2/10

Social benefits for unemployment

Income maintenance and support in cash or in kind in connection with unemployment. Percentage of GDP.

Eurostat. European social statistics. Social protection expenditure and receipts. Data 1991-2000, p.80. Reference year: 2000.

PSYCONES* EU 9/9 , CA 2/10

Taxes on income Current taxes on income, wealth, etc. Percentage of GDP.

Eurostat yearbook 2002. A statistical guide to Europe, p.179. Reference year: 2000.


INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SYSTEM Indicator Definition and operationalisation Source Availability Industrial peace Number of working days lost through industrial action (strike, lock-out, or dispute).

Means per 1000, across several years. EIRO. Developments in industrial action, 1998-2002, 2003, p.5. Reference year: 1998-2001. Remark: Increases in industrial actions often follow the course of the bargaining cycle. To avoid that this effects the indicator, the means across years is taken.


Trade union density Net union density by active membership (excluded are pensioners and students). Percentage of gainfully employed and salary earners (excluding unemployed).

Ebbinghaus and Visser, 2000. The Societies of Europe. Trade Unions in Western Europe since 1945, p.63. Reference year: 1995.


Collective bargaining coverage

Proportion of workers that have their pay or conditions set, at least to some extent, by collective agreement.

EIRO. Industrial relations in the EU Member States and candidate countries, 2002, p. 12. Reference year:?. Remark: Figures are sometimes estimates and based on varying definitions.


LABOUR MARKET AND ECONOMIC SYSTEM Indicator Definition and operationalisation Source Availability GDP per capita GDP per head in EUR. Eurostat. The social situation in the European

Union 2001, p. 113. Reference year: 1999. PSYCONES* EU 9/9, CA 0/10

Net annual income Mean/median net annual income (equivalised with EU15=13420).

Eurostat. The Social situation in the European Union. 2001, p.120. Reference year: 1996.


21

Table 4 continued Total employment rate

Percentage of civilian employment plus the armed forces and all defined below: i) all persons aged 15-64 years who during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in the following categories: a) Paid employment: a1) Persons who during the reference period performed some work for wage or salary, in cash or in kind; a2) Persons who, having already worked in their present job, were temporarily not at work during the reference period and have a formal attachment to their job. This formal job attachment should be determined in the light of national circumstances, according to one or more of the following criteria: (1) if he continued receipt of wage or salary; (2) an assurance of return to work following the end of the contingency, or an agreement as to the date of return; (3) the elapsed duration of absence from the job, which, wherever relevant, may be that duration for which workers can receive compensation benefits without obligations to accept other jobs. b) Self-employment: b1) Persons who during the reference period performed some work for profit or family gain, in cash or in kind; b2) With an enterprise but not at work: persons with an enterprise, which may be a business enterprise, a farm or a service undertaking, who were temporarily not at work during the reference period for any specific reason. ii) For operational purposes, the notion of some work may be interpreted as work for at least one hour.

OECD. Labour Force Statistics 1979-1999, p.313-353. Reference year: 1998.


Part-time employment

Percentage of total employment (≥ 15 years). Eurostat yearbook 2002. The statistical guide to Europe, p.104. Reference year: 2000.


Unemployment rate Percentage of labour force that fulfils 3 conditions: to be without employment during the reference week; to be available to start work within the next 2 weeks; to have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks. In addition, those who had no employment and had already found a job to start later.

Eurostat Yearbook 2002. Statistical guide to Europe, p.110, 415. Reference year: 2000.


EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Indicator Definition and operationalisation Source Availability Educational expenditure

Percentage of GDP for all levels of education combined, by direct public expenditure for educational institutions. Subsidies to households, for tuition fees and other payments to educational institutions are included in this indicator. Educational institutions include instructional and non-instructional educational institutions. Instructional educational institutions provide programmes to individuals in an organised group setting or through distance education. Business enterprises or other institutions providing short-term courses of training or instruction to individuals on a “one-to-one” basis are not included. Non-instructional educational institutions provide administrative, advisory or professional services to other educational institutions, although they do not enrol students themselves.

Education at a glance. OECD indicators 2002, p.170. Reference year: 1999.

PSYCONES EU 8/9, CA 4/10

Schooling degree Number of years at which over 90% of the population are enrolled. Absolute figures.

Education at a glance. OECD indicators 2002, p. 221. Reference year: 2000.


Youth participation in education

Net enrolment rates in public and private institutions of full-time and part-time students aged 5 years and older as a percentage of the population aged 5-29. (number students of particular age group enrolled in all levels of education divided by number persons in population in that age-group) x 100.

Education at a glance. OECD Indicators 1998, p.160. Reference year: 1996. (2002 requested) Remark: Figures do not distinguish between full-time and part-time study.


Exposure to computers

Number of personal computers per 1000 people. Absolute figures per 1000 people.

World Bank. World Development Indicators 2000, p.300-303. Reference year: 1998.


22

Table 4 continued

FAMILY ORIENTATION

Indicator Definition and operationalisation Source Availability Persons per household

Household is defined as having a shared residence and common arrangements. A household comprises either one person living alone or a group of people, not necessarily related, living at the same address with common housekeeping, i.e. sharing at least one meal a day or sharing a living or sitting room. Means.

European Union labour force. In: Eurostat yearbook 2002. The statistical guide to Europe, p.33. Reference year: 2000.


Fertility rate Number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with current age-specific fertility rates. Absolute figures.

World Bank. World Development Indicators 2000, p.98-101. Reference year: 1998.


Divorces Number of divorces. Absolute figures per 1000 people.

Eurostat yearbook 2002. The statistical guide to Europe, p.28. Reference Year: 1999.


Female employment Percentage of total employment (15-64 years).

The social situation in the European Union, 2001, p.119. Reference year: 1999.


Family ties Means on 1-7 rating scale.


Attitude towards working mothers

Means on 1-7 rating scale.


CULTURAL VALUES Indicator Definition and operationalisation (Schwartz, 1999, pp. 27-29) Source Availability Harmony Cultural emphasis on fitting harmoniously into the environment.

Means. Schwartz (Personal communication, 25/02/2003) PSYCONES

EU 6/9, CA 7/10 Embeddedness Cultural emphasis on maintenance of the status quo, propriety, and restraint of actions or inclinations that

might disrupt the solidarity group or the traditional order. Means.

Schwartz (Personal communication, 25/02/2003) PSYCONES EU 6/9, CA 7/10

Hierarchy Cultural emphasis on the legitimacy of an unequal distribution of power roles and resources. Means.


Mastery Cultural emphasis on getting ahead through active self-assertion. Means.


Affective Autonomy Cultural emphasis on the desirability of individuals independently pursuing affectively positive experience. Means.


Intellectual Autonomy Cultural emphasis on the desirability of individuals independently pursuing their own ideas and intellectual directions. Means.


Egalitarianism Cultural emphasis on transcendence of selfish interests in favour of voluntary commitment to promoting the welfare of others. Means.


PSYCONES = data available for Belgium, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, UK; * = data provided by Israel; EU X/9 = data available for X of other (than PSYCONES) EU member states (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal); CA X/10 = data available for X of candidate member states (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia).

23

Further, the selected indicators expressed the two sides of the coin that may

play in the psychological contract: the societal security net provided for

employees (welfare state and social benefits for unemployment) and the

obliged financial input by employees to society (taxes on income). Quantitative data for zone of negotiability and sanctions for violating did

not exist in international statistical databases, or in earlier research. Hence,

data were gathered through the web based survey (see Part 2).

A large variety of indicators existed for social benefits. The alternative was

between a global measure for welfare state and a series of facet measures.

Research parsimony and the quite specific groups (e.g. sickness, old age,

survivors, etc.) of the facet measures made us choose: the percentage of the

GDP spent on the total social security to indicate welfare state, and the

percentage of the GDP spent on social benefits for unemployment. The

indicator for welfare state was preferred over the typology of welfare states

by Esping-Anderson for several reasons: (1) it yields a metric indicator, (2)

Scheepers, Te grotenhuis, and Gelissen (2002) concluded that the predictive

power of the typology of Esping-Anderson and its metric counterpart was

almost the same, (3) it is not clear which country belongs to which type on

what grounds, and (4) availability of data. We included the percentage of the

GDP spent on social benefits for unemployment because unemployment is a

major problem for several groups in society (young, old, women, low skilled

etc.).

4.2. Indicators for “Industrial relations system” We defined the industrial relations system as involving three sets of

actors (employers’ associations, unions, and government) constructing and

negotiating employer-employee exchanges.

The selected indicators reflected firstly the condition of industrial peace to allow fruitful exchanges that can bear on the psychological contract.

Secondly, the power of the worker’s party (trade union density) may give

some support to individual employees negotiating the psychological contract.

Finally, the collective bargaining coverage pointed to what is left to

negotiate about in the psychological contract. In some countries (e.g. Israel)

the IRS is on the move; hence close follow-up is mandatory.

24

From the three indicators for industrial peace the EIRO data were most

comparable cross-nationally. For trade union density the data provided by

Ebbinghaus and Visser (2000) for union membership as percentage of the

gainfully employed wage and salary earners (excluding unemployed) was

preferred over the two other indicators because of its more strict definition and

its quality of data. From the two indicators for collective bargaining coverage the availability criterion pointed to the EIRO data.

4.3. Indicators for “Labour market and economic system” This societal dimension was defined as the exchange of labour supply

and demand within the broader economic system, the latter being the

production process that determines welfare. The global welfare in a country

results from the combination of production factors (labour, capital, nature, …).

The labour market allocates the production factor “labour” as efficient as

possible (allocating function) and regulates income from labour (dividing

function). The allocation function has two efficiency components: technical

and economic. Technical efficiency refers to the use of available labour, while

economic efficiency implies providing labour where needed. The welfare

resulting from the economic system and the situation of the labour market

affects the terms and conditions of the psychological contract.

According to this definition, we choose the indicators. The GDP per capita

points to the global welfare of a country. This indicator was preferred over two

indicators expressing “growth” because one only gave a ranking of nations

and the other was derived from the GDP. The net annual income represents

the dividing function of the labour market. It was chosen over “compensation”

because it expresses in one figure what is left of wages and salaries after

social contributions are subtracted. It is further equivalised to EU15=13420,

which is an appealing standard for the PSYCONES countries as well as for

candidate member states. The total employment rate and the

unemployment rate reflect the technical efficiency of the labour market in a

complementary way. The OECD data for total employment rate with

elaborated definition were preferred over the ILO data. The unemployment

rate was chosen instead of the duration of unemployment because the latter is

primarily legally set and variation between countries reflects “laws and

25

regulations”. Part-time employment was included as indicator because of its

specific employment conditions that may bear on the psychological contract.

The indicator “working hours” was not taken because it is primarily legally set

and variation between countries reflects “laws and regulations”.

4.4. Indicators for “Educational system” We defined the educational system as the whole of provisions of

education, development and training aiming at critical and creative integration

of children, youth and adults in society. In relation to the psychological

contract, the educational system affects both employers’ and the employees’

sides. The firm’s ability to obtain skilled workers as well as the individual’s

market power depends on the level of education and training provided by

society. Further, the educational system is linked to the psychological contract

in view of school-to-work pipelines and new employment arrangements.

Some indicators were not selected because of the availability criterion, the

poor quality of data, too narrow reach (very specific groups). The selected

indicators reflected firstly the global efforts that society puts into education and

training (educational expenditure) and the attained level of education

(degree of schooling) that results from it. Further, youth participation in education and exposure to computers focused on the future world of work.

4.5. Indicators for “Family orientation” This was defined as the complex whole of family structure and ties.

“Family orientation” pays special attention to the gender issues of female

employment and the societal attitude towards working mothers. On the one

hand, family structure reflected a certain societal welfare (fertility rate, size of

family) as background for the psychological contract. On the other hand,

family structure constrained the psychological contract through the fulfilment

of family needs (material and social). Strong family ties pointed to centrality of

family in life: then psychological contracts were linked to family matters.

We selected “persons per household” and not “number of unpaid

family members” and “family income” because the selected indicator “net

annual income” (see above with the dimension “labour market and economic

26

system) already covered this. We selected “divorces” and “fertility rate” as

two opposite (pessimistic and optimistic) viewpoints.

Direct quantitative data for the degree of closeness of family ties did

not exist in international statistical databases, or in earlier research. Reher

(1998) identified areas in Western Europe where families and family ties are

relatively weak and strong. He anticipated that some convergence may occur

over time but that differences will remain mainly because of dividing historical

roots. He based his division of weak and strong family ties in Western Europe

on indicators such as age of young members leaving home; family care for

vulnerable members; unemployment and social distress; lone parent

households; loneliness and suicide. He broadly categorised the centre and

the north of Europe as areas with weak family ties and the Mediterranean

region as area with strong family ties. Weak family ties imply low percentage

aged 25-29 still living with parents; high percentage of elderly persons living in

institutions; high percentage single-person households; high number of

deaths by suicide; high number of divorces; high percentage of non-married

couples cohabiting aged 30-44; and high percentage of births outside

marriage. Rather than adding Reher’s suggested indicators to our list, we

preferred to design the web-based survey (see part 2).

The gender issues were covered by two indicators: female employment as percentage of total employment, and the societal attitude towards working mothers. For the latter no quantitative data existed in

international statistical databases, or in earlier research. Thus the web based

survey was used (see part 2).

4.6. Indicators for “Cultural values”

PSYCONES preferred the Schwartz’ framework for comparison of

national cultural values over others (Hofstede, 1980, 1991, 2001; Halman,

2001; Inglehart & Baker, 2000; World Values Study Group,

http://wvs.isr.umich.edu; Smith, Dugan, & Trompenaars, 1996; Smith,

Peterson, & Schwartz, 2002; House, Javidan, & Dorfman, 2001; House,

Javidan, Hanges, & Dorfman, 2002; Ashkanasy, Trevor-Roberts, & Earnshaw,

2002; Szabo, Brodbeck, Den Hartog, Reber, Weibler, & Wunderer, 2002;

Bakacsi, Sándor, András, Viktor, 2002; Jesuino, 2002). The reasons were:

27

• His value types are derived from his theory of values based on three

issues that societies must deal with. Only values with equivalent meanings

across cultures were used (Schwartz, 1994, 1999).

• Across samples, his value types confirm the three bipolar dimensions

that organise them (Schwartz, 1994, 1999; Schwartz & Bardi, 1997):

Hierarchy versus Egalitarianism, Mastery versus Harmony; and Conservatism

(now called Embeddedness) versus Autonomy (Intellectual and Affective).

• The availability of data for college students' samples is very appealing

for PSYCONES because these are tomorrow’s work force that will be

confronted with psychological contracts across employment situations.

Further, “Undergraduate students … are more likely to show the influence of

exposure to modernizing trends. Students are younger than the population in

general, and their priorities may reflect directions in which the culture is

changing” (Schwartz, 1994, p. 91).

• Data gathering is still ongoing for extension beyond the 1988-92 data.

Schwartz is occupied with new perspectives on values (e.g. Schwartz &

Sagie, 2000; Schwartz & Bardi, 2001). Recent studies (e.g. Raghuram,

London, & Holt Larsen, 2001; Smith et al, 2002) suggest to utilise Schwartz’

cultural dimensions.

Schwartz (1994, p. 99) asked individuals to rate values “AS A

GUIDING PRINCIPLE IN MY LIFE”, using a scale from 7 (of supreme

importance) to 0 (not important) and -1 (opposed to my value). The scores on

seven culture-level dimensions for student samples for the PSYCONES

countries, provided by Schwartz (personal communication, 25/02/2003), are

means centred around the mean rating for all 57 items (the pan-cultural mean)

with the addition of 4.0. In this way all means are adjusted to eliminate

national differences in use of the response scale (Schwartz & Bardi, 2001, p.

287). For Germany there were two samples of students (West and East).

Following Schwartz’ guideline (Schwartz & Bardi, 2001) these two ratings

were averaged to yield a single rating.

The capsule definitions for each culture-level value type (see Table 4)

were taken from Schwartz (1999, p. 27-28), while exemplary specific values

that are given below were taken from Schwartz (1994, p. 101-106; 1999, p.

28

27-29). Cultures that emphasise Embeddedness (originally called

Conservatism) values are primarily concerned with clean, devout, family

security, forgiving, honouring elders, moderate, national security, obedient,

politeness, preserving public image, reciprocation of favours, respect for

tradition, self-discipline, social order, wisdom. Cultures that emphasise

Intellectual Autonomy values are primarily concerned with curiosity,

broadmindedness, creativity. Cultures that emphasise Affective Autonomy

values are primarily concerned with pleasure, enjoying life, exciting life,

pleasure, varied life. Cultures that emphasise Hierarchy values are primarily

concerned with authority, humility, influential, social power. Cultures that

emphasise Egalitarianism values are primarily concerned with accepting my

portion, equality, freedom, helpful, honesty, loyal, responsibility, social justice,

world at peace. Cultures that emphasise Mastery values are primarily

concerned with ambition, choosing own goals, competence, daring,

independent, success. Cultures that emphasise Harmony values are primarily

concerned with protecting the environment, unity with nature, world of beauty.

29

5. CHARACTERISING THE PSYCONES COUNTRIES ON THE SOCIETAL CORE DIMENSIONS RELEVANT FOR THE PSYCHOLOGICAL

CONTRACT THROUGH DATA ON THE SELECTED INDICATORS

Firstly, we characterized the PSYCONES countries per indicator per

dimension. To evaluate the variation in an indicator we looked at the length of

the box plot and the presence of outliers (1.5 quartile away from the box) and

of extreme scores (3 quartiles away from the box). We also did visual

inspection of the graphs.

Secondly, we combined indicators across dimensions to characterize

the PSYCONES countries. Indeed, Figure 1 and numerous publications (see

part 3) indicated that the societal dimensions operate interactively. For this

purpose, we performed cluster analysis.

5.1. Laws and regulations There was quite some spread in the scores for all indicators. The UK

was an outlier for “zone of negotiability” and “sanctions for violation”,

respectively with a high and a low score. Israel was with a low score an outlier

for “welfare state”. Data for Israel were not available for “taxes on income”.

Figure 2. Zone of negotiability

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6,0

5,5

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30

Figure 3. Sanctions for violations

Figure 4. Welfare state: Expenditure on social protection

UK

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4,4

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4,0

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3,6

3,4

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31

Figure 5. Social benefits for unemployment

Figure 6. Taxes on income

5.2. Industrial relations system

There was no spread in the scores for “industrial peace” except the

extreme high score of Spain. There was variation for “trade union density” with

Sweden’s extreme high score as outlier. There was variation for “collective

bargaining coverage”. Data for Israel were not available for “industrial peace”.

UK

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P

3,5

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,5

32

Figure 7. Industrial peace

Figure 8. Trade union density

Figure 9. Collective bargaining coverage

UK

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80

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000

180170160150140130120110100

908070605040302010

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33

5.3. Labour market and economic system There was variation in the scores for all indicators. For “part-time

employment” there were two outliers: the low score for Spain and the high

score for the Netherlands. Spain was with a low score an outlier for “net

annual income”.

Figure 10. GDP per capita

Figure 11. Net annual income

UK

Sw

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in

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P in

EU

R

26000

24000

22000

20000

18000

16000

14000

UK

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EU

R

18000

16000

14000

12000

10000

8000

34

Figure 12. Total employment rate

Figure 13. Part-time employment

Figure 14. Unemployment rate

UK

Sw

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14

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6

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2

35

5.4. Educational system Inspecting the Box plots and the graphs led to the conclusion that there

was variation for all indicators. With a high score, Israel was an outlier for

“educational expenditure”. With a high score, Belgium was an outlier for

“schooling degree”. Data for Israel were not available for “youth participation

in education”.

Figure 15. Educational expenditure

Figure 16. Schooling degree

UK

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15,5

15,0

14,5

14,0

13,5

13,0

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12,0

11,5

36

Figure 17. Youth participation in education

Figure 18. Exposure to computers

5.5. Family orientation According to the box plots and the graphs there was variation in the

scores for all indicators except fertility rate. However, Israel had a very high

score on “fertility rate”. Spain was an outlier for "divorces" with a low score.

Sweden had a positive score on “attitude towards working mothers”. Further,

here were two outliers for ‘family ties”: close ties in Spain and loose ties in the

UK.

UK

Sw

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in

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rs/1

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peop

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400

300

200

100

37

Figure 19. Persons per household

Figure 20. Fertility rate

Figure 21. Divorces

UK

Sw

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3,4

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s/10

00 p

eopl

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3,0

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38

Figure 22. Female employment

Figure 23. Strength of family ties

Figure 24. Societal attitudes towards women

UK

Sw

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6

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39

5.6. Cultural values

The box plots indicated and the graphs showed that there was variation

in the scores for Harmony, Hierarchy, Mastery and Affective Autonomy. For

Harmony the low score for Israel was an outlier. There was not much variation

in the scores for Intellectual Autonomy, Embeddedness and Egalitarianism.

For Embeddedness the high score for Israel was an outlier. For Egalitarianism

the low score for Israel and the high score for Spain were outliers.

Figure 25. Harmony

Figure 26. Embeddedness

UK

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40

Figure 27. Hierarchy

Figure 28. Mastery

Figure 29. Affective autonomy

UK

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Ger

man

y

Bel

gium

mea

ns

4,5

4,4

4,3

4,2

4,1

4,0

3,9

3,8

UK

Sw

eden

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Isra

el

Ger

man

y

Bel

gium

mea

ns

4,8

4,6

4,4

4,2

4,0

3,8

3,6

41

Figure 30. Intellectual autonomy

Figure 31. Egalitarianism

Israel lacks three indicators, has five outliers and one extreme score.

Belgium has a high schooling degree; Germany has no outliers; Israel combines low welfare state with high education expenditure, high fertility rate.

It has low Harmony, low Egalitarianism and high Embeddedness. The

Netherlands score high on part-time employment. Spain has low industrial

peace, very low net annual income and part-time employment. It has close

family ties and a low number of divorces. It has high Egalitarianism. Sweden

has a very high trade union density and a positve attitude towards working

mothers. The UK combines a broad zone of negotiability with low sanctions

for violation. It has loose family ties.

UK

Sw

eden

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Isra

el

Ger

man

y

Bel

gium

mea

ns

6,0

5,5

5,0

4,5

4,0

UK

Sw

eden

Spa

in

Net

herla

nds

Isra

el

Ger

man

y

Bel

gium

mea

ns

5,6

5,4

5,2

5,0

4,8

4,6

4,4

4,2

4,0

42

5.7. Cluster analysis of PSYCONES countries Cluster analysis groups the cases (countries) so that cases in the same

cluster are more similar to one another than they are to cases in other clusters

(Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998).

5.7.1. Selection of indicators as clustering variables We deleted three indicators where data from Israel were not available:

industrial peace, taxes on income, and youth participation in education.

We then checked the multicollinearity amongst the remaining 27

indicators. Table 5 gives the Pearson correlations between the indicators. We

deleted those indicators causing most multicollinearity, while safeguarding the

representation of each societal dimension and the efforts invested in the web-

based surveys. After the deletion of nine indicators the number of significant

correlations at .05 level was 12 on a total of 153, or about 8% (bold in Table

5). The initial cluster analysis used 18 clustering variables:

• For “Laws and regulations”: Zone of negotiability, Welfare state

• For “Industrial relations”: Trade union density, Collective bargaining

coverage

• For “Labour market and economic system”: GDP per capita, Net annual

income, Part-time employment, Unemployment rate

• For “Educational system”: Educational expenditure, Schooling degree

• For “Family orientation”: Persons per household, Female employment,

Family ties, Attitude towards working mothers

• For “Cultural values”: Hierarchy, Mastery, Affective Autonomy, Intellectual

Autonomy.

5.7.2. Standardising by indicators Cluster analysis is based on similarity between each pair of countries. It

assesses this similarity through distance measures, with smaller distances

representing greater similarity. Our indicators have different scales which

introduce bias: indicators with larger standard deviations have more impact on

the final similarity value. Therefore we conversed the data to Z-scores.

43

Table 5. Significant (p ≤ .05) Pearson Correlations Between 27 Indicators (N=7) Indicators 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

1. Zone of negotiability -.76 -79

2. Sanctions for violation

3. Welfare state .86 .88 -.97 .84 -.85

4.Social benefits unemployment .79 .77

5. Trade union density .88

6. Collective bargaining coverage

7. GDP per capita -.80 .77 -.89 -.87

8.Annual net income

9.Total employment rate -.90 .82

10.Part-time employment -.80

11.Unemployment rate -.85 -.80 -.85 -.76

12.Educational expenditure .80

13.Schooling degree

14.Exposure to computers -.85 .78 .87

15.Persons per household -.79 .82

16.Fertility rate -.88 .82 -.92

17.Divorces .78

18.Female employment -.76

19.Family ties

20.Attitude working mothers

21.Harmony -.85 -.78 .77 .77

22.Embeddedness

23.Hierarchy -.91 -.79

24.Mastery

25.Affective Autonomy

26.Intellectual Autonomy

27.Egalitarianism

44

5.7.3. Forming clusters of PSYCONES countries We used Ward’s method of hierarchical agglomerative clustering. To

determine the final number of clusters, we considered the relevance of several

cluster solutions for PSYCONES as cross-national research. We further monitored

large increases (“jumps”) in the agglomeration coefficient, indicating the merging of

two clusters that are not very similar. We examined the dendrogram to see how the

countries were combined at each step of the procedure until all were contained in a

single cluster.

An initial cluster analysis was performed on 18 indicators. The jumps in the

agglomeration coefficient allowed to examine solutions with four to two clusters on

their membership (see Table 6).

Table 6. Cluster Membership in Initial Cluster Analysis Four Cluster Solution

1 2 3 4 Belgium Germany

Netherlands UK

Israel Spain Sweden

Three Cluster Solution 1 2 3

Belgium Germany

Netherlands UK

Israel Spain

Sweden

Two Cluster Solution 1 2

Belgium Germany

Netherlands UK

Sweden

Israel Spain

Obviously some countries formed single-country clusters due to their outliers

or extreme scores on some indicators (see 5.1. through 5.6.). We considered the

three clusters’ solution most relevant for the objectives of PSYCONES. This solution

combines interesting groupings with the uniqueness of a single country. Through

ANOVA’s we found that only 8 out of the 18 indicators significantly differed across the

three derived clusters: Welfare state (p=.029), Trade union density (p=.020), GDP

per capita (p=.005), Unemployment rate (p=.072), Persons per household (p=.002),

Female employment (p=.067), Attitude towards working mothers (p=.091), Affective

Autonomy (p=.057). Notice that the societal dimension “Educational System” did not

have indicators significantly differed across the three clusters. A final cluster analysis

was performed on eight indicators. The jumps in the agglomeration coefficient

45

confirmed the three clusters’ solution as worthwhile (see Table 6) and as best fitting

the research objectives.

For the cluster interpretation, we went back to the raw scores for the indicators

and computed cluster centroids. Table 7 gives this average value of the countries

contained in the cluster on each indicator. Notice that a cluster interpretation is

“relative” as compared to the other clusters.

Table 7. Cluster Centroids of Final Cluster Analysis Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Percentage of GDP spent on welfare state

27.60 14.95 32.30

Trade union density

25.35 28.25 87.20

GDP per head in EURO

22875 16550 21600

Unemployment rate as percentage of labour force

5.85 12.20 5.90

Average number of persons per household

2.3 3.15 2

Percentage of female employment

58.25 42.7 69

Attitude towards working mothers (scale 1 through 7)

4.2 3.77 6.3

Importance of Affective Autonomy (scale -1 through 7)

4.48 3.93 4.02

Cluster 1 contains four West-European countries (Belgium, Germany, the

Netherlands and the UK). These are affluent societies spend a large percentage of

their high GDP on social welfare. There is a low unemployment rate and on average

the households are small. The trade union density in these countries is low. Cluster 1

is further characterised by a medium degree of female employment combined with a

neutral attitude towards working mothers. These societies attach high importance to

values such as pleasure, enjoying life, exciting life, varied life.

Cluster 2 groups two countries along the (opposite) shores of the

Mediteranean sea: Israel and Spain. Here the GDP is low and the unemployment

rate is high. The households are on average large. These countries spend a small

percentage of their low GDP on social welfare. The trade union density is low. Israel

and Spain share a low degree of female employment and a neutral-to-negative

attitude towards working mothers. These societies attach low importance to values

such as pleasure, enjoying life, exciting life, and varied life.

Sweden, a Nordic country, is the only country in Cluster 3. It is an affluent

society that spends a large percentage of its high GDP to social welfare. There is a

low unemployment rate and households are on average small. Sweden has high

46

trade union density. There is a high degree of female employment and a positive

attitude towards working mothers. As a society, it attaches low importance to values

such as pleasure, enjoying life, exciting life, and varied life.

We profiled the clusters in terms of the psychological contract by using the

PSYCONES pilot data. We computed the sum of "yes" answers for q18a-n to obtain

a measure for "content employers" and for q19a-j to obtain a measure for "content

employees". We made a scale of the items from q20a-h to obtain a measure for

"state". Table 8 gives the means per cluster for these aspects of the psychological

contract, as well as the results of the independent samples' t-tests between the three

clusters.

Table 8. Profiling the societal clusters on the psychological contract Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3

Means content employers

(0-14)

significant difference

10.82 10.69 11.54

no difference significant difference

Means content employees

(0-14)

no difference

8.35 9.16 8.74

significant difference significant difference

Means state (1-7)

no difference

3.78 4.44 3.59

significant difference significant difference

The scores on the psychological contract are quite favourable: all means are

above the midpoint of the answer scales. In cluster 2 Israel and Spain share the

richest psychological contract in terms of employee promises and the best state of

the psychological contract. Cluster 3 (Sweden) has the richest psychological contract

in terms of employer promises.

47

6. CONCLUSIONS

WP4 is cross-national because it studies more than similarities/differences in

cultural values of countries. With a multi-method and multi-source approach

(literature study, structured interviews with experts, consultation of international

census databases, use of findings of earlier empirical studies, web-based experts’

surveys, and statistical analysis), WP4 met its goals for the first year.

The first objective was reached by identifying the societal core dimensions

relevant as context of the psychological contract. The study of the literature and of

the NUEWO project resulted in the identification of six dimensions. Experts with a

broadminded perspective on society reflected critically on these six dimensions and

suggested only the broadening of one dimension. The six societal dimensions

constituting the context of the psychological contract are: Laws and regulations,

Industrial relations system, Labour market and economic system, Educational

system, Family orientation, and Cultural values.

Secondly, we provided quantitative data for selected indicators for the

identified dimensions.

An iterative process of literature study and consultation of experts led to a preliminary

list of possible indicators per dimension. After we performed a first screening of the

indicators (applying criteria such as clear definition, availability, recent figures), the

PSYCONES team collectively selected 30 indicators for which data were to be

gathered.

For all but four indicators, data were available through consultation of international

census databases (EUROSTAT, ILO, EIRO, OECD) or were provided by the

researcher of earlier empirical studies (i.e. Schwartz for the cultural values). We

developed and deployed two web-based surveys to gather data for “zone of

negotiability”, “sanctions for violation” (survey for experts in laws and regulations) and

for “strength of family ties” and “attitude towards working mothers” (survey for experts

in family matters). After the deletion of outliers and extreme scores, there were more

than 5 expert opinions per country, thus fulfilling the guideline for interrater reliability.

On the whole, the experts agreed more about the family matters than about the laws

and regulations.

48

We shortly sketched the PSYCONES countries on the societal dimensions

through data on the selected indicators.

Firstly, using bar graphs, the countries’ scores per indicator per dimension were

examined. Results indicated variation in most indicators. Unfortunately, for three

indicators (industrial peace, taxes on income, youth participation in education) data

from Israel remained missing, even after extensive effort of the Israeli colleagues.

Probably these indicators will have to be deleted in further analyses. Israel also

proved to have quite some outliers; this supports the decision to use this country in

comparison with the EU countries of PSYCONES. Based on the bar graphs it was

possible to point out some unique characteristics for some countries, except

Germany. We suggest to write more elaborated “country profiles” in the second year

of WP4 as help for the interpretation of similarities/differences between countries

found in the analyses of WP7.

Secondly, we used cluster analysis that combined indicators across dimensions to

characterise the PSYCONES countries. This approach recognised the interaction

between the societal dimensions. Although - given N=7 - merely a learning exercise,

the cluster analysis confronted us with problems and prospects:

• missing data for Israel;

• multicollinearity between the indicators within and across dimensions;

• quite stable clustering of the PSYCONES countries (West Europe, South Europe

and Israel, North Europe). (Note: Cluster analyses with other indicators were

carried out, only one trial was reported).

• profiling of the societal clusters in terms of the psychological contract.

In view of the analyses of the employee well-being model in WP7, a selection

amongst the 30 indicators for the six societal dimensions will be necessary.

Especially when thinking about hierarchical linear modeling, the sample requirements

are rather large. Several authors advise 10-to-1 observations per predictor for level 1-

effects and 30 groups with 30 cases for level 2-effects (Kreft & de Leeuw, 1996;

Hofmann, 1997; Hofmann, Griffin, & Gavin, 2000). However, a tradeoff among

between and within unit observations is possible: fewer groups with more cases in

each group. (Note: WP7 will deal with three levels).

49

We performed a selection of indicators by taking into account following criteria:

delete indicators with missings for Israel, delete indicators causing most

multicollinearity within and across dimensions, select indicators with most variation

between countries, safeguard the representation of each societal dimension, honor

the efforts invested in the web-based surveys, and pay attention to special

PSYCONES' interests. However, some of these criteria allow subjective choices. We

did this exercise (see Table 9) and initially came up with two different lists of

indicators to include in further analyses. We sorted out the differences and propose a

real minimum list of six indicators to include in the analyses of WP7 (see fourth

column of Table 9). This limitation to six societal indicators (one per dimension)

follows the logic that including a nominal variable “country” would also result in six

dummy variables.

50

Table 9. Proposed societal indicators to include in analyses of WP7 Dimension 18 indicators included in initial cluster analysis,

leaving 8% (12 on 153) multicollinearity.

Bold = different between clusters in final cluster analysis

15 indicators leaving 9% (9 on 105) multicollinearity Proposed selection of indicators for WP7.

Unless mentioned otherwise, based on discriminating

power in final cluster analysis.

Laws and regulations Zone of negotiability

Welfare state Zone of negotiability

Welfare state

Welfare state

Industrial relations system Trade union density Collective bargaining coverage

Trade union density

Collective bargaining coverage

Trade union density

Labour market and economic

system

GDP per capita Net annual income

Part-time employment

Unemployment rate

GDP per capita

Net annual income

-

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate (Psycones' considerations; high

negative correlation with GDP per capita)

Educational system Educational expenditure

Schooling degree

Educational expenditure

Schooling degree

Schooling degree (not different between clusters;

representing dimension; Belgium is outlier)

Family orientation Persons per household Female employment Family ties

Attitude towards working mothers

Persons per household

-

Family ties

Attitudes towards working mothers

Attitude towards working mothers (web-based

survey)

Cultural values Hierarchy

Mastery

Intellectual Autonomy

Affective Autonomy

Hierarchy

Mastery

-

-

Embeddedness

Affective Autonomy

51

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57

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We appreciate the help of following experts in critically commenting on the identified societal dimensions relevant to the psychological contract: Prof. Dr. F. Mortier (Belgium, Ghent University, Department of

Philosophy and Moral Sciences); Prof. Dr. L. Sels (Belgium, Catholic

University Louvain, Department of Applied Economic Sciences); Prof. Dr. J.J.

van Hoof (Netherlands, University Nijmegen, Department of Sociology); Prof.

Dr. W.J.H. van Oorschot (Netherlands, University Tilburg, Department of

Sociology); and Prof. Dr. J. Vilrokx (Belgium, Free University Brussels,

Department of Social Research).

We appreciate the help of the following experts in critically screening the quantitative indicators. For the dimension “Laws and Regulations”: Prof.

Dr. P. Humblet (Ghent University, Department of Labour Law and Social

Security Law); Prof. Dr. W.J.H. van Oorschot (Netherlands, University Tilburg,

Department of Sociology). For the dimension “Industrial Relations System”:

Prof. Dr. L. Sels (Belgium, Catholic University Louvain, Department of Applied

Economic Sciences). For the dimension “Labour Market and Economic

System”: Dr. R. Muffels (Netherlands, University Tilburg, Department of

Sociology) and Prof. Dr. E. Omey (Belgium, Ghent University, Department of

Social Economics). For the dimension “Educational System”: Lic. L. Van de

Perre (Belgium, Ministry of the Flemish Community, Department of Education

– Budget and Data Management Division). For the dimension “ Family

Orientation”: Prof. Dr. H. Van Crombrugge (Belgium, Ghent University,

Department of Pedagogics). For the dimension “Cultural Values”: Dr. L.

Halman (Netherlands, University Tilburg, Department of Sociology).

We appreciate that Prof. Dr. S.H. Schwartz (Israel, The Hebrew

University of Jerusalem, Department of Psychology) provided the country scores for his 7 values types for the student samples and granted PSYCONES the permission to use these. We appreciate the help of Drs. Hans Groenvynck of the Department of

Personnel Management, Work and Organizational Psychology of the

University Gent with the development of the web-based surveys. We appreciate the participation in the web based survey for “Laws and regulations” of: Prof. Dr. K. Ahlberg (Sweden, National Institute for

58

Working Life); Prof. Dr. C. Amnon (Israel); Dr. S. Ashwin (UK, London School

of Economics and Political Science); P. Barre (Belgium, University of Louvain-

La-Neuve, Institut des Sciences du Travail) ; Prof. Dr. N. Bruun (Sweden,

National Institute for Working Life); Dr. O. Carmi (Israel, IIRA) ; Lic. H. Collins

(UK, London School of Economics and Political Science ); Prof. Dr. De Val

Tena (Spain, Universidad de Zaragoza, Derecho del Trabajo y de la

Seguridad Social); Rechtsanwalt M. W. Felser (Germany, Brühl); Prof. Dr. D.

Frenkel (Israel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Shiva, School of

Management, Department of Business Administration); Prof. Dr. Y. C. Galan

(Spain, Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid); Dr. R. Hancké (UK, London

School of Economics and Political Science); Prof. Dr. P. Humblet (Belgium,

University of Gent, Department of Employment Law, Labour Law and Social

Security Law); Prof. Dr. A. Ph. C.M. Jaspers (Netherlands, University of

Utrecht, Faculty of Law); Prof. Dr. R. M. Jimenez (Spain, Rey Juan Carlos

University of Madrid, Department of Labour Law); Lic. Y. Jorens (Belgium,

University of Gent, Social Law Unit); Prof. Dr. K. Källström (Sweden,

University of Stockholm); Prof. Dr. E. Léonard (Belgium, University of Louvain-

La-Neuve, Institut des Sciences du Travail) ; A. Leurs (Belgium, Brussels,

Legal Department ACV-CSC); Prof. Dr. J. Malmberg (Sweden, National

Institute for Working Life); Prof Dr. M. R. Martinez (Spain, University of

Valencia, Department of Labour Law and Social Security Law); Prof. Dr. B.

Nyström (Sweden, University of Lund, Faculty of Law); Prof Dr. Ortiz (Spain,

University of Zaragoza, Faculty of Law, Department of Labour Law and Social

Security); Prof. Dr. R. C. Roncero (Spain, Universidad Complutense de

Madrid, Department of Employment Law); G. Schmid (Germany, Scientific

Centre of Berlin); Prof. Dr. L. Sels (Belgium, University of Louvain,

Department of Applied Economics); Dr. A.G. Veldman (Netherlands,

University of Utrecht, LLM); V. Widhammer (Germany, Institute of Labour

Law, Trier); Prof. Dr. T. Wilthagen (Netherlands, University of Tilburg, Institute

for Labour Studies).

We appreciate the participation in the web based survey for “Family matters” of: Prof. Dr. M.J. Bakermans-Kranenburg (Netherlands, University of

Leiden, Center for child and Family Studies); Lic. C. Barbez (Belgium,

University of Gent, Department of Psychology); Prof. Dr. U. Björnberg

59

(Sweden, University of Göteborg, Department of Sociology); Prof. Dr. R.

Péna-casas (Spain); Prof. Dr. C. De Hoog (Netherlands, University of

Wageningen, Family Sociology); Lic. J. De Mol (Belgium, University of Gent,

Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Research Group Family

Studies); F. Deven (Belgium, Scientific Director, Brussels, Population and

Family Study Centre); Prof. Dr. P. Dykstra (Netherlands, Netherlands

Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute); Prof. Dr. R. Fahlbeck (Sweden,

University of Lund); Prof. Dr. E. Gracia (Spain, University of Valencia); Prof.

Dr. S. S. Gustafsson (Sweden, University of Amsterdam, Department of

Economics); Prof. Dr. B. Hobson (Sweden, University of Stockholm,

Sociological Institution); T. Jacobs (Belgium, General Director, Brussels

CBGS); Prof. Dr. J. Janssens (Netherlands, University of Nijmegen); Prof. Dr.

R. Katz (Israel); Prof. Dr. A.C. Komter (Netherlands, University of Utrecht); Dr.

L. Kulik (Israel, Bar Ilan University Ramat-Gan, School of Social Work); Prof.

Dr. M. Lila (Spain, University of Valencia); Prof. Dr. A. Nyberg (Sweden,

National Institute for Working Life); Prof. Dr. D.S. Reher (Spain and UK,

Universidad Complutense de Madrid); F.G. Sanz (Spain, Director of Services

for Children and Family, area of Social Welfare); Prof. Dr. U. Schmidt-Denter

(Germany, University of Köln, department of Psychology); Prof. Dr. K. A.

Schneewind (Germany, University of Munich, department of Psychology); Dr.

O. Sullivan (Israel, Ben Gurion University); Prof. Dr. J. Van Crombrugge

(Belgium, University of Gent, Department of Pedagogy); Dr. A. Vermulst

(Netherlands, University of Nijmegen); Prof. Dr. S. Walper (Germany,

University of Munich, Faculty of Pedagogy).

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