When the nature of employment matters in the employment relationship: a cluster analysis of psychological contracts and organizational commitment in the non-profit sector

This paper investigates the relationship between psychological contracts, organizational commitment and employment characteristics among paid employees in a non-profit organization. This is an empirically neglected workforce group. Using fuzzy c-means clustering, our analysis establishes three clusters of employees based on their psychological contract perceptions. Subsequent validation shows that the clusters display different levels of organizational commitment, based on an aggregated commitment measure and three single-item measures pertaining to loyalty, values and effort. In addition, the clusters are differentiated by their demographic profiles, particularly regarding the work role and type of employment contract held. Although prior psychological contract research has considered the impact of employment status (full time, part time and temporary), little attention has been afforded to the nature of the work role undertaken and its implications for the psychological contract. Our exploratory cluster analysis explicates the need for further role-related research in the non-profit sector and beyond. Potential role-related factors underpinning the differential management of employees in the non-profit sector and other work contexts are discussed.