The Content and Structure of the Psychological Contract in Vietnam: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

The current research explores the content and latent structure of the psychological contract in Vietnam. Because psychological contract in Vietnam is rare, two Vietnamese versions of the psychological contract scales have been developed for both employees and employers' obligations. Data have been collected from both MBA students and full time employees in Hanoi, Vietnam, the final data set contains 495 observations. Analyses showed that employees in Vietnam place high importance on the employer's obligation to improve working condition while "interesting and challenging job” were not perceived to be important. At the same time Vietnamese employees believe that they are obligated to follow the company's regulation but neglect the obligation of do not seek a job elsewhere. Factor analyses suggested three factors for employer's obligations including "Job characteristic contract”, "Working environment contract”, and "Compensation contract”. Four factor were extracted for employees obligation including: "extra-role contract”, "authority acceptance contract”, "organization loyalty contract” and "in-role contract”.