The effects of coworkers’ development idiosyncratic deals on employees’ cooperation intention

Keywords:
idiosyncratic deal, unfairness perception, cooperation intention, task interdependence, employment arrangements
Abstract

Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) are individualized agreements of a nonstandard nature negotiated between employers and employees regarding employment terms, which are regarded as being beneficial for the organization. On the bases of social comparison theory and equity theory, we hypothesized that witnessing the development i-deals of their coworkers would trigger employees’ feeling of unfairness, causing lower cooperation intention. We further hypothesized that perceived future i-deals and task interdependence would play moderating roles in this reduction. Participants were 284 employees in China. The results show that feelings of unfairness mediated the relationship between witnessing development i-deals and the witnesses’ cooperation intention. The positive relationship between witnessing development i-deals and feelings of unfairness was weaker when employees perceived a stronger possibility of themselves obtaining a future i-deal, and a high level of task interdependence weakened the negative effect of feelings of unfairness on employees’ cooperation intention.

Author Biographies
  1. Xiaoyan Zhang, Beijing Jiaotong University
    School of Economics and Management
  2. Wenbing Wu, Beijing Jiaotong University
    School of Economics and Management
  3. Yihua Zhang, Pepperdine University
    Graduate School of Education and Psychology
  4. Hui Deng, Beijing Jiaotong University
    School of Economics and Management
  5. Yuanyuan Lan, Beijing Jiaotong University
    School of Economics and Management
  6. Daiheng Li, Beijing Jiaotong University
    School of Economics and Management
References
Published
2021-08-24
Section
Articles
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