Date

4-29-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

James C. Guy

Keywords

Psychological contract, positive psychology, PERMA well-being

Disciplines

Business | Psychology

Abstract

The PERMA model, a five-factor framework- positive emotion (P), engagement (E), relationship (R), meaning and purpose (M), and accomplishment (A)- was developed to assess the building blocks of well-being (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). In the workplace setting, organizations perceive how positive organizational psychology shapes employee well-being through exchange relationships (Donaldson et al., 2022). Previous research confirms the effect of the psychological contract on well-being when the contract is violated in the workplace. Yet, limited studies examine the association between overall well-being and employee exchange agreements, such as the psychological contract. This study explored the differences between relational and transactional psychological contracts and PERMA well-being, among a sample of educators, employing a quantitative research design with a Mann-Whitney U statistical test. Next, the moderating role of organizational justice was examined using a hierarchical multiple regression analysis with bootstrapping. The study found a significant difference in overall PERMA well-being at high levels among educators with transactional contracts compared to those with relational contracts. The moderation analysis indicated significant main effects of psychological contract and organizational justice on PERMA well-being, but no significant interaction effect. Organizational justice did not moderate the relationship between psychological contract type and PERMA. Predictive effects were driven by organizational justice, with psychological contract type rendered non-significant due to shared variance. Findings on psychological contract fulfillment provide insights into reducing employee turnover, restoring justice, and improving employee well-being, job performance, and organizational commitment.

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