Excessive entitlement, psychological contract fulfillment, and employee outcomes: The moderating effect of accountability

Abstract

Excessive entitlement attitudes of employees are an increasing problem for organizations. However, there has been little research regarding a clear framework related to the construct of excessive entitlement, and articles in top-tier management journals are almost nonexistent. This study presents a thorough overview of the nomological network for entitlement, and it takes the unique approach of studying entitlement as a separate lower-level facet instead of as a part of narcissism. This study's findings support the hypothesis that excessive entitlement attitudes of employees have a negative effect on their perception that the psychological contract has been fulfilled, with psychological contract fulfillment then predicting employee performance and counterproductive work behaviors. Contrary to expectations, my results suggest that accountability may actually exacerbate problems associated with employees who exhibit excessive entitlement attitudes, such that these employees perceive less psychological contract fulfillment when accountability is high versus low. This research both extends current understanding of entitlement attitudes of employees and underscores the need for additional research.