Unravelling psychological contracts in a digital age of work: a systematic literature review

This study provides a comprehensive overview of psychological contract research in the digital age of work, where digitalization has significantly shaped the nature of work and employment arrangements. It examines the employee-employer relationship through the lens of individual beliefs about reciprocal obligations as reflected in psychological contract research. Through a systematic literature review, the study uncovers four distinct mechanisms of work digitalization (Remote/virtual Cooperation, Online Communication, Algorithm-based Coordination, and Digital Capabilities) encapsulated in the ROAD-framework that impacts psychological contracts, thus laying the conceptual groundwork for future research endeavours on psychological contracts in a digital age of work. The findings of the literature review outline the emergence of novel forms of employment arrangements in the digital age of work that extend dyadic psychological contracts to multiple party arrangements. Additionally, the study reveals the dynamic effects of work digitalization on different phases of psychological contracts. As a result, this enriches the dynamic phase model by considering the impacts of work digitalization through various propositions.