Associations between job demands, perceptions of noise at work and the psychological contract

Despite the widespread interest in the effects of workload on behaviour, there has been little research on the effects of it on attitudes and values in the workplace and life generally. The aim of the present research was to examine associations between noise exposure (which increases workload) and components of the psychological contract (fairness; trust; organisational commitment; work satisfaction; motivation; organisational citizenship; and intention to stay/quit). 166 workers completed a survey measuring components of the psychological contract, perceptions of noise exposure and other job characteristics. Univariate analyses showed that higher noise exposure was associated with a more negative psychological contract. However, adjustment for other job characteristics, both negative (e.g. job demands) and positive (e.g. control and support), removed the significant effects of noise. These results confirm previous research suggesting that psychosocial stressors have greater behavioural effects than components of the physical working environment such as noise