Psychological contract, leadership, and job satisfaction: an empirical investigation into the non-profit sports sector

Drawing upon leadership behaviour differentials, psychological contract, and level of satisfaction, the experiential practices of non-profit sports leadership illustrate how the application of particular leadership behaviours can lead to positive or negative outcomes. The paper investigates the direct and indirect effects of psychological contract on job satisfaction. A quantitative methods approach was used to gather the data. One thousand and twenty-two surveys were completed from non-profit sports organizations. Servant leadership fully mediated the relationship between psychological contract and job satisfaction, while leader-member exchange (LMX) partially mediated this relationship. In addition, psychological contract was positively related to job satisfaction in the non-profit sports sector. No research has addressed the direct and indirect relationships between psychological contract and job satisfactions, using leadership behaviours as mediators in the non-profit sports sector. Practical implications of the findings are discussed, together with limitations and ideas for future research.