Examining the impact of realistic job previews on leaders’ behavioral integrity and newcomers’ psychological contract breach: a multiwave field experiment

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore how realistic job previews can mitigate the negative relationship between perceived leader behavioral integrity and employees’ perceptions of psychological contract breach. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects field experiment was conducted in the hotel industry. Five waves of data were collected from 104 newcomers over a four-month period. Findings The results indicated that perceiving leader behavioral integrity reduces newcomer psychological contract breach, turnover intention and increases job performance. The intervention of realistic job previews effectively mitigated the negative relationship between behavioral integrity and psychological contract breach when leader–member value congruence was low. Practical implications The findings of this study offer actionable strategies for hotel professionals to improve employment outcomes, particularly during the pre-entry phase and the early socialization process of newcomers. Originality/value By integrating social exchange theory and expectancy theory within a framework of employees’ psychological contract breach, this study reveals the positive effects of realistic job previews on creating a positive work experience of newcomers.