When trust breaks: the hidden path from psychological contract breach to moral disengagement and workplace deviance

This study investigates deviant workplace behavior through moral disengagement, focusing on how psychological contract breach (PCB) influences employee conduct. It examines whether work motivation and procedural justice moderate this relationship, aiming to deepen understanding of these dynamics within the Pakistani banking sector. Using a quantitative research design, data were collected from 350 banking sector employees via a survey, and relationships among PCB, moral disengagement, work motivation, procedural justice, and deviant behavior were analyzed through structural equation modeling and moderated mediation techniques. Findings confirm that PCB positively predicts deviant workplace behavior, primarily through the mediating role of moral disengagement. Contrary to expectations, neither work motivation nor procedural justice significantly moderated this mediation pathway. Instead, both variables showed unexpected patterns, indicating a more complex interplay with PCB and moral disengagement than theorized. These results underscore the nuanced ways in which ethical disengagement operates in high-pressure environments. Organizations seeking to reduce deviant behavior should address contract breaches directly while promoting comprehensive motivation strategies and justice perceptions. This study contributes to workplace ethics literature by confirming a known mediation mechanism and offering insight into the limits of commonly assumed moderators in the context of emerging economies.