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Keywords:: cynicism; organizational change cynicism; psychological contract theory

Abstract:: Cynicism is defined as a mistrust tendency toward others’ sincere and kind motivation and behavior. Its manifestations are ridicule, sarcasm and so on. There are two views about cynicism: personality traits and attitudinal state. Previous researches on cynicism focused on such categories as: personality cynicism, societal cynicism, occupational cynicism, employee cynicism, organizational change cynicism, political cynicism, and consumer cynicism. Based on Emotional Events theory, Organizational Fair Theory, Emotional Contagion Theory, and Psychological Contract Theory, this paper analyzes the cause and effect of cynicism. Given that the research on cynicism in China is still in its infancy, future studies should pay more attention to the characteristics of the cynicism in the context of Chinese culture and to cross-cultural comparison through different methods. The positive and negative effects of cynicism should also be considered in the future.