EV-0010
Most people say a promise made to them at work was broken
Robinson, S. L., & Rousseau, D. M. (1994). Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15(3), 245–259 · Source
What this entitles us to say
In an early and much-cited survey, roughly 55% of respondents reported that their employer had failed to keep a promise made to them — the finding behind the paper's title, "not the exception but the norm."
What it found
A longitudinal survey of business-school graduates, asked about the promises their employers had made and whether those promises had been kept. A clear majority reported at least one that had not been. The paper's argument — carried in its title — is that breach is a normal feature of employment rather than an aberration, and that the interesting question is therefore not whether breach happens but what follows when it does.
Why it matters here
It is the arresting opening line for the Faithfulness module, and it does something the module needs: it lowers the defenses before the diagnosis arrives. A leader who hears "most people report this" is more likely to look honestly at their own record than one who hears "some leaders break their word." That is the first principle — diagnosis is not judgment — carried by a statistic rather than asserted.
Note also what the finding is about. It is about employers and leaders breaking promises to their people. This literature is not a stick to beat unreliable employees with; it is a mirror for the person in charge.
The limits
A single study from 1994, one cohort of business-school graduates in the United States, self-report, and measuring only the perception of a broken promise — not whether one was actually broken. The 55% figure here is taken from secondary summaries, not the full text, so it must be verified before it is printed anywhere. Old enough that the labor market it describes is not today's.
What we do not say
"55% of employees have been lied to by their boss." Wrong on three counts: it is a perception measure, not a verified count; it is one 1994 cohort; and breach is not the same as a lie. Do not print the number until the full text is checked.