Drawing on the behavioral perspective on decisions under scarcity, this study investigates how subjective socioeconomic status (SSES) influences psychological contract formation and work engagement, and examines the moderating effect of perceived social support across two studies. Based on a field survey employing experience sampling method, Study 1 revealed that SSES was positively associated with relational contract, which in turn predicted higher work engagement. However, the negative association between SSES and transactional contract was not supported. Perceived social support significantly strengthened the positive relationship between SSES and relational contract, as well as the negative relationship between SSES and transactional contract. Moreover, perceived social support moderated the indirect effect of SSES on work engagement through relational contract, but not through transactional contract. Study 2, utilizing multi-wave survey data from 224 employees, further validated the primary findings of Study 1. Study 2 also found that perceived social support significantly moderated the indirect effects of SSES on work engagement through both relational and transactional contracts.