Job insecurity and the benefits of work

The presented study combines conservation of resource theory with latent deprivation theory to explain the negative relationship between job insecurity and mental health. Specifically, we propose that people who face the threat of job insecure would perceive worse access to the benefits of work, which would explain the negative effect of job insecurity on mental health. In a two-wave study, employees rated their perceived job insecurity, their access to the benefits of work, and their mental health. Cross-sectional multiple mediation analysis at Time 1 (n = 295) and Time 2 (n = 236) showed that the negative relationship between job insecurity and mental health was partly due to a perceived lack of the benefits of work. Longitudinal results (n = 173) revealed that job insecurity was related to a decrease in financial benefits, which in turn predicted mental health. However, this effect was only visible if it was not controlled for prior levels of the benefits of work. The results are discussed with regards to conservation of resource theory and latent deprivation theory and the potential of this framework for explaining negative mental health effects of job insecurity.     

A longitudinal person-centred view on perceived employability: The role of job insecurity

The primary aim of the present 1-year longitudinal study among university employees (N = 1314) was to investigate individual development of perceived employability (PE) by utilizing a person-centred approach. Thus, we identified latent classes of PE across 1 year based on growth mixture modelling. In addition, the latent classes were characterized by perceived job insecurity and the type of employment contract and its changes over the 1-year time period. The results showed four latent classes of PE that differed in the level and the direction of mean-level changes over time. These latent classes were: (1) stable relatively high PE (n = 641); (2) unstable decreasing PE (n = 45); (3) unstable increasing PE (n = 24); and (4) stable relatively low PE (n = 603). Perceived job insecurity associated with the latent class membership of PE. That is, low levels of perceived job insecurity were associated with favourable PE classes (i.e., “stable relatively high” and “unstable increasing employability”), whereas high levels of job insecurity associated with unfavourable PE classes (i.e., “stable relatively low” and “unstable decreasing employability”). Furthermore, transitions from temporary to permanent job contract occurred more often in the favourable than in unfavourable PE classes, but transitions from permanent to temporary contract were more likely in the unfavourable classes. Thus, our study indicated a substantial amount of heterogeneity in the development of PE across 1 year.     

A person‐centred approach to investigate the development trajectories of job‐related affective well‐being: A 10‐year follow‐up study

The primary aim of this three‐wave 10‐year follow‐up study was to investigate the intra‐individual change trajectories of job‐related affective well‐being among Finnish managers (n= 402). Job‐related affective well‐being as indicated by anxiety, depression, comfort, and enthusiasm was measured in 1996, 1999, and 2006. The characteristics of the trajectories were sought from experienced career disruptions (i.e., periods of unemployment or lay‐offs) and perceived job insecurity. The growth mixture modelling (GMM) revealed altogether three latent trajectories that differed from each other in their mean levels and regard to changes in job‐related affective well‐being over time: (1) high and improving well‐being (n= 347), (2) decreased well‐being (n= 32), and (3) low and improving well‐being (n= 23). The associations between job‐related affective well‐being trajectories and career disruptions depended upon the timing of the career disruptions. In addition, perceived job insecurity is associated with concurrently decreased occupational well‐being. Overall, the results highlighted both typical and untypical development trajectories of job‐related affective well‐being and related career characteristics.     

Job insecurity in Finland: Antecedents and consequences

Abstract

Trends towards more unpredictable and flexible labour markets are often presumed to fuel feelings of job insecurity among employees, especially the threat of losing one's job. The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence, antecedents, and consequences of job insecurity in a representative sample of Finnish wage and salary earners (N = 3503) gathered in 1990. One out of ten respondents felt the threat of lay-off, dismissal, or unemployment. According to hierarchical regression analysis, perceived job insecurity was best explained by positional factors, especially earlier unemployment experiences and the temporary nature of the employment relationship. The role of demographic factors predicting job insecurity was strikingly minor. Variance and regression analysis confirmed the negative effects of perceived insecurity on work and health behaviour found in previous studies. Social support was found to have a light moderating effect in alleviating the negative effects of job insecurity. Thus, job insecurity was a psychological stressor with adverse effects for a sizeable proportion of the employees.     

Do core self-evaluations and coping style influence the perception of job insecurity?

Over the last few decades, increased flexibility and lack of stability in employment has made job insecurity a work stressor that affects more and more employees. Since worrying about potential job loss (quantitative job insecurity) or possible loss of valued job features (qualitative job insecurity) constitutes a subjective perception, it has been claimed that personality factors may be decisive for job insecurity perceptions. Furthermore, the perception of a stressor, in this case job insecurity, could be argued to be dependent on appraisals of available coping resources. This study investigates whether core self-evaluations predict job insecurity perceptions, and whether coping mediates this relationship, in a two-wave data set from a Swedish sample of white-collar workers (N = 425). The results show that core self-evaluations had a negative total effect on both qualitative and quantitative job insecurity. Core self-evaluations were positively related to problem-focused coping but not to emotion-focused coping. However, there was no mediating effect of coping style on the association between core self-evaluations and job insecurity.     

Working memory and fluid intelligence as predictors of work engagement—Testing preliminary models

This study aimed to investigate the relationships between working memory capacity, fluid intelligence (Gf), and work engagement within the framework of the job demands–resources theory. Multioccupational employees (N = 175 in Study 1 and N = 383 in Study 2) completed sets of Gf, complex span, and n‐back tests, along with job resources and work engagement surveys. Structural equation modeling with latent variables and bootstrapping procedures revealed that complex span was indirectly positively related to work engagement via job resources, and n‐back was indirectly positively related to work engagement via job complexity. Moreover, the one common factor g composed of Gf, n‐back, and complex span was positively indirectly related to work engagement via job resources and job complexity. These results highlight that the cognitive capacities of employees should be given greater consideration as cognitive personal resources in models aimed at accounting for employee work engagement.     

Why and when cognitive job insecurity relates to affective job insecurity? A three-study exploration of negative rumination and the tendency to negative gossip

ABSTRACT

The job insecurity literature distinguishes between cognitive job insecurity and affective job insecurity where cognitive job insecurity reflects perceptions regarding the likelihood of total job loss or job features loss and affective job insecurity refers to emotional reactions to that potential loss. Indeed, affective job insecurity is demonstrated to be an affective reaction to cognitive job insecurity. However, the relationship between cognitive job insecurity and affective job insecurity may be neither direct nor unconditional. Drawing from cognitive appraisal theory, this research takes a nuanced approach to exploring the mediating role of negative work rumination and the moderating role of the tendency to negative gossip in the relationship between cognitive job insecurity and affective job insecurity. We examined our hypotheses using three time-lagged survey studies with employees recruited from the U.S. and China. These studies found that negative work rumination mediated the relation between cognitive job insecurity and affective job insecurity (Studies 1–3) and the tendency to negative gossip attenuated the positive relation between cognitive job insecurity and affective job insecurity (Studies 1 and 2). Thus, this research advances the job insecurity literature by identifying a mediator and a moderator in the process of how employees may experience job insecurity.     

Identifying long-term patterns of work-related rumination: associations with job demands and well-being outcomes

The aim of this 2-year longitudinal study was to identify long-term patterns of work-related rumination in terms of affective rumination, problem-solving pondering, and lack of psychological detachment from work during off-job time. We also examined how the patterns differed in job demands and well-being outcomes. The data were collected via questionnaires in three waves among employees (N = 664). Through latent profile analysis (LPA), five stable long-term patterns of rumination were identified: (1) no rumination (n = 81), (2) moderate detachment from work (n = 228), (3) moderate rumination combined with low detachment (n = 216), (4) affective rumination (n = 54), and (5) problem-solving pondering (n = 85), both combined with low detachment. The patterns differed in the job demands and well-being outcomes examined. Job demands (time pressure, cognitive and emotional demands) were at the highest level across time in patterns 3–5 and lowest in pattern 1. Patterns 3 and 4 were associated with poorer well-being outcomes (higher job exhaustion and more sleeping problems, and lower work engagement) across time. By contrast, pattern 5 showed positive outcomes, especially high level of work engagement. Thus, the different patterns of work-related ruminative thoughts suggest diverse relationships with job demands and well-being.     

The Importance of Career Insecurity for Turnover Intentions in the Dutch Military

The effects of two dimensions of job insecurity (job loss insecurity and career insecurity) on turnover intentions were tested in a sample from the Dutch armed forces (N = 3,580) after a major downsizing operation was announced. Results suggested that especially perceptions of career insecurity increased turnover intentions. Next to this direct effect, career insecurity was also associated with lowered affective organizational commitment which in turn increased turnover intentions as well. Our results imply that, at least during downsizing operations, a multidimensional conceptualization of job insecurity helps to predict important organizational outcomes in the military. Both perceptions of the risk of losing one’s job and perceptions of possible future career opportunities are important for employee retention.     

Job resources and flow at work: Modelling the relationship via latent growth curve and mixture model methodology

The aim of the present three‐wave follow‐up study (n = 335) among employees of an employment agency was to investigate the association between job resources and work‐related flow utilizing both variable‐ and person‐oriented approaches. In addition, emotional exhaustion was studied as a moderator of the job resources–flow relationship, and as a predictor of the development of job resources and flow. The variable‐oriented approach, based on latent growth curve analyses, revealed that the levels of job resources and flow at work, as well as changes in these variables, were positively associated with each other. The person‐oriented inspection with the growth mixture modelling identified four trajectories based on the mean levels of job resources and flow and on the changes of these mean levels over time: (a) moderate work‐related resources (n = 166), (b) declining work‐related resources (n = 87), (c) high work‐related resources (n = 46), and (d) low work‐related resources (n = 36). Exhaustion was found to be an important predictor of job resources and flow, but it did not moderate their mutual association. Specifically, a low level of exhaustion was found to predict high levels of job resources and flow. Overall, these results suggest the importance of a person‐oriented view of motivational processes at work. In addition, in order to fully understand positive motivational processes it seems important to investigate the role of negative well‐being states as well.     

Construction and Validation of a Biodata Selection Instrument

Abstract

Biodata instruments can be used in selection for several purposes (including screening, prediction, analysis of decision strategies). This article is concerned with the construction and validation of a biodata instrument for the selection of intermediaries by a profit-making employment agency in the Netherlands. The instrument was constructed according to the sample approach and measures work experiences with regard to relevant tasks and job dimensions. A field study gathered biodata scores from applicants (n £ 300) and present employees (n £ 70), interview ratings from the applicants, and ratings of job performance for the employees. The results obtained indicated that the instrument was a potentially useful selection device. The homogeneity of scale scores was sufficient and the scores show little overlap with other selection devices (interview ratings). In addition, particular scores correlate at a statistically significant level (P < 0.01) with ratings of job performance of present employees (r £ 0.30 to 0.40). Estimates of the utility (financial gains) of using the instrument in selection revealed that the instrument may yield considerable pay-offs. It is concluded that the construction and validation of the instrument yielded several positive results, and that the sample approach in constructing biodata selection instruments is an option worth considering.     

The role of career adaptability and work conditions on general and professional well-being

This study, conducted with a representative sample of employed and unemployed adults living in Switzerland (N = 2002), focuses on work conditions (in terms of professional insecurity and job demands), career adaptability, and professional and general well-being. Analyses of covariance highlighted that both unemployed and employed participants with low job insecurity reported higher scores on career adaptability and several dimensions (notably on control) than employed participants with high job insecurity. Moreover, structural equation modeling for employed participants showed that, independent of work conditions, adaptability resources were positively associated both with general and professional well-being. As expected professional outcomes were strongly related to job strain and professional insecurity, emphasizing the central role of the work environment. Finally, career adaptability partially mediated the relationship between job strain and professional insecurity, and the outcome well-being.     

Work Meaning Patterns in Early Career

Abstract

Work meaning patterns combine dimensions such as work centrality, expressive versus economic work goals, and entitlement versus obligation societal norms into a holistic picture of the evolution over time of the meaning of work. Data from a longitudinal study in eight countries are used to establish major work meaning patterns and to study their stability during early career paths. Further, some potential determinants of these work meaning patterns are analysed and their consequences for later careers are considered. Statistical analyses include: cluster analysis, multiple discriminant analysis, analysis of covariance combined with multiple classification analysis, analysis of variance, and chi-square analysis. Five cross-national work meaning patterns are identified for machine operators in their third year in the labour market. One-third of the sample had remained in the same work meaning pattern for 2 years, while two-thirds had changed their work pattern. Respondents' age, country, prior work environment, and prior work socialization behaviours and outcomes have an impact on work meanings held 2 years later. In addition the respondent's work meaning pattern allows subsequent career enhancing strategies and effort expenditure at the job to be predicted.     

Productivity,counterproductivity and creativity: The ups and downs of job insecurity

Organizations frequently downsize in the hopes of creating a ‘lean and mean’ company able to be flexible and quick to adapt to changing environmental needs. The purpose of the current research was to assess the effects of job insecurity on productivity, counterproductivity, and creativity in a simulated organizational environment and a field setting. In the first study, 104 non‐traditional undergraduate students (M = 30.48 years) participated in a laboratory experiment that manipulated the threat of lay‐offs (job insecurity) and measured creativity and productivity over two time periods. Compared to control group participants, results indicate that participant productivity increased in the condition of higher levels of job insecurity, whereas creative problem solving decreased. In the second study, 144 employees in five organizations completed a survey measuring their job insecurity perceptions, enactment of counterproductive work behaviours, and creative problem‐solving ability. Regression analyses indicate that job insecurity predicted lower creativity scores, yet was also related to lower numbers of counterproductive work behaviours. Taken together, these studies suggest that job insecurity may have adverse effects on creativity, yet moderately beneficial effects on productivity. Results are interpreted in light of the increasing prevalence of job insecurity and organizational downsizing in today's workplace.     

Does Approach Crafting Always Benefit? The Moderating Role of Job Insecurity

Abstract

By integrating job demands-resources theory with social information processing theory, we examined how and when seeking challenges and seeking resources influence employees’ turnover intention and helping behavior. We propose that seeking challenges and seeking resources increase employees’ psychological capital. We furthermore suggest that the effects of seeking challenges and seeking resources on psychological capital are moderated by job insecurity, such that employees with high job insecurity will gain more psychological capital through seeking challenges and less psychological capital through seeking resources. Results from a multiwave, multisource study using a sample of 245 supervisor-subordinate dyads provided support for our hypotheses. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

A Dynamic Model of the Longitudinal Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Supervisor‐Rated Job Performance

Job satisfaction and job performance represent two of the most important and popular constructs investigated in organisational psychology. Issues relating to the nature and significance of their relationship has fascinated organisational researchers since the beginning of this discipline. In the present study, we aimed to clarify the direction of plausible influences between these two constructs by using a dynamic latent difference score model (McArdle, 2009 ) and a large sample of employees who were followed for five years (N = 1,004). The findings provided support for a reciprocal model of relationships. Satisfied workers generally demonstrated higher job performance over time than did unsatisfied workers. Job performance, however, is a significant contributor of an individual's satisfaction with their work. The contribution of this study to the literature lies in its use of Latent Difference Score models to more accurately capture the longitudinal dynamics of the relationships between job performance and job satisfaction.     

Housing insecurity and intersecting social determinants of health among transgender people in the USA: A targeted ethnography

Abstract

Background: Housing is an important social determinant of health (SDOH). Transgender people face a unique blend of discrimination and compromised social services, putting them at risk for housing insecurity and associated public health concerns.

Aims: This targeted ethnography explores housing insecurity as a SDOH among transgender people in the U.S.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with transgender people (n?=?41) throughout the U.S.A., identified through purposive sampling. A semi-structured guide was used to elicit personal stories and peer accounts of insecure housing experiences and coping strategies. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Data was coded, sorted, and analyzed for key themes.

Results: Responses revealed pervasive housing insecurity and inter-related challenges. Respondents discussed how intersecting identities create unique constellations of vulnerability, which “intersect like a star.” Financial insecurity and interpersonal rejection were lead housing insecurity causes, often resulting in psychological strain, which was sometimes addressed with substances and sexual risk-taking. These factors were cyclically accompanied by financial and employment insecurity and a cascade of unmet social needs. Social support facilitated coping.

Discussion: Findings support increasing transgender housing security intervention resources that address intersecting and cyclical discrimination, trauma, housing, employment, and health issues.     

Prospective associations between unforgiveness and physical health and positive mediating mechanisms in a nationally representative sample of older adults

Objective: This study examined the prospective association between unforgiveness and self-reported physical health and potential positive psychological mediators of this association.

Design: Participants were a national sample of 1024 USA’s adults of ages 66 years and older. Data were collected at two time points separated by three years.

Main Outcome Measures: Measures of trait unforgiveness, self-rated physical health, socio-demographics, health behaviours and positive psychological traits (e.g. life satisfaction, self-esteem) were included in a comprehensive survey known as the ‘Religion, Aging, and Health Survey.’

Results: The results indicated that unforgiveness was prospectively associated with declines in self-reported physical health three years later, and poor initial self-reported health status did not predict increases in unforgiveness across time. Furthermore, the prospective association of unforgiveness with self-reported health was mediated by a latent positive psychological traits variable.

Conclusion: These results confirm cross-sectional findings suggesting that unforgiveness is related to health. The present study also suggests that unforgiveness has a prospective, but not reciprocal, association with self-reported physical health. Unforgiveness may have its association with self-reported physical health through its interruption of other positive traits that typically confer health benefits.     

Occupational well-being as a mediator between job insecurity and turnover intention: Findings at the individual and work department levels

This study examined the relationship between job insecurity and turnover intention by applying occupational well-being (exhaustion, vigour) as a mediator. The study was inspired by two theories: the conservation of resources and emotional contagion theories. We investigated the relationships at the individual and work department levels by utilizing Multi-Level Structural Equation Modeling (ML-SEM) with the aim of clarifying whether the mediating mechanism was similar at both levels. In addition, we examined the relationships across the levels (cross-level interactions). Self-report data for the study were obtained from Finnish University staff (N = 2137 individual respondents from 78 work departments). The analyses resulted in three main findings. First, job insecurity, turnover intention, and occupational well-being were found, to some extent (2–6%), to be shared experiences within work departments. Second, we found that low occupational well-being (high exhaustion, low vigour) partly mediated the relationship between job insecurity and turnover intention at both levels of analysis. Third, the results on cross-level interactions revealed that the lower the level of well-being at the work department level, the stronger the negative effect of job insecurity on well-being at the individual level. Thus, if poor well-being characterizes the work department, this may strengthen the negative relationship between job insecurity and well-being at the individual level.     

Are Workplace Friendships a Mixed Blessing? Exploring Tradeoffs of Multiplex Relationships and their Associations with Job Performance

Theory and research note the ubiquity of multiplex workplace friendships—multifaceted relationships that superimpose friendship with work‐focused interactions—but it is unclear how they compel or hinder job performance. In a study of insurance company employees (n = 168), we found that the number of multiplex workplace friendships in one's social network is positively associated with supervisor ratings of job performance. However, we also found that there is a negative indirect effect on job performance through emotional exhaustion, which is offset, in part, through enhanced positive affect. Results of a second study of restaurant and retail sales employees (n = 182) provide greater insight into the positive and negative effects of multiplex workplace friendships. Specifically, these relationships enhanced job performance through trust but detracted from job performance through maintenance difficulty. Collectively, our results illustrate that having a large number of multiplex friendships at work is a mixed blessing. Although the provision and restoration of resources fostered by multiplex relationships benefits employee job performance, these benefits are muted somewhat by the personal resources they deplete.