Job insecurity and well-being: The moderating role of job dependence

Job insecurity has become more relevant during the last decades as more flexibility from the workforce and organizations is demanded in the labour market. It has frequently been suggested that job insecurity is a more severe stressor for those who are more dependent on their job. The present study investigates the association between job insecurity and employee well-being by focusing on how employees’ dependence on the job moderates this relationship. Two types of financial dependence (subjective financial dependence and relative contribution to the household income) were studied, along with an indicator of a more psychological dependence on work in general (work involvement). In addition to this, both quantitative and qualitative job insecurity were included. The proposed relations were tested in a sample of Swedish accountancy firm employees. The results of moderated hierarchical regression analyses showed that subjective financial dependence, household contribution, and work involvement moderated the relation between both job insecurity dimensions and job satisfaction. No moderations were found with mental well-being as an outcome. This implies that the extent to which someone depends on their job is important for how job insecurity relates to job satisfaction.     

The effects of a job crafting intervention on the success of an organizational change effort in a blue-collar work environment

The current study in a blue-collar context investigates whether a job crafting intervention may facilitate employee adaptation to organizational change, while decreasing exhaustion and increasing positive attitudes towards change and safety behaviour. It was hypothesized that the intervention would increase job crafting behaviours (i.e., seeking resources, seeking challenges, and optimizing demands) resulting in decreased employee exhaustion, and improved change attitudes and employee safety behaviour (i.e., adherence to organization’s standard operating procedures). The quasi-experimental study revealed that, after the intervention (consisting of a workshop, four weeks of job crafting implementation, and an evaluative session), employees reported an increase in two of the three trained job crafting strategies (i.e., seeking challenges, optimizing demands). Moreover, those who participated in the intervention reported lower levels of exhaustion, improved cognitive and behavioural attitudes towards change, and increased safety behaviour. The intervention was found to improve the affective, cognitive, and behavioural components of a change attitude due to increases in seeking challenges. Results were similar after controlling for quality information and leadership behaviour during the change. It is concluded that a job crafting intervention and resulting job crafting behaviour can be an effective way to achieve successful adaptation to organizational change.     

Humanness in times of uncertainty: On the link between perceived job insecurity,self-objectification and well-being

The current work scenario is pervaded by widespread perceptions of job insecurity, which is one of the main stress factors for workers and their well-being. This article aims to investigate the link between these perceptions and a most inner dimension, that is, people's tendency to self-objectify (i.e., self-viewing as objects rather than fully human beings). Furthermore, we aim to verify the role of this self-objectifying process in explaining the well-established relation between perceived job insecurity and well-being. Across four studies and a single-article meta-analysis (total N = 684), we show that perceived job insecurity is consistently linked with self-objectification. Furthermore, this objectifying self-perception is associated with decreased well-being and plays a mediational role in the link between perceived job insecurity and this latter variable.     

居危思变?工作不安全感对创新行为的差异化影响?

企业往往在员工管理和组织创新上处于“两难困境”——难以提供稳定工作但又不得不依赖员工实现组织创新, 这就使得研究员工工作不安全感对创新行为的影响至关重要。企业员工遭遇不同环境威胁带来的工作不安全感时, 创新行为存在差异。本文在威胁焦点下深化工作不安全感概念, 并基于“以变量为中心”和“以人为中心”的研究思路, 探讨其对创新行为的差异化影响过程。首先, 结合环境威胁来源与主观感知, 把工作不安全感分为岗位焦点工作不安全感和人员焦点工作不安全感两个维度, 并将编制测量量表。其次, 期望运用纵向研究设计, 通过分析多时点的员工-主管配对数据, 基于情境调节焦点和工作激情的链式中介作用, 来揭示岗位焦点工作不安全感对创新行为的负向影响, 以及人员焦点工作不安全感对创新行为的倒U型影响。最后, 将采取“以人为中心”的研究思路, 运用潜在剖面分析方法探讨工作不安全感潜在类型及其对创新行为的影响。研究结果将有助于推进工作不安全感的概念和效用研究, 也为企业如何有效促进创新提供对策建议。     

Over-education and job satisfaction: The role of job insecurity and career enhancing strategies

IntroductionOver-education is a current phenomenon, which hampers job satisfaction. Finding variables that moderates the deteriorating effect of over-education could be useful.ObjectivePresent study analyses the relationship between over-education and intrinsic, extrinsic and social facets of job satisfaction, and the moderation role of career enhancing strategies and job insecurity.MethodSample was composed of 1362 participants 16–30 years-old that entered the job market in the previous five years, from the 2011 cohort of the Spanish Observatory for Labor Entry of Youth. Analyses were made using Process Macro.ResultsResults show that all direct relationships are significant, and that career enhancing strategies moderated the relationship between over-education and social and extrinsic job satisfaction.ConclusionFindings provides insights regarding strategies to buffer the detrimental effects that over-education had for young employees’ job satisfaction.     

The interactive effect of job involvement and organizational commitment on job turnover revisited: a note on the mediating role of turnover intention

This study extends previous theoretical and empirical research on Blau and Boal's (1987) model of the interactive effect of job involvement and organizational commitment on employee withdrawal. Using longitudinal data from a survey among the nursing staff of a Swedish emergency hospital (N = 535) and register information on actual turnover, the results showed, in contrast to the statement of the original theoretical model, that turnover intention mediates the additive and multiplicative effects of job involvement and organizational commitment on actual turnover. The study suggests that the proposed involvement by commitment interaction is theoretically justified, and underscores the pertinence of investigating intermediate linkages in turnover research.     

Effects of abusive supervision on employees’ innovative behavior: The role of job insecurity and locus of control

Drawing on the Conservation of Resources Theory by Hobfoll, we examined the relationships between abusive supervision, job insecurity, locus of control, and employees’ innovative behavior. Using self‐reported data collected from employees among four enterprises in China (N = 641), we found that abusive supervision was positively correlated with job insecurity. In contrast, both job insecurity and abusive supervision were negatively correlated with employees’ innovative behavior, with the impact of abusive supervision on innovative behavior being mediated by its effect on job insecurity. Having an external locus of control that served as a buffering factor for employees, mitigating the relationship between abusive supervision and job insecurity. These findings complement the existing research on the impacts of abusive leadership, providing practical information for enterprises on how to enhance levels of innovation and vitality among employees.     

Emotional intelligence and job performance: The mediating role of work-family balance

In this study, we examine the dynamics between emotional intelligence, work-family balance, and job performance. A review of the literature to date has shown distinct relationships between emotional intelligence to job performance and work-family balance to job performance. We utilize a sample of 233 respondents to empirically test our set of hypotheses that contend work-family balance mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance. Our results support these hypotheses. Practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

CEO变革型领导行为对中层管理者工作绩效和工作满意度的影响：组织支持知觉和价值观的作用

本文以社会交换的理论和价值观领导理论为基础,探讨了CEO变革型领导行为及其价值观对中层管理者工作绩效和工作满意度的跨层次影响以及影响的中介作用机制。研究结果表明,CEO变革型领导行为有助于提升中层管理者的工作绩效和工作满意度,而组织支持知觉则在其中起着部分中介的作用。同时,CEO价值观对CEO变革型领导行为与组织支持知觉之间的关系具有调节的作用。本文的研究成果有利于进一步完善变革型领导理论,对企业实践也有一定的启示意义。     

The role of organizational politics,contextual resources,and formal communication on change recipients' commitment to change: A multilevel study

Over the past decade there has been an increased interest in studying the factors that affect people's commitment to change. Drawing from the Job Demands–Resources model, in this enquiry we explored the moderating role of two contextual resources (i.e., trust in top management, history of change) and formal communication in the relationship between perceived organizational politics and commitment to change. Data were collected from 2543 employees of 84 companies representing a wide variety of industry sectors. In a first survey we collected data about the work context. Two weeks after the first survey, in a second survey we captured data on people's commitment to change. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to analyse the multilevel character of the data. Consonant with our hypotheses, the findings indicate that the negative relationship between perceived organizational politics and commitment to change is moderated by “trust in top management”, “history of change”, and “formal communication”. As a group the Level 2 predictors account for 18%, 2.5%, and 10%, respectively, of the between-unit variance in continuance, normative, and affective commitment for change.     

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.     

Employee adaptive performance and job satisfaction during organizational crisis: the role of self-leadership

This study tests the hypothesis that self-leadership is positively related with employee adaptive performance and job satisfaction in rapid change and unpredictable work environments. This assumption was tested through a quasi-experimental study regarding the implementation of a self-leadership training programme in the Private Banking department of an international bank. Change in private bankers’ self-leadership, adaptive performance and job satisfaction was measured three times, over a period of 8 months. During the fourth month of the training programme implementation, the bank underwent an unexpected bailout. Fifty-two private bankers were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 28) and to a control group (n = 24). The results showed an increase in self-leadership, adaptive performance and job satisfaction for the experimental group, while job satisfaction decreased for participants in the control group. Our findings suggest that change in the level of self-leadership is positively related with change in the level of adaptive performance and job satisfaction over time. This study presents new evidence that individual adaptive performance and job satisfaction can be enhanced through self-leadership training. Self-leadership training can be used as a valuable tool to help organizations improve employees’ adaptive performance and job satisfaction, especially during organizational crisis.     

The relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational commitment: Exchange imbalance as a moderator of the mediating role of violation

This study tested the mediating role of violation in the relationship between breach and both affective and continuance commitment and the extent to which this mediating role is moderated by exchange imbalance amongst a sample of 103 sales personnel. Results suggest that violation mediated the relationship between breach and commitment. Also, results suggest that perceived exchange imbalance moderates this mediating pathway: Low exchange imbalance increases the mediating role of violation in the case of affective commitment. On the other hand, exchange imbalance failed to moderate the mediating influence of violation in the case of continuance commitment. Results are discussed in view of the importance of a) including both measures of violation and breach in future studies and b) the role of social exchange in explaining psychological contract violation.     

Daily within-person effects of job autonomy and work engagement on innovative behaviour: The cross-level moderating role of creative self-efficacy

Adopting a dynamic within-person perspective on employee innovation, the present study investigates the role of situational job autonomy and momentary work engagement as day-level correlates of innovative behaviour. Anticipating individual differences in the strength of these intraindividual associations, we propose dispositional creative self-efficacy (CSE) to serve as a cross-level moderating influence amplifying the day-specific predictive power of autonomy and work engagement for innovative behaviour. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses of the nested data from 123 employees surveyed over 5 consecutive work days suggest that both autonomy and work engagement positively predict self-reported innovative behaviour on a daily basis. Whereas the engagement–innovation link emerges as homogenous across persons, results indicate that the daily within-person effect of autonomy on innovative behaviour varies significantly as a function of CSE such that it is greater for individuals who hold higher rather than lower CSE beliefs. Implications for future research, limitations, and practical implications are discussed.     

预期交流与创造力的关系:解释水平的调节作用

该研究探讨了预期交流对创造力的影响,以及解释水平在其中的调节作用。实验1采用结构性想象任务探讨预期交流是否影响创造力。结果表明,相较于没有预期交流,预期交流条件下的个体表现出更高的创造力。实验2采取了创意产生任务,并探讨了解释水平在其中的调节作用。结果表明,当完成抽象的、高解释水平任务时,相较于无预期交流,预期交流条件下个体在新奇性和变通性两个维度上表现出了更高的创造力;当完成具体的、低解释水平任务时,预期交流的效应不复存在。也就是说,只有当创造力任务要求高解释水平的抽象思维时,预期交流才能促进创造力的发挥。总结而言,本研究在过往对于交流与创造力以及解释水平与创造力的研究基础上进一步发现,对于抽象创造力任务,虽然真正的信息交流尚未发生,但仅仅对于交流的预期就会提高创造力水平。