Towards an explanation of the job insecurity-outcome relationship: The role of perceived control

Job insecurity is the perceived threat to the continuity of the currentjob situation. It more specifically refers to the threat of losing the job as such (i.e., quantitative job insecurity) or valued job characteristics such as promotion possibilities and the support of colleagues (i.e., qualitative job insecurity). Although job insecurity is a well-known stressor in work life and its negative consequences for both the employee and the organization have been investigated extensively (e.g., decreased job satisfaction, psychological distress, burnout and turnover), it still remains unclear why job insecurity results in these negative outcomes. In the current PhD, we mainly aim to address this gap by investigating whether perceived control is a theoretical explanation of the negative consequences of job insecurity, as suggested by appraisal theory (Folkman, 1984; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In this respect, perceived control is defined as employees evaluation of their resources to deal with things that might affect the current job situation. Overall, perceived control is predicted to mediate the relationship between job insecurity and its negative outcomes.
    This PhD project contributesto the literature on job insecurity and the mechanisms through which itresults in negative outcomes in multiple ways: First, as the use of a valid and reliable job insecurity measure is a requisite for the investigation of job insecurity and its outcomes, we evaluated the psychometric quality of the (quantitative) Job Insecurity Scale (JIS) of De Witte (2000) (Study 1). Cross-sectional data from five European countries (i.e., Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) demonstrated the construct validity, the reliability, and the concurrent validity of (the different translations of) the JIS. Second, the results supported the idea that job insecurity and perceived control are different constructs, which is a precondition for the mediation hypothesis (Studies 2 to 5). Third, support was found for the explanatory role of perceived control regarding the outcomes of both quantitative and qualitative job insecurity (Studies 2 to 5). Fourth, the results overall showed that perceived control also mediated the job insecurity-outcome relationship while controlling for another dominant theoretical explanation, i.e., psychological contract breach (Study 5). Fifth, across all tests of mediation by perceived control, a wide range of job insecurity outcomes were considered, covering both work-related (e.g., emotional exhaustion) and general strain (e.g., mental health complaints), and psychological (e.g., affective organizational commitment) and behavioural coping reactions (e.g., performance) (Studies 2 to 5). Different results were found for different types of outcomes: Overall, job insecurity was indirectly related to coping reactions via perceived control. Some evidence was found with respect to work-related strain. Perceived control, however, did not explain the association of job insecurity with employees general strain. Finally, using two-wave longitudinal designs, job insecurity was found to affect futureemotional exhaustion and affective organizational commitment through perceived control (Studies 3 and 4). There were no indications for reversed causation from outcomes to perceived control (with one exception) and from perceived control to job insecurity.
      In sum, this PhD project demonstrated the role of perceived control as a significant theoretical explanation of the negative consequences ofjob insecurity in terms of work-related strain and negative coping reactions.

Keywords:Job insecurity, Perceived control, Predictability

Disciplines:Biological and physiological psychology, General psychology, Other psychology and cognitive sciences

Project type:PhD project