Towards a transactional model on job insecurity and its outcomes.

This project aims to further the knowledge on the negative outcomes of job insecurity and the mediating processes that may account for these outcomes. Based on appraisal theory, we advocate that job insecurity may result in strain (e.g. poor work-related and general wellbeing) and negative coping reactions (e.g. negative job-related and interpersonal behaviours at work, and job transition behaviours) through three intervening explanatory mechanisms, namely perceived control, psychological contract breach and anticipated deprivation of the financial and latent functions of work. The hypotheses will be tested through four studies that are complementary with respect to research design (e.g. controlled between-subject study, longitudinal within-subject study, cross-national study), content (e.g. in-depth investigation of parts versus overall test of the theoretical model) and sample (employees from an objective uncertain work situation such as a restructuring company,  Heterogeneous sample of employees, matched Belgian and Swedish samples of employees). As such, this project may contribute to the literature on job insecurity by testing a comprehensive theoretical model including three theoretical explanations for the job insecurity outcomes and by presenting a meaningful categorization of job insecurity outcomes in terms of strain and coping reactions.