Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:03:48.918Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What do job insecure people do? Examining employee behaviors and their implications for well-being at a weekly basis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2022

Sergio López Bohle Open the ORCID record for Sergio López Bohle [Opens in a new window] ,
P. Matthijs Bal ,
Tahira M. Probst ,
Yasin Rofcanin Open the ORCID record for Yasin Rofcanin [Opens in a new window]  and
Felipe Muñoz Medina Open the ORCID record for Felipe Muñoz Medina [Opens in a new window]
Sergio López Bohle
Affiliation:
Departamento de Administración, Facultad de Administración y Economía, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
P. Matthijs Bal
Affiliation:
Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln, UK
Tahira M. Probst
Affiliation:
Washington State University, Vancouver, USA
Yasin Rofcanin
Affiliation:
Lincoln International Business School, University of Lincoln, UK
Felipe Muñoz Medina*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Tecnologías de Gestión, Facultad Tecnológica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The current study investigated employees' weekly responses to experienced job insecurity. Based on appraisal theory, it was postulated that employees may adopt three coping strategies in response to job insecurity (i.e., remaining silent, adapting, or being proactive) in order to maintain or improve their weekly well-being. We introduced a multilevel moderated mediation model, explaining how weekly job insecurity would be related to well-being in the following weeks through these three behaviors. We also expected that subordinate emotional regulation and supervisor prosocial motivation (both defined as trait variables) would function as contextual factors moderating the relationships of job insecurity with employee behavior and well-being. A 5-week diary study of 149 subordinates partially supported the model. The results showed longitudinal conditional indirect effects of job insecurity on subordinate well-being depending on subordinate emotional regulation style and supervisor prosocial motivation. In doing so, the study offers two main contributions to the job insecurity literature. First, employees are not passive responders to perceived job insecurity, but active shapers through coping depending on the context. Subordinates' emotional regulation strategy and supervisors' prosocial motivation, as trait variables, impact on how subordinates respond to perceived job insecurity over weeks. From a practical point of view, the dynamic nature of perceived job insecurity suggests implications for interventions to maintain subordinates' well-being.

Keywords

Adaptivityemployee well-beingjob insecurityproactivitysilenceweekly diary study
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , First View , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bakker, A. B., & Bal, P. M. (2010). Weekly work engagement and performance: A study among starting teachers. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(1), 189–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakker, A. B., Van Emmerik, H., & Euwema, M. C. (2006). Crossover of burnout and engagement in work teams. Work and Occupations, 33(4), 464–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berntson, E., Näswall, K., & Sverke, M. (2010). The moderating role of employability in the association between job insecurity and exit, voice, loyalty and neglect. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 31, 215–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosman, J., Rothmann, S., & Buitendach, J. H. (2005). Job insecurity, burnout and work engagement: The impact of positive and negative affectivity. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 31, 48–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, G. H.-L., & Chan, D. K.-S. (2008). Who suffers more from job insecurity? A meta-analytic review. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57, 272–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dehue, F., Bolman, C., Völlink, T., & Pouwelse, M. (2012). Coping with bullying at work and health related problems. International Journal of Stress Management, 19(3), 175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Detert, J. R., & Treviño, L. K. (2010). Speaking up to higher-ups: How supervisors and skip-level leaders influence employee voice. Organization Science, 21(1), 249–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dewe, P., & Cooper, C. L. (2007). Coping research and measurement in the context of work related stress. International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 22, 141–192.Google Scholar
Dewe, P. J., O'Driscoll, M. P., & Cooper, C. L. (2010). Coping with work stress: A review and critique. New York, NY: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Witte, H. (2005). Job insecurity: Review of the international literature on definitions, prevalence, antecedents and consequences. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 31, 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, M. G. (1985). A Monte Carlo study of the effects of correlated method variance in moderated multiple regression analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 36(3), 305–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Folkman, S., & Moskowitz, J. T. (2004). Coping: Pitfalls and promise. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 745–774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fugate, M., Kinicki, A. J., & Prussia, G. E. (2008). Employee coping with organizational change: An examination of alternative theoretical perspectives and models. Personnel Psychology, 61(1), 1–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gan, Y., Yang, M., Zhou, Y., & Zhang, Y. (2007). The two-factor structure of future-oriented coping and its mediating role in student engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 851–863.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, A. M. (2008). Does intrinsic motivation fuel the prosocial fire? Motivational synergy in predicting persistence, performance, and productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 48–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, A. M., & Ashford, S. J. (2008). The dynamics of proactivity at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 3–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, A. M., & Sonnentag, S. (2010). Doing good buffers against feeling bad: Prosocial impact compensates for negative task and self-evaluations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 111(1), 13–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenfield, E. A., & Marks, N. F. (2004). Formal volunteering as a protective factor for older adults’ psychological well-being. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 59, S258–S264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenglass, E. R., Fiksenbaum, L., & Eaton, J. (2006). The relationship between coping, social support, functional disability and depression in the elderly. Anxiety, Stress and Coping: An International Journal, 19, 15–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, M. A., Neal, A., & Parker, S. K. (2007). A new model of work role performance: Positive behavior in uncertain and interdependent contexts. Academy of Management Journal, 50(2), 327–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotional regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrell, A., & Simpson, B. (2015). The dynamics of prosocial leadership: Power and influence in collective action groups. Social Forces, 94(3), 1283–1308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hershcovis, M. S., Cameron, A.-F., Gervais, L., & Bozeman, J. (2018). The effects of confrontation and avoidance coping in response to workplace incivility. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(2), 163–174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hewett, R., Liefooghe, A., Visockaite, G., & Roongrerngsuke, S. (2018). Bullying at work: Cognitive appraisal of negative acts, coping, well-being, and performance. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3(1), 71–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
House, R. J., Hanges, P. J., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P., & Gupta, V., (Eds.) (2004) Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Feinholdt, A., & Langer, J. W. B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotional regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98, 310–325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janssen, O. (2000). Job demands, perceptions of effort-reward fairness and innovative work behaviour. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 73(3), 287–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klehe, U.-C., Zikic, J., van Vianen, A. E. M., Koen, J., & Buyken, M. (2012). Coping proactively with economic stress: Career adaptability in the face of job insecurity, job loss, unemployment, and underemployment. In Perrewé, P. L., Halbesleben, J. R. B. & Rosen, C. C. (Eds.), The role of the economic crisis on occupational stress and well being (Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, (Vol. 10, pp. 131–176). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3555(2012)0000010008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kooij, D. T., van Woerkom, M., Wilkenloh, J., Dorenbosch, L., & Denissen, J. J. (2017). Job crafting towards strengths and interests: The effects of a job crafting intervention on person–job fit and the role of age. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(6), 971–981.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazarus, R. S. (1991). Emotion and adaptation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress appraisal and coping. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1987). Transactional theory and research on emotions and coping. European Journal of Personality, 1(3), 141–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lechner, L., Bolman, C., & Van Dalen, A. (2006). Definite involuntary childlessness: Associations between coping, social support and psychological distress. Human Reproduction, 22(1), 288–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, R. T., & Brotheridge, C. M. (2006). When prey turns predatory: Workplace bullying as a predictor of counteraggression/bullying, coping, and well-being. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 15(3), 352–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madrid, H. P., & Patterson, M. G. (2014). Measuring affect at work based on the valence and arousal circumplex model. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 17, E50. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2014.54. PMID: 25012570.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mantler, J., Matejicek, A., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2005). Coping with employment uncertainty: A comparison of employed and unemployed workers. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10(3), 200–209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muthén, L K, & Muthén, B O. (1998–2015). Mplus User’s Guide (7th ed). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.Google Scholar
Niven, K., Totterdell, P., Stride, C. B., & Holman, D. (2011). Emotional regulation of others and self (EROS): The development and validation of a new individual difference measure. Current Psychology, 30(1), 53–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, S. K., Williams, H. M., & Turner, N. (2006). Modeling the antecedents of proactive behavior at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(3), 636–652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., Piliavin, J. A., & Schroeder, D. A. (2005). Prosocial behavior: Multilevel perspectives. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 365–392.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pérez-Nebra, A., Sklaveniti, C., Islam, G., Petrović, I., Pickett, J., Alija, M., … Sanderson, Z. (2021). COVID-19 and the future of work and organisational psychology. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 47(0), a1854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 539–569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richman, J. A., Rospenda, K. M., Flaherty, J. A., & Freels, S. (2001). Workplace harassment, active coping, and alcohol-related outcomes. Journal of Substance Abuse, 13, 347–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Richter, A., Näswall, K., De Cuyper, N., Sverke, M., De Witte, H., & Hellgren, J. (2013). Coping with job insecurity: Exploring effects on perceived health and organizational attitudes. Career Development International, 18(5), 484–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salas, E., & Cannon-Bowers, J. A. (2001). The science of training: A decade of progress. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 471–499.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schreurs, B., Guenter, H., Jawahar, I. J., & De Cuyper, N. (2015). Speaking up when feeling job insecure: The moderating role of punishment and reward sensitivity. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(6), 1107–1128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schreurs, B. H., Van Emmerik, H. I. J., Günter, H., & Germeys, F. (2012). A weekly diary study on the buffering role of social support in the relationship between job insecurity and employee performance. Human Resource Management, 51(2), 259–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schumacher, D., Schreurs, B., Van Emmerik, H., & De Witte, H. (2016). Explaining the relation between job insecurity and employee outcomes during organizational change: A multiple group comparison. Human Resource Management, 55(5), 809–827.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selenko, E., Mäkikangas, A., Mauno, S., & Kinnunen, U. (2013). How does job insecurity relate to self-reported job performance? Analysing curvilinear associations in a longitudinal sample. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 86(4), 522–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shoss, M. K. (2017). Job insecurity: An integrative review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management. in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shoss, M. K., Jiang, L., & Probst, T. M. (2018). Bending without breaking: A two-study examination of employee resilience in the face of job insecurity. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(1), 112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stiglbauer, B., & Batinic, B. (2015). Proactive coping with job insecurity: Is it always beneficial to well-being? Work & Stress, 29, 264–285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiglbauer, B., Selenko, E., Batinic, B., & Jodlbauer, S. (2012). On the link between job insecurity and turnover intentions: Moderated mediation by work involvement and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(3), 354–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sverke, M., Hellgren, J., & Naswall, K. (2002). No security: A meta-analysis and review of job insecurity and its consequences. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7, 242–264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vander Elst, T., Näswall, K., Bernhard-Oettel, C., De Witte, H., & Sverke, M. (2016). The effect of job insecurity on employee health complaints: A within-person analysis of the explanatory role of threats to the manifest and latent benefits of work. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 21(1), 65–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warr, P. (1994). A conceptual framework for the study of work and mental health. Work & Stress, 8, 84–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yi, X., & Wang, S. (2015). Revisiting the curvilinear relation between job insecurity and work withdrawal: The moderating role of achievement orientation and risk aversion. Human Resource Management, 54(3), 499–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, X., Lim, V. K., & Teo, T. S. (2012). The long arm of job insecurity: Its impact on career-specific parenting behaviors and youths' career self-efficacy. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(3), 619–628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar