Revisiting the buffers of job insecurity : investigating new buffering factors between perceived job insecurity and employee outcomes
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Yhteenveto: Työn epävarmuuden puskurit: uusien puskuroivien voimavarojen tarkastelu koetun työn epävarmuuden ja sen seurausten välillä Diss.The buffering effects of coping resources, both personal (i.e., emotional intelligence, optimism, and coping strategies) and contextual coping resources (i.e., job control, social support, and leader-member exchange), were investigated in the context of job insecurity in Finland and China.Also investigated were a broader range of employee reactions in the occupational (i.e., work engagement, vigor at work, emotional energy at work, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment) and family (i.e., emotional energy at home, marital satisfaction, and work-family enrichment) realms as well as overall well-being (i.e., psychosomatic complaints).In order to examine the immediate and prolonged effects of job insecurity on employees as well as the sustained buffering effects of coping resources in this relation, both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs were applied.This investigation was conducted during a period when Finland was experiencing an economic downturn and China was undergoing economic reform.Three major findings emerged.First, job insecurity exerted not only immediate but also persistent detrimental effects on employee outcomes in Finland and China.Second, both personal and contextual coping resources were found to directly relate to positive employee reactions.Third, both personal coping resources (except for optimism) and contextual coping resources buffered the adverse effects of job insecurity on various employee outcomes.Employee outcomes at work (i.e., vigor, emotional energy, and organizational commitment) were most likely to benefit from both personal and contextual coping resources in mitigating the negative effects of job insecurity, whereas overall and family well-being benefited only from personal coping resources (i.e., emotional intelligence and symptom reduction coping strategy).In brief, although job insecurity was a severe work stressor relating to negative employee outcomes, it could be attenuated with appropriate personal and contextual coping resources.In conclusion, the conceptualization and measurement of job insecurity merit further examination, and cultural differences should be taken into account in future job insecurity research.Greater attention should be paid to encouraging employees to be optimistic and adopt the engaged coping strategies, enhancing their ability to handle emotions, and providing them with more job control, social support, and a quality relationship with supervisors at work.
Author: Ting Cheng
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Työsuojelurahasto, Jyväskylän Yliopisto
OpenAlex ID: W2270448295