JOB INSECURITY – CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE NOTION AND METHODS OF MEASUREMENT

Keywords: job insecurity, measuring job insecurity, labour market

Abstract

Increasing globalization and transformation of the modern labour market have changed the traditional employment model, introducing insecurity associated with taking up and maintaining work. Job insecurity, understood as a “perceived threat of job loss and concerns related to this threat” is an unavoidable and widespread phenomenon in today’s professional world. Job insecurity has been of great interest to researchers since the 1980s. Job insecurity is one of the emerging research directions in economic theory. The aim of the article is to try and provide an interdisciplinary conceptualization of job insecurity. The article presents different ways of understanding job insecurity and discusses the methods of its measurement. A systematic review of world literature was conducted to identify and assess the current state of knowledge in this area. The analysis of scholarly publications on job insecurity confirms the existence of a relatively small number of scientific and research studies in this field in Poland. Therefore, a cognitive gap is identified which invites a more indepth investigation of job uncertainty, in particular its integrated review and conceptual framework as well as designing the relevant measurement tool. The article is analytical and conceptual, and can be a contribution to the discussion on job insecurity and a starting point for empirical research in economic sciences.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ashford, S.J., Lee, C., Bobko, P. (1989). Content, causes and consequences of job insecurity: A theory-based measure and substantive test. Academy of Management Journal, 32 (4), 803-829.

Awosusi, O.O., Fasanmi, S.S. (2014). Who's next for the Axe? Procedural Justice and Job Insecurity among bankers in Nigeria. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 114, 403-409.

Borg, I., Elizur, D. (1992). Job Insecurity: Correlates, Moderators and Measurements. International Journal of Manpower, 13 (2), 13-26.

Boswell, W.R., Olson-Buchanan, J.B., Harris, T.B. (2014). I Cannot Afford to Have a Life: Employee Adaptation to Feelings of Job Insecurity. Personnel Psychology, 67 (4), 887-915.

Caplan, R.D., Cobb, S., French Jr., J.R.P., Van Harrison, R., Pinneau Jr., S.R. (1975). Job Demands and Worker Health. Main Effects and Occupational Differences. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Center for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Washington.

Chojnacki, P. (2015). Niepewność zatrudnienia - czy jest się czego obawiać? Zeszyty Naukowe Politechniki Łódzkiej. Organizacja i Zarządzanie, 61 (1202), 49-62.

Davy, J.A., Kinicki, A.J., Scheck, C.L. (1997). A Test of Job security's Direct and Mediated Effects on Withdrawal Cognitions. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 18 (4), 323-349.

De Cuyper, N., Bernhard-Oettel, C., Berntson, E., De Witte, H., Alarco, B. (2008). Employability and Employees' Well-Being: Mediation by Job Insecurity. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57 (3), 488-509.

De Cuyper, N., Mäkikangas, A., Kinnunen, U., Mauno, S., De Witte, H. (2012). Cross-lagged associations between perceived external employability, job insecurity, and exhaustion: Testing gain and loss spirals according to the Conservation of Resources Theory. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33 (6), 770-788.

De Cuyper, N., Schreurs, B., Vander Elst, T., Baillien, E., De Witte, H. (2014). Exemplification and Perceived Job Insecurity. Associations with Self-Rated Performance and Emotional Exhaustion. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 13 (1), 1-10.

De Witte, H. (1999). Job Insecurity and Psychological Well-being: Review of the Literature and Exploration of Some Unresolved Issues. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8 (2), 155-177.

De Witte, H., Näswall, K. (2003). 'Objective' vs 'Subjective' Job Insecurity: Consequences of Temporary Work for Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment in Four European Countries. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 24 (2), 149-188.

Greenhalgh, L. Rosenblatt, Z. (2010). Evolution of research on job insecurity. International Studies of Management & Organization, 40 (1), 6-19.

Greenhalgh, L., Rosenblatt, Z. (1984). Job Insecurity: Toward Conceptual Clarity. Academy of Management Review, 9 (3), 438-448.

Hartley, J., Jacobson, D., Klandermans, B., Van Vuuren, T. (1991). Job Insecurity: Coping with Jobs at Risk. Sage Publications, London.

Hellgren, J., Sverke, M., Isaksson, K. (1999). A Two-dimensional Approach to Job Insecurity: Consequences for Employee Attitudes and Well-being. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 8 (2), 179- -195.

Huang, G-H., Lee, C., Ashford, S., Chen, Z., Ren, X. (2010). Affective Job Insecurity. International Studies of Management & Organization, 40 (1), 20-39.

Johnson, C.D., Messe, L.A., Crano, W.D. (1984). Predicting job performance of low income workers: The work opinion questionnaire. Personnel Psychology, 37, 291-299.

Keim, A.C., Landis, R.S., Pierce, C.A., Earnest, D.R. (2014). Why Do Employees Worry About Their Jobs? A Meta- -Analytic Review of Predictors of Job Insecurity. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 19 (3), 269-290.

Klandermans, B., Hesselink, J.K., Van Vuuren, T. (2010). Employment status and job insecurity: On the subjective appraisal of an objective status. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 31 (4), 557-577.

Lee, C., Bobko, P., Ashford S., Chen Z.X., Ren X. (2008). Cross-cultural development of an abridged job insecurity measure. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29, 373-390.

Lixin, J. (2017). Perception of and reactions to job insecurity: The buffeting effect of secure attachment. Work & Stress, 31 (3), 256-275.

Loi, R., Ngo, H.Y., Zhang, L.Q., Lau, V.P. (2011). The interaction between leader-member exchange and perceived job security in predicting employee altruism and work performance. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84 (4), 669-685.

Mauno, S., Kinnunen, U. (2002). Perceived job insecurity among dual-earner couples: Do its antecedents vary according to gender, economic sector and the measure used? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 75, 295-314.

O'Neill, P., Sevastos, P. (2013). The Development and Validation of a New Multidimensional Job Insecurity Measure (JIM): An Inductive Methodology. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 18 (3), 338-349.

Probst, T.M. (2003). Development and validation of the Job Security Index and the Job Security Satisfaction scale: A classical test theory and IRT approach. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 76 (4), 451-467.

Richter, A. (2011). Job Insecurity and Its Consequences Investigating Moderators, Mediators and Gender. Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm.

Richter, A., Tavfelin, S., Sverke, M. (2018). The Mediated Relationship of Leadership on Job Insecurity. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 3 (1), 1-14.

Reisel, W.D., Banai, M (2002). Comparison of a multidimensional and a global measure of job insecurity: predicting job attitudes and work behaviors. Psychological Reports, 90 (3), 913-922.

Rosen, C.C., Chang, C.H., Djurdjevic, E., Eatough, E. (2010). Occupational stressors and job performance: An updated review and recommendations. [In:] P.L. Perrewé, D.C. Ganster (eds.), New Developments in Theoretical and Conceptual Approaches to Job Stress (Research in Occupational Stress and Well-being, Volume 8), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley, 1-60.

Shoss, M.K. (2017). Job Insecurity: An Integrative Review and Agenda for Future Research. Journal of Management, 43 (6), 1911-1939.

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.

Sverke, M., Hellgren, J. (2002). The nature of job insecurity: Understanding employment uncertainty on the brink of a new millennium. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 51 (1), 23-42.

Sverke, M., Hellgren, J., Näswall, K. (2002). No security: A Meta-Analysis and Review of Job Insecurity and Its Consequences. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 7 (3), 242-264.

Vander Elst, T., De Cuyper, N., Baillien, E., Niesen, W., De Witte, H. (2016). Perceived Control and Psychological Contract Breach as Explanations of the Relationships Between Job Insecurity, Job Strain and Coping Reactions: Towards a Theoretical Integration. Stress and Health, 32 (2), 100-116, DOI: 10.1002/smi.2584

Vander Elst, T., De Cuyper, N., De Witte, H. (2011). The role of perceived control in the relationship between job insecurity and psychosocial outcomes: Moderator or mediator. Stress and Health, 27 (3), e215-e227.

Vander Elst, T., De Witte, H., De Cuyper, N. (2014). The Job Insecurity Scale: A psychometric evaluation cross five European countries. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23 (3), 364-380.

Published
2019-03-30
How to Cite
Wyrwa, J. (2019). JOB INSECURITY – CONCEPTUALIZATION OF THE NOTION AND METHODS OF MEASUREMENT. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum. Oeconomia, 18(1), 107-115. https://doi.org/10.22630/ASPE.2019.18.1.12