Tinne Vander Elst

The role of organizational communication and participation in reducing job insecurity and its negative association with work-related well-being

The aim of the present study was to investigate how organizational communication and participation influence job insecurity and its relationship with poor work-related well-being. The results of a cross-sectional study of 3881 employees from 20 organizations in Flanders and Brussels (Belgium) showed that organizational communication and participation were negatively related to job insecurity. Furthermore, with one exception, the interaction terms between job insecurity and either organizational communication or participation did not contribute in explaining variance in the outcome variables (i.e. work engagement and need for recovery).

The Job Insecurity Scale: A psychometric evaluation across five European countries

Multiple instruments have been developed and used to measure quantitative job insecurity (i.e., insecurity to lose the job as such), often without systematic evaluation of their psychometric characteristics across countries and language barriers. This may hamper consistent and reliable cross-study and cross-country comparisons. This studys aim was to introduce and validate the four-item Job Insecurity Scale (JIS) developed by De Witte across five European countries (i.e., Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK). Overall, the results demonstrated the construct validity (i.e., configural invariance and invariance of the measurement model parameters), the reliability (internal consistency of the items), and the criterion validity (with respect to affective organizational commitment, perceived general health, and self-reported performance) of the JIS. The different translations of the JIS can thus be considered as valid and reliable instruments to measure job insecurity and can be used to make m...Multiple instruments have been developed and used to measure quantitative job insecurity (i.e., insecurity to lose the job as such), often without systematic evaluation of their psychometric characteristics across countries and language barriers. This may hamper consistent and reliable cross-study and cross-country comparisons. This studys aim was to introduce and validate the four-item Job Insecurity Scale (JIS) developed by De Witte across five European countries (i.e., Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK). Overall, the results demonstrated the construct validity (i.e., configural invariance and invariance of the measurement model parameters), the reliability (internal consistency of the items), and the criterion validity (with respect to affective organizational commitment, perceived general health, and self-reported performance) of the JIS. The different translations of the JIS can thus be considered as valid and reliable instruments to measure job insecurity and can be used to make meaningful comparisons across countries. Furthermore, the JIS translations may be utilized to assess how job insecurity is related to outcomes.

The mediating role of frustration of psychological needs in the relationship between job insecurity and work-related well-being

Abstract This study aims to test a new process underlying the negative relationship between job insecurity and work-related well-being. Specifically, based on Self-Determination Theory, frustration of the psychological needs for autonomy, belongingness and competence was expected to explain the associations between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion and vigour (i.e. the core energy-related components of burnout and work engagement, respectively). Structural equation modelling using data from a heterogeneous sample of 3185 Flemish employees confirmed that frustration of the three needs mediated the association between job insecurity and both outcomes. These results suggest that job insecurity is related to impaired work-related well-being, because it frustrates employees’ psychological needs. This study contributes to a rather small, but growing body of research on the theoretical explanations of the negative consequences of job insecurity for employees’ work-related well-being.Abstract This study aims to test a new process underlying the negative relationship between job insecurity and work-related well-being. Specifically, based on Self-Determination Theory, frustration of the psychological needs for autonomy, belongingness and competence was expected to explain the associations between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion and vigour (i.e. the core energy-related components of burnout and work engagement, respectively). Structural equation modelling using data from a heterogeneous sample of 3185 Flemish employees confirmed that frustration of the three needs mediated the association between job insecurity and both outcomes. These results suggest that job insecurity is related to impaired work-related well-being, because it frustrates employees’ psychological needs. This study contributes to a rather small, but growing body of research on the theoretical explanations of the negative consequences of job insecurity for employees’ work-related well-being.

Perceived Control and Psychological Contract Breach as Explanations of the Relationships Between Job Insecurity, Job Strain and Coping Reactions: Towards a Theoretical Integration

This study aims to further knowledge on the mechanisms through which job insecurity is related to negative outcomes. Based on appraisal theory, two explanations-perceived control and psychological contract breach-were theoretically integrated in a comprehensive model and simultaneously examined as mediators of the job insecurity-outcome relationship. Different categories of outcomes were considered, namely work-related (i.e. vigour and need for recovery) and general strain (i.e. mental and physical health complaints), as well as psychological (i.e. job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and behavioural coping reactions (i.e. self-rated performance and innovative work behaviour). The hypotheses were tested using data of a heterogeneous sample of 2413 Flemish employees by means of both single and multiple mediator structural equation modelling analyses (bootstrapping method). Particularly, psychological contract breach accounted for the relationship between job insecurity and strain. Both perceived control and psychological contract breach mediated the relationships between job insecurity and psychological coping reactions, although the indirect effects were larger for psychological contract breach. Finally, perceived control was more important than psychological contract breach in mediating the relationships between job insecurity and behavioural coping reactions. This study meets previous calls for a theoretical integration regarding mediators of the job insecurity-outcome relationship.

The mediating role of psychological needs in the relation between qualitative job insecurity and counterproductive work behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to add to the understanding of the qualitative job insecurity, i.e. the insecurity about the continuity of valued job aspects in future. Specifically, the paper examines whether qualitative job insecurity is related to counterproductive work behavior (CWB), both directed to the organization (i.e. CWB-O) and other individuals at work (i.e. CWB-I), and whether frustration of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, belongingness and competence, as defined in self-determination theory, may account for these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The hypothesis were examined using structural equation modeling in heterogeneous sample of Romanian employees. Findings – Results support the hypotheses showing that feeling insecure about ones valued job aspects associates with high levels of need frustration and, therefore, also with both CWB-O and CWB-I. While each of the accounted for the associations of qualitative insecurity and CWB-O, only frustration of the need...

Job Insecurity, Health and Well-Being

The current chapter reviews the literature on the relationship between job insecurity and employees’ health and well-being. Job insecurity is defined as (subjective) concerns about the continued existence of the actual job. We highlight the various components of the definition and discuss the prevalence and objective antecedents of job insecurity, like the level of unemployment, demographical variables and the employment contract. Various individual consequences of job insecurity are surveyed, suggesting that job insecurity has detrimental consequences for health and well-being. The evidence for causal relationships is summarised based on longitudinal studies. The chapter continues by inventorying explanations for the negative consequences of job insecurity, such as psychological contract violation and perceived lack of control, and by discussing moderators that can mitigate the relationship between job insecurity and outcomes, such as employability. These findings cumulate in suggestions for practice and for the development of interventions aimed at reducing job insecurity and/or its negative consequences.

Threat of losing valued job features: The role of perceived control in mediating the effect of qualitative job insecurity on job strain and psychological withdrawal

Quantitative job insecurity, relating to threat of job loss, has received considerable research attention, but relatively little is known about qualitative job insecurity. The latter relates to uncertainty regarding valued job characteristics, such as career and wage progression. The aim of this study was to investigate whether situational appraisals of control may account for the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and both job strain (depressive symptoms and upper musculoskeletal complaints) and psychological withdrawal (affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions). The hypotheses were tested by means of two-wave longitudinal data (time lag of 14 months) from 722 Swedish white-collar workers in four samples. The results of cross-lagged structural equation modelling showed that qualitative job insecurity was negatively related to subsequent perceived control. Furthermore, perceptions of high control over the job situation were associated with decreased depressive symptoms and increased affective organizational commitment over time. Formal tests pointed at a significant indirect effect of qualitative job insecurity on affective organizational commitment through perceived control. No effects of perceived control on upper musculoskeletal complaints and turnover intentions were found. This study indicates the importance of qualitative job insecurity for employees’ functioning and highlights perceived control as an explanation of job insecurity outcomes.

Increased Risk of Burnout for Physicians and Nurses Involved in a Patient Safety Incident.

Background:Human errors occur everywhere, including in health care. Not only the patient, but also the involved health professional is affected (ie, the “second victim”). Objectives:To investigate the prevalence of health care professionals being personally involved in a patient safety incident (PSI), as well as the relationship of involvement and degree of harm with problematic medication use, excessive alcohol consumption, risk of burnout, work-home interference (WHI), and turnover intentions. Research Design:Multilevel path analyses were conducted to analyze cross-sectional survey data from 37 Belgian hospitals. Subjects:A total of 5788 nurses (79.4%) and physicians (20.6%) in 26 acute and 11 psychiatric hospitals were included. Measures:“Involvement in a patient safety incident during the prior 6 months,” “degree of harm,” and 5 outcomes were measured using self-report scales. Results:Nine percent of the total sample had been involved in a PSI during the prior 6 months. Involvement in a PSI was related to a greater risk of burnout (&bgr;=0.40, OR=2.07), to problematic medication use (&bgr;=0.33, OR=1.84), to greater WHI (&bgr;=0.24), and to more turnover intentions (&bgr;=0.22). Harm to the patient was a predictor of problematic medication use (&bgr;=0.14, OR=1.56), risk of burnout (&bgr;=0.16, OR=1.62), and WHI (&bgr;=0.19). Conclusions:Second victims experience significant negative outcomes in the aftermath of a PSI. An appropriate organizational response should be provided to mitigate the negative effects.

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.

The current study contributes to the literature on job insecurity by highlighting threat to the benefits of work as an explanation of the effect of job insecurity on health complaints. Building on the latent deprivation model, we predicted that threats to both manifest (i.e., financial income) and latent benefits of work (i.e., collective purpose, social contacts, status, time structure, activity) mediate the relationships from job insecurity to subsequent mental and physical health complaints. In addition, in line with the conservation of resources theory, we proposed that financial resources buffer the indirect effect of job insecurity on health complaints through threat to the manifest benefit. Hypotheses were tested using a multilevel design, in which 3 measurements (time lag of 6 months between subsequent measurements) were clustered within 1,994 employees (in Flanders, Belgium). This allowed for the investigation of within-person processes, while controlling for variance at the between-person level. The results demonstrate that job insecurity was related to subsequent threats to both manifest and latent benefits, and that these threats in turn were related to subsequent health complaints (with an exception for threat to the manifest benefit that did not predict mental health complaints). Three significant indirect effects were found: threat to the latent benefits mediated the relationships between job insecurity and both mental and physical health complaints, and threat to the manifest benefit mediated the relationship between job insecurity and physical health complaints. Unexpectedly, the latter indirect effect was exacerbated by financial resources.

Job Demands, Job Resources, Burnout, Work Engagement, and Their Relationships: An Analysis Across Sectors

Objective: The aim of this study was to gain insight in the importance of job demands and resources and the validity of the Job Demands Resources Model across sectors. Methods: We used one-way analyses of variance to examine mean differences, and multi-group Structural Equation Modeling analyses to test the strength of the relationships among job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement across the health care, industry, service, and public sector. Results: The four sectors differed in the experience of job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement, but they did not vary in how (strongly) job demands and resources associated with burnout and work engagement. Conclusion: More attention is needed to decrease burnout and increase work engagement, particularly in industry, service, and the public sector. The Job Demands-Resources model may be helpful in this regard, as it is valid across sectors.