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Applying qualitative and quantitative analyses across four studies and seven samples, we clarified the meaning and developed a new measure of career insecurity. Career insecurity is defined as ���an individual���s thoughts and worries that central content aspects of one���s future career might possibly develop in an undesired manner.��� The new Multidimensional Career Insecurity Scale (MU-CI-S) measures eight career insecurity (CI) dimensions: (1) CI-Career opportunities, (2) CI-Decreased prestige and qualification requirements of the employment, (3) CI-Contractual employment conditions, (4) CI-Unemployment, (5) CI-Change of workplace, (6) CI-Retirement, (7) CI-Work-nonwork interactions, and (8) CI-Discrepancy between individual resources and work demands. Across all studies, the MU-CI-S showed excellent psychometric properties (e.g., factor loadings of all items and internal consistencies of all dimensions) and high levels of construct validity (e.g., theoretically assumed factorial structure and discriminant and convergent validity). Moreover, the analyses showed concurrent, predictive, and incremental validity beyond neuroticism and other job and career insecurity measures for predicting health and well-being, job performance, career success, and career attitudes. The results provide a comprehensive assessment and investigation of career-related insecurity perceptions in the current labor market. Moreover, the results offer theoretical and practical implications for individual career planning, career counseling, and organizational career management.

Research has disregarded the processes and boundary conditions associated with the effects of job insecurity on innovative work behaviour. Combining the job demands-resources and the self-determination perspectives, the present study develops and tests a first-stage moderated mediation model that identifies intrinsic motivation as a key mechanism accounting for a negative effect of job insecurity on innovative behaviour and trait mindfulness as a buffer against the detrimental impact of job insecurity on intrinsic motivation and, indirectly, innovative work behaviour. Two time-lagged studies-a two-wave study of 138 employees from Canadian firms and a three-wave study of 157 employees from US firms-were conducted to test the hypothesized model. Supporting our predictions, intrinsic motivation mediated a negative relationship between job insecurity and innovative work behaviour. Moreover, high levels of trait mindfulness were observed to attenuate the negative relationship of job insecurity with intrinsic motivation and, indirectly, innovative behaviour. These findings contribute to the literature by disclosing the processes linking job insecurity with impaired work outcomes and help to elucidate how and when employee can keep their innovative potential alive in spite of insecure work conditions. ispartof: STRESS AND HEALTH vol:37 issue:4 pages:742-754 ispartof: location:England status: published

This study tests the assumption that job insecurity threatens people’s work-related identities and thereby affects their political attitudes. Work-related identity threat in times of job insecurity is proposed to happen in two ways: people will fear to lose an important part of their identity (their identity as employed people), and they also be afraid to gain a negative identity (their feared future self of becoming unemployed). Both identity threats are proposed to lead to more antiegalitarian attitudes and more political leaning to the right. A four-wave study among 969 employed British employees delivers support for some of the assumptions. In line with the expectations, results of time-stable structural equation modeling show that job insecurity indeed threatens the identity as an employed person, which leads to an increase in antiegalitarian attitudes over time. Different than expected, identity threat in the form of a heightened identification with the unemployed was not found. Also, people who identified more as unemployed people actually reported fewer antiegalitarian attitudes and shifted their political standing more to the left.

Current work life is characterized by globalization, technological changes and the aftermath of the economic recession, thereby increasing the need for organizations to be innovative to maintain their competitive position. At the same time, this turbulent organizational landscape gave rise to perceptions of job insecurity (JI), that is, the subjectively perceived likelihood of involuntary job loss. The present study investigates whether job insecurity relates to innovative work behaviour (IWB) and introduces threat rigidity theory as an explanatory framework for this relationship. Based on this theory, we propose a serial mediation model, in which job insecurity relates to an increase in irritation, which subsequently relates to a decrease in concentration, resulting in a decrease in both dimensions of IWB, namely idea generation and idea implementation. By means of survey data from 394 Dutch‐speaking Belgian employees, we used structural equation modelling to compute our mediation analyses (bootstrapping method). Our findings are in line with threat rigidity theory, as the results demonstrate that the threat of job loss impairs employees' innovativeness through increased irritation and decreased concentration. This study contributes to job insecurity as well as IWB research, by introducing a process model that sheds light on job insecurity outcomes and antecedents of IWB. ispartof: Creativity and Innovation Management vol:28 issue:1 pages:19-29 status: published

© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The aim of this article is twofold: (a) to validate the psychometric properties of the Academic Resilience Scale (AR-S) in a Spanish university context; and (b) to test a model where different coping strategies are antecedents of AR, and where academic satisfaction and performance are its consequences. The studies were conducted with 185 (study 1) and 780 (study 2) students. In study 1, the construct validity, reliability, and convergent and divergent validity of the AR-S were analyzed. The hypothesized model (study 2) was tested using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed the good psychometric properties of the AR-S in the Spanish context, providing evidence of its validity. Furthermore, the distinctive role of different coping strategies in resilience was confirmed, as well as the relationship between resilience and academic satisfaction. No direct relationship between resilience and performance was found, highlighting the full mediation of satisfaction. ispartof: PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS vol:56 issue:6 pages:875-890 status: published

European policy is focusing on innovation as a way out of the economic crisis. At the same time, job insecurity is rising as Europe is still in crisis. In this paper, we examine whether job insecurity affects the innovative work behaviour of employees by focusing on the relation between job insecurity, job autonomy, work engagement and innovative work behaviour (IWB). Using employee level survey data, we use structural equation modelling to disentangle the relations between these variables. The partially mediated model shows the best fit with the data. This model shows that job insecurity and autonomy are both directly and indirectly, through work engagement, related with IWB. For autonomy these relations are positive, while they are negative (and smaller) for job insecurity. Moreover, a negative covariance is observed between job insecurity and autonomy.

This study investigates whether contract type (temporary versus permanent employment) moderates the relationship between emotional exhaustion and supervisor-rated individual performance. Most temporary workers desire permanent employment, and this may drive them to uphold performance also when strained. This hypothesis was tested with multiple-group analysis in a sample of 430 call-center operators from five Portuguese organizations from different sectors. The results show that emotional exhaustion related negatively to supervisor-rated individual performance among permanent workers, but not among temporary workers. Our conclusion is that the relationship between emotional exhaustion and supervisor-rated individual performance is conditional upon contract type. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21608 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.21608/pdf

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. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

© 2014 The British Psychological Society. This study aims to explain the reciprocal relationship between job insecurity and employee well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion and vigour) by perceived control. Building on appraisal theory and conservation of resources theory, we suggest that perceived control mediates the cross-lagged relationships from job insecurity to employee well-being, and from employee well-being to job insecurity. These hypotheses were tested using repeated-measures data (two waves) from 536 Flemish employees from different organizations and sectors. First, cross-lagged structural equation modelling analyses showed an effect from job insecurity to perceived control, and from perceived control to emotional exhaustion, so that perceived control (partially) mediated the positive cross-lagged relationship from job insecurity to emotional exhaustion. Second, we established a cross-lagged effect from emotional exhaustion to perceived control, although not from perceived control to job insecurity. Third, no cross-lagged paths were found between perceived control and vigour. This study contributes to both appraisal theory and conservation of resources theory by investigating reciprocal relationships that fit the transactional conceptualization of stress within both frameworks. Furthermore, the results of this study highlight perceived control as the process through which the stressor job insecurity impacts on employee well-being. ispartof: Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology vol:87 issue:4 pages:671-693 status: published

To explore the motivational potential of job design, we linked job demands and job resources, as defined in the job demands–resources model, to the motivational process defined in self-determination theory. Specifically, we introduced basic need satisfaction and autonomous motivation as consecutive process variables mediating the relationship between job design and work effort. We tested this model by means of structural equation modeling in a sample of 689 employees. The comparison of several competing models provided support for the hypothesized model. We conclude that job demands thwart and job resources promote the fulfillment of 3 psychological needs. High levels of need satisfaction, in turn, are associated with autonomous motivation and, therefore, with high levels of effort.

Summary This study investigates perceived external employability (PEE) as a personal resource in relation to job insecurity and exhaustion. We advance the idea that PEE may reduce feelings of job insecurity and, through felt job insecurity, also exhaustion. That is, we probe the paths from PEE to job insecurity and from job insecurity to exhaustion. We furthermore account for possible reversed causality, so that exhaustion felt job insecurity and felt job insecurity PEE. This aligns with insights from the Conservation of Resources Theory, which is built on the assumption of resource caravans passageways and associated gain and loss spirals. We based the results on a sample of 1314 workers from two Finnish universities. Respondents participated twice in the study with a time lag of one year. We found that PEE related negatively to felt job insecurity and vice versa. Similarly, there was a reciprocal positive relationship between felt job insecurity and exhaustion. We conclude that PEE may prevent feelings of insecurity and, through reduced job insecurity, also exhaustion. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study aims to respond to earlier calls to study well-known concepts, more specifically, job insecurity, in less traditional (i.e. non-European, non-US) settings, as well as factors that may mitigate the aversive consequences of job insecurity for employees' work-related functioning. We investigate (1) the relationship between job insecurity and work engagement and psychological distress, and (2) the moderating role of positive affect in these relationships. Cross-sectional data from 296 employees in a South African government organisation were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that job insecurity was negatively related to work engagement and positively to psychological distress. These relationships were buffered by positive affect.

The large majority of studies on job insecurity have focused upon the individual level. Recent research has also paid some attention to job insecurity at the level of the organisation, referred to as job insecurity climate. This research has shown negative relationships between job insecurity climate and employees' individual job attitudes. Nevertheless, in these studies no attention has been paid to organisational climate strength, in spite of the recommendations formulated in the literature on this topic. In response, this study aims to account for climate strength in the relationship between job insecurity and job attitudes. We hypothesise that climate strength is related to job satisfaction, organisational commitment, work involvement, and organisational trust. Moreover, we hypothesise that the relationship between job insecurity climate and these outcomes may be stronger when there is a strong agreement among employees concerning their job insecurity perceptions compared to when there is a weak agreement (strong versus weak climate strength). Results based on a Spanish sample of 428 employees from 20 organisations largely supported our hypotheses except in the case of work involvement: climate strength was negatively related to job attitudes, and the relationship between job insecurity climate and individual job attitudes was moderated by climate strength.

In order to explain the diverging well-being outcomes of workaholism, this study aimed to examine the motivational orientations that may fuel the two main components of workaholism (i.e. working excessively and working compulsively). Drawings on Self-Determination Theory, both autonomous and controlled motivation were suggested to drive excessive work, which therefore was expected to relate positively to both well-being (i.e. vigor) and ill-health (i.e. exhaustion). Compulsive work, in contrast, was hypothesised to originate exclusively out of controlled motivation and therefore to only associate positively with ill-being. Structural equation modeling in a heterogeneous sample of Belgian white-collar workers (N = 370) confirmed that autonomous motivation associated positively with excessive work, which then related positively to vigor. Controlled motivation correlated positively with compulsive work, which therefore related positively with exhaustion. The hypothesised path from controlled motivation to exhaustion through excessive work was not corroborated. In general, the findings suggest that primarily compulsive work yields associations with ill-being, since it may stem from a qualitatively inferior type of motivation.

The current study aims to test the hypotheses that are central to Karasek's Job Demand Control Model in relation to workplace bullying. Particular contributions are, first, the focus upon both targets and perpetrators of workplace bullying, and second, the two-wave design with a 6-month time lag. We assume that (a) workload at Time I associates positively with being a target/perpetrator at Time 2, (b) job autonomy at Time 1 associates negatively with being a target/perpetrator at Time 2, and (c) the positive relationship between workload at Time 1 and being a target/perpetrator at Time 2 is stronger under the condition of low (vs. high) job autonomy at Time 1 (i.e., interaction between workload and job autonomy). Moderated hierarchical regression analyses (N = 320) revealed lagged main effects for being a target, and interaction effects for being a perpetrator. In particular, Time 1 workload was positively and Time 1 job autonomy negatively associated with being a target at Time 2. Job autonomy at Time I reduced the positive relationship between workload at Time 1 and being a perpetrator at Time 2. Overall, our results suggest that high strain jobs relate to both being a target and to being perpetrator of workplace bullying, yet through different processes: main effects and interactions, respectively.

The aim of the current study was to address the intervening role of perceived control in the job insecurity–strain relationship. Two alternatives were investigated: (1) perceived control as a buffer of the relationship between job insecurity and outcome variables (i.e. job satisfaction, organizational commitment, psychological distress and turnover intentions); and (2) perceived control as a mediator of the relationship between job insecurity and the outcomes. Cross-sectional data of 211 employees were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that perceived control did not buffer the relationship between job insecurity, and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, psychological distress and turnover intentions. However, perceived control was found to partially mediate the association between job insecurity and these outcomes. The results are explained using the cognitive theory of stress and coping of Lazarus and Folkman, and suggest that job insecurity is stressful because it decreases the experience of control. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as defined in Self-Determination Theory, has been identified as an important predictor of individuals' optimal functioning in various life domains. The study of work-related need satisfaction seems, however, hampered by the lack of a validated measure. To assist future research, the present study aimed to develop and validate a Work-related Basic Need Satisfaction scale (W-BNS). Using four Dutch-speaking samples, evidence was found for the three-factor structure of the scale, the discriminant validity, and the reliability of the three need satisfaction subscales as well as their criterion-related and predictive validity. The W-BNS may therefore be considered as a promising tool for future research and practice. © 2010 The British Psychological Society. ispartof: Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology vol:83 issue:4 pages:981-1002 status: published

Changes in the contemporary labour market have resulted in an increasing demand for flexibility in the work context. The present research examines the associations between unemployed individuals' work values and their attitudes towards job flexibility. Consistent with Expectancy-Value Theory, results showed that the general concept of employment value was positively related to all measured types of flexibility, that is, training flexibility, pay flexibility, the flexibility to accept an undemanding job, and the flexibility to accept a job for which one is over-qualified. In line with Self-Determination Theory, holding an intrinsic work value orientation related positively to training and pay flexibility, whereas extrinsic work value orientation was negatively related to these two types of flexibility. Overall, these results indicate that not only the degree of employment value but also the content of unemployed individuals' work value orientations matter in understanding their job flexibility. © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 International Association of Applied Psychology. 18 ispartof: Applied Psychology-An International Review-Psychologie Appliquee-Revue Internationale vol:59 issue:2 pages:296-317 status: published

Up to now, researchers have identified various individual and work-related factors as potential antecedents of workplace bullying. The aim of the present study is to integrate this line of research in view of explaining how these antecedents may develop into workplace bullying. Key informants, such as union representatives, employees with a confidence role concerning workplace bullying, human resource managers, prevention workers and social service employees, analysed bullying incidents or cases within their organization. We combined the various perspectives on the same incident into one plan. Then, all 87 case plans were united in a global model that reflects the development towards bullying. The results suggested three processes that may contribute to the development of bullying. Firstly, bullying may result from inefficient coping with frustration. Such coping mechanisms are likely to be active for perpetrators, and passive for victims. Secondly, bullying may be the consequence of escalated conflicts. Thirdly, bullying may result from destructive team and organizational cultures or habits. Individual and work-related antecedents may affect these processes in two ways: they may be at the origin of the three processes, and they may relate to the employees' coping style. Implications for theory and research are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The current study's aims are twofold: first, we investigate the relationship between employability and both work-related (engagement) and general (life satisfaction) well-being. Second, we study ho ...

Self-determination theory's distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic goal pursuits offers a possible explanation for ethnic and racial prejudice. Because extrinsic relative to intrinsic goal pursuits (E/I) stimulate interpersonal competition, they were expected to predict social dominance orientation (SDO), which, in turn, would predict racial and ethnic prejudice. Results of a first cross-sectional study showed that E/I goal pursuits are positively associated with prejudice and that SDO partially mediates this association. In a second longitudinal study, we replicated these results. In addition, however, we found evidence for a reciprocal relationship between E/I goal pursuit and SDO. Moreover, both E/I goal pursuit and SDO had an independent effect on increases in prejudice. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Using self-determination theory, two studies found that holding an extrinsic, relative to an intrinsic, work value orientation was associated with less positive outcomes (i.e. less satisfaction with, dedication to and vitality while on the job) and more negative outcomes (i.e. higher emotional exhaustion, short-lived satisfaction after successful goal-attainment, and turn-over intention). These relations were not limited to job outcomes, but also emerged using indicators of employees' general mental health. Moreover, income level did not moderate these relations. Study 2 found that holding an extrinsic, relative to an intrinsic, work value orientation was detrimental to employees' job outcomes because these orientations thwarted the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness at work. ispartof: Journal of occupational and organizational psychology vol:80 issue:2 pages:251-277 status: published

Research on the impact of job insecurity for temporary employees has been largely exploratory and atheoretical in nature. This paper addresses this issue by considering the role of job insecurity on job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, and self-rated performance among permanent employees (N = 396) as compared with temporary ones (N = 148). Hypotheses are formulated using the tradition of transactional versus relational psychological contract types. Psychological contract theory assumes (1) that job insecurity effects are due to a violation of the relational psychological contract, and (2) that permanents as compared with temporaries engage more in relational psychological contracting. As a result, job insecurity is expected to be problematic in terms of outcomes for permanents, but not for temporaries. Results validate the assumptions made in psychological contract theory. Furthermore, job insecurity proved problematic for permanents but not for temporaries when job satisfaction and organizational commitment are concerned. No such differential effects are observed for life satisfaction and self-rated performance. Implications for future research are discussed.

Previous unemployment research has directly tested hypotheses derived from expectancy-value theory (EVT; Feather, 1982, 1990), but no comparative analysis has been executed with another motivational framework. In one large study with 446 unemployed people, separate analyses provided good evidence for predictions derived from both EVT and self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). Comparative analyses indicated that the type of people's job search motivation, as conceptualized through the notions of autonomous versus controlled motivation within SDT, is an important predictor of people's unemployment experience and well-being, beyond people's strength of motivation assessed within EVT through expectancies of finding a job and employment value. The importance of simultaneously testing two theoretical frameworks is discussed.

Two studies (n = 273 and 254) used self-determination theory (SDT) to examine unemployed people's motivation both to search and not to search for a job. The self-regulation questionnaire format (Ryan & Connell, 1989) was used to assess participants' autonomous and controlled job-search motivation (the ‘why’ of job search) as well as their amotivation for searching. Additionally, both autonomous and controlled motivation for not searching (the ‘why not’ of job search) was assessed. Results provide validity for these five motivational constructs and indicate, in line with SDT, that the constructs predicted reports of search behaviour, affective experiences, and well-being. The addition of autonomous and controlled motivation for not searching contributed additional predictive power beyond the motivational constructs that focused only on searching. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

European policy is focusing on innovation as a way out of the economic crisis. At the same time, job insecurity is rising as Europe is still in crisis. In this paper, we examine whether job insecurity affects the innovative work behaviour of employees by focusing on the relation between job insecurity, job autonomy, work engagement and innovative work behaviour (IWB). Using employee level survey data, we use structural equation modelling to disentangle the relations between these variables. The partially mediated model shows the best fit with the data. This model shows that job insecurity and autonomy are both directly and indirectly, through work engagement, related with IWB. For autonomy these relations are positive, while they are negative (and smaller) for job insecurity. Moreover, a negative covariance is observed between job insecurity and autonomy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/caim.12079 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/caim.12079/abstract

In his comment to our results (Meloen, van der Linden, & de Witte, 1996), John Ray has grossly distorted our conclusions. The Australian "anarchocapitalist" Ray-who acknowledges having "once joined Nazi parties" like the Australian Nazi Party (Ray, 1972, 1985)-is apparently still in conflict with what he explicitly suggested to be the "Jewish authors" (Ray, 1976, p. 307) of The Authoritarian Personality (Adorno et al., 1950/1982) and all presumed "leftists" in general. Nevertheless, we are pleased to learn that we are in full agreement with Ray's contention that his concept of directiveness has little in common with what we may call "classic authoritarianism" by Adorno et al. and related approaches (Altemeyer, Lederer), both in a theoretical and empirical way, as our results showed. Ray believes (1976), however, that directiveness includes the true authoritarian personality and that what we call classic authoritarianism is no more than moderate conservatism. We think that Ray turns the world upside down, and we will explain this once more (Middendorp & Meloen, 1991). First of all, we do not consider the Vlaams Blok (VB) a "conservative" party, as Ray suggests. There are clear personal ties with the "old" extreme right, originating in the Second World War (de Witte, 1996), and the ideology of this party is explicitly right-wing extremist (Spruyt, 1995). More significant is that Ray apparently missed a main conclusion: Those who preferred the VB also scored highest on versions of the Altemeyer, Lederer, and Adorno et al. authoritarianism scales (Table III and p. 651, Meloen et al., 1996), but not on directiveness (not shown but implied, Table I and p. 653, Meloen et al., 1996). This is a main validation of the classic authoritarianism syndrome, and additional empirical validations have been extensively reported elsewhere (Meloen, 1983, 1993), but these are typically not mentioned by Ray: Classic

The Vlaams Blok, a 'new' extreme right-wing party, grew substantially during the 1980s in the Flemish part of Belgium. Two alternative hypotheses about the motivation and attitudes of voters for extreme right-wing parties are examined. Is the voters' choice for such a political party inspired by substantive considerations about the programme of the party (the 'rational choice' model), or is right-wing voting mainly an expression of protest? The Flemish part of the Voters' Study relating to the 1991 General Election contains useful data for answering these questions. The likelihood of voting for the Vlaams Blok, as a function of thirteen relevant attitudinal variables, is analysed by means of logistic regression. Voting for the Vlaams Blok is determined by a negative attitude towards immigrants. Nationalist attitudes and feelings of social isolation seem to have a partial and moderate additional impact. In addition, there is some evidence that a vote for the Vlaams Blok should also be seen as a protest vote by some of the voters.