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A Person-Centered Approach to Job Insecurity: Is There a Reciprocal Relationship between the Quantitative and
Sonia Nawrocka1,2, Hans De Witte1,3, Margherita Pasini2
1Research Group Work, Organisational and Personnel Psychology, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Summary
Job insecurity threats to job loss (quantitative) predict future threats to job characteristics (qualitative) within individuals. This unidirectional relationship highlights how job loss concerns impact perceptions of job quality over time.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Psychology
- Sociology of Work
- Occupational Health Psychology
Background:
- Modern work transformations create both quantitative job insecurity (threat of job loss) and qualitative job insecurity (threat to job characteristics).
- These dimensions are distinct yet interconnected stressors, influenced by organizational changes but ultimately perceived subjectively by individuals.
- Previous research indicated bidirectional relationships between job insecurity dimensions at the between-person level, but within-person dynamics remained unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the reciprocal relationship between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity at the within-person level.
- To examine how changes in one dimension of job insecurity predict changes in the other over time within individuals.
Main Methods:
- Employed a multiple indicator random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM).
- Utilized three-wave longitudinal data from a Belgian working population (N = 3694) with a 6-month time lag between waves.
- Controlled for between-person differences to isolate within-person processes.
Main Results:
- A unidirectional relationship was found, with quantitative job insecurity predicting qualitative job insecurity.
- Significant within-person carry-over effects were observed for quantitative job insecurity, but not for qualitative job insecurity.
- Higher-than-usual quantitative job insecurity predicted higher-than-usual qualitative job insecurity six months later.
Conclusions:
- Job insecurity is a dynamic within-person process, with threats to job loss impacting perceptions of job characteristics.
- The findings underscore the importance of considering temporal dynamics and subjective experiences in understanding job insecurity.
- Further research is needed to explore the development of job insecurity within individuals amidst evolving work environments.
Keywords:
qualitative job insecurityquantitative job insecurityrandom-intercept cross-lagged panel modelreciprocitywithin-personMore Related Videos
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