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Objective Threat of Unemployment and Situational Uncertainty During a Restructuring: Associations with Perceived Job Insecurity and Strain

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Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates objective threat of unemployment and situational uncertainty following restructuring in relation to perceived job insecurity and associated strain.

Design/Methodology

We sampled workers (N = 122) from a Belgian service organization that had recently announced its intention to downsize. Objective threat of unemployment was present in workers who were informed about dismissal. Situational uncertainty was high among workers for whom the decision about dismissal was pending. There was a low objective threat of unemployment and low situational uncertainty in workers who were informed that their jobs were safe. Analyses were done with Structural Equation Modelling.

Findings

Objective threat of unemployment associated positively with perceived job insecurity. Perceived job insecurity, in turn, associated positively with strain, and it carried the relationship between objective threat of unemployment and strain (mediation). Surprisingly, we also established a direct and negative association between objective threat of unemployment and strain. Finally, no significant associations were found between situational uncertainty and perceived job insecurity, and between situational uncertainty and strain.

Implications

This study contributes to the conceptual debate as to which factors are critical in the development of perceptions of job insecurity and associated strain in the context of restructurings.

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Notes

  1. Note that we ran similar analyses in which emotional exhaustion and vigour were kept separate. Results were comparable to those reported for models in which emotional exhaustion and vigour loaded on a general strain factor: First, Model 2 (χ2 (1, N = 122) = 2.89, p = .09, GFI = .99, CFI = .98, RMSEA = .12) fitted the data better than Model 1 χ2 (5, N = 122) = 18.27, p = .003, GFI = .95, CFI = .87, RMSEA = .15). Second, the path coefficients were virtually the same: Objective threat of unemployment related positively to perceived job insecurity (β = .45, p < .001), negatively to emotional exhaustion (β = −.36, p < .001), and positively to vigour (β = .25, p < .05). The paths from situational uncertainty to perceived job insecurity (β = .03), emotional exhaustion (β = −.16) and vigour (β = .01) were not significant. Perceived job insecurity related positively to emotional exhaustion (β = .31, p < .001), and negatively to vigour (β = −.28, p < .01).

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. Dr. James Diefendorff for his valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Group for Work, Organization and Personnel Psychology, K.U. Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Nele De Cuyper, Hans De Witte, Tinne Vander Elst & Yasmin Handaja

  2. FWO-Vlaanderen, Brussels, Belgium

    Nele De Cuyper

Authors
  1. Nele De Cuyper
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  2. Hans De Witte
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  3. Tinne Vander Elst
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  4. Yasmin Handaja
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nele De Cuyper.

Additional information

Received and reviewed by former editor, George Neuman.

Appendix: Items

Appendix: Items

Perceived job insecurity

  1. 1.

    I feel insecure about the future of my job.

  2. 2.

    I am sure I can keep my job.

  3. 3.

    Chances are, I will soon loose my job.

  4. 4.

    I worry about losing my job.

Emotional exhaustion

  1. 1.

    I feel emotionally drained by my job.

  2. 2.

    I feel used up at the end of a working day.

  3. 3.

    I feel tired when I get up in the morning and I have to face another day at work.

  4. 4.

    Working all day long is really a strain for me.

  5. 5.

    I feel burned out from my job.

Vigour

  1. 1.

    At work, I feel bursting with energy.

  2. 2.

    In my job, I feel strong and vigorous.

  3. 3.

    When I get up in the morning, I feel like going to work.

  4. 4.

    I can continue working for very long periods at a time.

  5. 5.

    At my job, I am very resilient, mentally.

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De Cuyper, N., De Witte, H., Vander Elst, T. et al. Objective Threat of Unemployment and Situational Uncertainty During a Restructuring: Associations with Perceived Job Insecurity and Strain. J Bus Psychol 25, 75–85 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-009-9128-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-009-9128-y

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