A self-consistency motivation analysis of employee reactions to job insecurity: The roles of organization-based self-esteem and proactive personality

Abstract

Despite consistent evidence that job insecurity has negative effects on employee outcomes, further investigation into the mechanisms underpinning these influences remains desired. The psychological contract perspective may not be adequate to explain the negative effect of job insecurity, especially when considering the trend of proactive perspective for work. To extend explanations beyond the psychological contract theory and invoke a self-consistency motivational argument, we propose that employees' self-evaluation of their worth within an organization (i.e., organization-based self-esteem, OBSE) can incrementally explain the negative influence of job insecurity. Furthermore, we hypothesize that job insecurity would more strongly impair employees' OBSE for those who have more proactive personalities, resulting in more negative influences on their job performance and affective commitment. Tests of related hypotheses, with a sample of 176 subordinate–supervisor dyads from China, support our hypotheses. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.