How might the Socio-moral Climate Buffer Job Insecurity Stressor A Multilevel Study in Spain and Austria

Abstract

A major current work stressor is job insecurity, which presents a well-established negative impact on wellbeing. In this vein, the aims of this study were: 1) to provide additional evidence on this relationship; 2) to examine the socio-moral climate as a potential situational buffer to ameliorate its detrimental effect. A multilevel approach was adopted to examine the socio-moral climate at higher levels (i.e., organisational level). The sample was composed of 1,435 employees from Spain and Austria. Random coefficient model results corroborated the negative relationship between job insecurity and employee affective wellbeing, the positive relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion, and the buffer role of the socio-moral climate. On the basis of our findings, we suggest that an atmosphere of respect, empathy, communication, cooperation and trust in organisations could mitigate the detrimental association between the work stressor of job insecurity and employee wellbeing and emotional exhaustion.