Sometimes It's Personal: Differential Outcomes of Person vs. Job at Risk Threats to Job Security.

Rebecca Pittman,Nicole Carusone,Mindy Shoss

doi:10.3390/ijerph18147379

Abstract

The current paper expands an under-addressed concept within the job insecurity literature, namely, whether threats to job security are specific to the jobholder (person-at-risk threats) or specific to the job (job-at-risk threats). Using a between-person experimental vignette design, 136 employed participants were asked to imagine themselves in either a Person-at-Risk or a Job-at-Risk scenario. As expected, participants in a person-at-risk scenario indicated more negative reactions to job insecurity, as captured by greater anticipated negative affect and poorer perceived social exchanges and organization-based self-esteem. They also reported reduced intention for interpersonal citizenship behavior and greater intention to engage in one form of impression management compared to individuals in a job-at-risk scenario. We interpret these findings in terms of their implications on individual versus group identity, as well as on well-being and the behavioral consequences of job insecurity.

Highlights

Job insecurity reflects a perceived threat to the continuity and stability of one’s employment as it is currently experienced [1,2]
Both types of job insecurity have been found to lead to poor well-being, some research suggests that the negative effects of quantitative job insecurity may reach farther than qualitative, impacting home as well as work life [7]
We present an experimental vignette study conducted in the United States to examine how JAR and PAR threats may differentially relate to outcomes

Summary

Introduction

Job insecurity reflects a perceived threat to the continuity and stability of one’s employment as it is currently experienced [1,2]. Job insecure employees report poorer social exchange relationships with their organizations, poorer job attitudes and greater intention to quit [4,5]. Individuals may feel they are at risk of being fired for inadequate performance or because of a poor relationship with their boss. Such PAR threats may be pronounced in the United States, where much employment can be characterized as “at-will”. It is understood that job insecurity is a subjective experience that is not triggered by the same factors for every person, little research has sought to understand the different foci of threats tied to these circumstances

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