The job insecurity-performance relationship in Germany and China: the buffering effect of uncertainty avoidance

Abstract

Job insecurity is related to many negative outcomes, including reduced performance. The present research aimed to investigate two different types of job insecurity (quantitative and qualitative) in relation to job performance in two cultural contexts (Germany and China). Moreover, uncertainty avoidance (UAI) has been suggested as a buffer in these relationships, yet UAI has only been tested on a country-level. Therefore, the present study investigated individual-level UAI as a buffer in the relationship between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity and performance. We sampled 374 German and 197 Chinese employees. Results from the German context suggest that quantitative and qualitative job insecurity are both problematic and may negatively impact performance. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance acted as a buffer in these relationships. However, there was no negative effect of job insecurity for Chinese employees. Thus, whether job insecurity has a negative influence on job performance appears to depend on cultural context.