Who\u2019smore vulnerable? A generational investigation of COVID-19 perceptions\u2019 effect on Organisational citizenship Behaviours in the MENA region: job insecurity, burnout and job satisfaction as mediators

Ali B Mahmoud,Dieu Hack-Polay,Iris Mohr,Leonora Fuxman,Raneem Aizouk,Nicholas Grigoriou,William D Reisel

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11976-2

Abstract

BackgroundThis paper is an empirical investigation that examines a path model linking COVID-19 perceptions to organisational citizenship behaviour (OCBs) via three mediators: job insecurity, burnout, and job satisfaction. The research examines the path model invariance spanning Generations X, Y, and Z. Three countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were the focus of the study.MethodsThe data was collected from a sample of employees in service companies (n = 578). We used a Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to analyse the data.ResultsOur findings reveal that COVID-19 perceptions positively predict job insecurity, which positively impacts burnout levels. Burnout negatively predicts job satisfaction. The findings established that job satisfaction positively predicts OCBs. The mediation analysis determined that job insecurity, burnout and job satisfaction convey the indirect effects of COVID-19 perceptions onto OCBs. Finally, our hypothesised model is non-equivalent across Generations X, Y and Z. In that regard, our multi-group analysis revealed that the indirect effects of COVID-19 perceptions on OCBs were only valid amongst younger generations, i.e., Generation Y and Generation Z. Specifically, younger generations are substantially more vulnerable to the indirect effects of COVID-19 perceptions on their engagement in OCBs than Generation X whose job satisfaction blocks the effects of COVID-19 perceptions on OCBs.ConclusionsThe present study extends our knowledge of workplace generational differences in responding to the perceptions of crises or pandemics. It offers evidence that suggests that burnout, job attitudes and organisational outcomes change differently across generations in pandemic times.

Highlights

The causes and consequences of job insecurity have been the subject of substantial research in the last four decades since the publication of the seminal theory paper on job insecurity [1]
We reasoned how job insecurity perceptions are directly predictive of burnout, and, we suggest that burnout negatively influences job satisfaction
Using the t-values associated with the multiple comparisons and reported in the parametric tests, we found the paths: job insecurity to burnout, burnout to job satisfaction, and job satisfaction to Organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) were substantially nonequivalent across Generations X, Y, and Z

Summary

Introduction

The causes and consequences of job insecurity have been the subject of substantial research in the last four decades since the publication of the seminal theory paper on job insecurity [1]. The reasons for this rising interest in job insecurity research is due to the breadth of its impact: (1) the severe negative outcomes for workers anxious about their employment; (2) the explicit deleterious organisational effects. Sverke et al.’s meta-analysis concluded that job-insecure employees tend to be less likely to contribute to achieving the organisational strategy [6] This fundamental inter-relationship between employees and employers means that negative effects have individual and organisational manifestations. Three countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were the focus of the study

Results

Discussion

Conclusion