Cognitive and Affective Job Insecurity: A Meta-analysis

Is More Always Merrier? Intersectionality as an Antecedent of Job Insecurity

“…Together, our results showed that employees who identified with increasing numbers of stigmatized identities were also more likely to perceive and worry about their job insecurity. While much of the job insecurity literature has focused on delineating its outcomes (e.g., safety motivation, safety compliance, turnover intentions, job satisfaction, physical health, mental health, affective-, continuance-, and normative-commitment [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]), relatively little is known about what prompts the perception and development of job insecurity. While Keim and colleagues [ 9 ] provided an important meta-analytic review of individual and organizational antecedents, this work did not and could not look at the additive effects of holding multiple minority demographic characteristics.…”

“…While research has effectively documented the relationship between perceptions of employee justice or fairness and positive workplace related outcomes (i.e., commitment and intentions to quit [ 2 ]), there has been a significant dearth of work focused specifically on job insecurity. Job insecurity represents a salient economic stressor that relates to a variety of negative work-related outcomes verified by both longitudinal [ 3 ] and meta-analytic [ 4 ] work. In a tumultuous economic environment, employees may be more attuned to the idea that steady work may not be constant, which can relate to detriments to employee health and well-being [ 5 ].…”

“…In a tumultuous economic environment, employees may be more attuned to the idea that steady work may not be constant, which can relate to detriments to employee health and well-being [ 5 ]. Indeed, some scholars highlight the overall negative impact of increased job insecurity on employee job attitudes, health and well-being, and their overall relationship with their organization [ 4 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…Although there has been an uptick of research in this area following the ‘Great Recession’ of 2007–2008, the bulk of this has typically focused on the consequences of job insecurity such as apparent threats to employee physical and mental health, safety, performance, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions [ 4 , 6 , 7 ]. While the outcomes of increased job insecurity are, without doubt, important, we argue that an imperative extension of previous work involves an assessment of the factors that may precede job insecurity—especially those associated with the identity characteristics of employees.…”

“…Cheng and Chan [ 6 ] extended this work by assessing 133 studies wherein they found a significant relationship between job insecurity and increased turnover intentions, lower job performance, and replicated the results of Sverke and colleagues [ 7 ] on several other meaningful outcome variables. Furthermore, a recent meta-analysis by Jiang and Lavaysse [ 4 ] extended the previous research even further by incorporating 41 outcome variables and 14 correlates of job insecurity, while simultaneously exploring the validity of distinguishing between cognitive and affective components of job insecurity. There is also evidence to suggest that job insecurity may relate to decreased safety behaviors.…”