The role of psychological climate in shaping subjective job insecurity, perceived employability and their effects on employees' well-being

Tomas, Jasmina. (2018). The role of psychological climate in shaping subjective job insecurity, perceived employability and their effects on employees' well-being. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology.
(Međunarodni dvojni doktorat znanosti (FFZG, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Leuven)) [mentor Maslić Seršić, Darja and De Witte, Hans].

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Abstract

The present PhD places the focus on job insecurity (JI) and perceived employability (PE) – two constructs that represent central determinants of employees’ well-being in the context of the contemporary labor markets. Despite their well-established relevance, the question on how both can be managed to good effect still represents a challenge for researchers and practitioners. In response, this PhD aimed to investigate whether and how does a comprehensive set of work environmental variables: (i) directly affect JI and PE and/or (ii) moderate the effects of JI and PE on employees’ well-being. In pursuing these aims, we utilized the psychological climate (PC) model that encompasses four dimensions – job challenge, role harmony, leader support and co-worker cooperation. Departing from the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we hypothesized that occupational self-efficacy (partially) accounts for the direct effects of the PC dimensions on JI and PE, as well as that perceived control (partially) mediates the moderating effects of the PC dimensions on the effects from JI and PE to employees’ well-being. To test the hypothesized research model, we conducted a 3-wave cross-lagged panel study. Data was collected among Croatian white-collar employees who worked in 29 private sector organizations. Employees completed on-line questionnaire three times spaced approximately six months apart (N1 = 2133; N2 = 1847; N3 = 1571; N1+2+3 = 576). The hypothesized mediation and mediated moderation models were tested via cross-lagged structural equation modelling. The results demonstrated that co-worker cooperation reduces JI across a 1-year time lag. In contrast, the remaining PC dimensions did not affect JI and internal/external PE (neither directly, nor indirectly via occupational self-efficacy). Additionally, the results did not support the idea that the PC dimensions moderate the crosslagged effects from JI and internal/external PE to employees’ well-being (neither directly, nor indirectly via perceived control). However, we found that role harmony and leader support, as well as co-worker cooperation amplified the positive cross-lagged effect from internal PE to perceived control. In all, the results of this PhD demonstrate limited utility of work environmental variables in managing JI and internal/external PE. However, they do reveal that investments in co-operative relationships can be beneficial for reducing perceptions of JI, as well as that promoting supportive leadership and co-worker cooperation can help internally employable individuals to more easily establish control over their work situation.

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