Review article
Job Insecurity as a Research Subject in Psychology: Theories, Definitions, Findings
Darja MASLIĆ SERŠIĆ
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb
Janja TRKULJA
; The National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development of the Republic of Croatia, Rijeka
Abstract
The study represents a review of psychological research of
job insecurity and deals with scientific analysis of theoretical
questions in the area, used methodologies and main
findings. The difference between subjective job insecurity, a
perceptional phenomenon which is determined by the two
broad dimensions – affective and cognitive, and objective
insecurity, an occurrence which does not depend on the
perception of an individual, is defined. The general and
empirically proved hypothesis about the negative impact of
job insecurity on the individual work motivation and well-
-being represents a framework of the study. We substantiate it by positioning the concept of job insecurity in the context of
traditional and modern theories of work motivation, in
particular Cognitive Evaluation Theory. We differentiate the
global or quantitative job insecurity – perceived probability
and anxiety related to the threatening job loss, from the
qualitative – when the same experience is related to the
threatening loss of valuable job characteristics. We
understand psychological research of job insecurity as an
answer to the actual changes of the working life context that
are characterized by a high rate of unemployment, increased
labour mobility, privatization and restructuring of work
organizations. On the individual level, these changes are
reflected in the decreasing of almost all aspects of security
that are traditionally related to employment. All these
changes represent a challenge for organizational
psychologists who attempt to redefine the career concept and
have a task to define strategies of human resource
management in the context of intensive job insecurity.
Keywords
job insecurity; Theory of Cognitive Evaluation; work motivation
Hrčak ID:
39005
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2009.
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