Psychological climate predicting job insecurity through occupational self-efficacy

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesized mediation model that specifies psychological climate dimensions as antecedents of job insecurity, while accounting for occupational self-efficacy. Stemming from the conservation of resources theory, the authors hypothesize that job challenge, role harmony, leader support and co-worker cooperation negatively relate to job insecurity due to its positive correlation with occupational self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected with a sample of 329 white-collar employees from the ICT sector who were employed full-time and for a period of at least six months in their current organization. All hypotheses were tested via structural equation modeling using the bootstrap method to test the significance of indirect effects. Findings Among the four work environment domains, only job challenge had a significant contribution in explaining job insecurity variance. This relationship was fully mediated by occupational self-efficacy. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional research design limits the ability to make causality inferences, while the convenience sampling method limits the generalizability of findings. Practical implications The study results indicate that well-designed (i.e. challenging, autonomous and important) job tasks may be advantageous in organizational interventions aimed at reducing job insecurity due to their potential to strengthen employees’ efficacy beliefs. Originality/value The study results contribute to current knowledge regarding the relative importance of work environment antecedents of job insecurity, as well as the prominent role played by occupational self-efficacy in explaining some of these relationships.