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Perceived Control and Psychological Contract Breach as Explanations of the Relationships Between Job Insecurity, Job Strain and Coping Reactions: Towards a Theoretical Integration
Author(s) -
Vander Elst Tinne,
De Cuyper Nele,
Baillien Elfi,
Niesen Wendy,
De Witte Hans
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
stress and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.009
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1532-2998
pISSN - 1532-3005
DOI - 10.1002/smi.2584
Subject(s) - psychological contract , psychology , job satisfaction , coping (psychology) , job insecurity , social psychology , structural equation modeling , job attitude , job strain , job performance , clinical psychology , work (physics) , mechanical engineering , statistics , mathematics , psychosocial , engineering , psychiatry
Abstract This study aims to further knowledge on the mechanisms through which job insecurity is related to negative outcomes. Based on appraisal theory, two explanations—perceived control and psychological contract breach—were theoretically integrated in a comprehensive model and simultaneously examined as mediators of the job insecurity–outcome relationship. Different categories of outcomes were considered, namely work‐related (i.e. vigour and need for recovery) and general strain (i.e. mental and physical health complaints), as well as psychological (i.e. job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and behavioural coping reactions (i.e. self‐rated performance and innovative work behaviour). The hypotheses were tested using data of a heterogeneous sample of 2413 Flemish employees by means of both single and multiple mediator structural equation modelling analyses (bootstrapping method). Particularly, psychological contract breach accounted for the relationship between job insecurity and strain. Both perceived control and psychological contract breach mediated the relationships between job insecurity and psychological coping reactions, although the indirect effects were larger for psychological contract breach. Finally, perceived control was more important than psychological contract breach in mediating the relationships between job insecurity and behavioural coping reactions. This study meets previous calls for a theoretical integration regarding mediators of the job insecurity–outcome relationship. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.