Examining occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication as moderators of the job insecurity--job performance relationship

TLDR: In this article, the authors examined whether three possible resources (occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication) moderate the negative job insecurity-performance relationship, and they found that the higher the job insecurity, the less influence the perceived communication exert on job insecurity.

Abstract: Employees’ performance has been shown to be moderately hampered by job insecurity. Based on conservation of resources theory, the study examines whether three possible resources (occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication) moderate the negative job insecurity—performance relationship. Analyses of a large Swiss dataset reveal two significant interaction effects: the higher the job insecurity, the less influence work locus of control and perceived communication exert on the job insecurity—performance relationship. This suggests that work locus of control and perceived communication may be resources that can only act beneficially in a situation of low job insecurity.

Figures

Figure 1: Interaction between Job Insecurity and Work Locus of Control Concerning SelfRated Task Performance.

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University of Zurich
Zurich Open Repository and Archive
Winterthurerstr. 190
CH-8057 Zurich
http://www.zora.uzh.ch
Year: 2010
Examining occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control and
communication as moderators of the job insecurity--job
performance relationship
König, C J; Debus, M E; Haeusler, S; Lendenmann, N; Kleinmann, M
König, C J; Debus, M E; Haeusler, S; Lendenmann, N; Kleinmann, M (2010). Examining occupational
self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication as moderators of the job insecurity--job performance
relationship. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 31(2):231-247.
Postprint available at:
http://www.zora.uzh.ch
Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich.
http://www.zora.uzh.ch
Originally published at:
Economic and Industrial Democracy 2010, 31(2):231-247.
König, C J; Debus, M E; Haeusler, S; Lendenmann, N; Kleinmann, M (2010). Examining occupational
self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication as moderators of the job insecurity--job performance
relationship. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 31(2):231-247.
Postprint available at:
http://www.zora.uzh.ch
Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich.
http://www.zora.uzh.ch
Originally published at:
Economic and Industrial Democracy 2010, 31(2):231-247.

Examining occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control and
communication as moderators of the job insecurity--job
performance relationship
Abstract
Employees' performance has been shown to be moderately hampered by job insecurity. Based on
conservation of resources theory, the study examines whether three possible resources (occupational
self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication) moderate the negative job
insecurity—performance relationship. Analyses of a large Swiss dataset reveal two significant
interaction effects: the higher the job insecurity, the less influence work locus of control and perceived
communication exert on the job insecurity—performance relationship. This suggests that work locus of
control and perceived communication may be resources that can only act beneficially in a situation of
low job insecurity.

Occupational Self-Efficacy … 1
1
Running head: JOB INSECURITY & PERFORMANCE
Occupational Self-Efficacy, Work Locus of Control and Communication as Moderators of the
Job Insecurity-Job Performance Relationship
Cornelius J. König
Maike E. Debus
Stéphanie Häusler
Nora Lendenmann
Martin Kleinmann
Universität Zürich
Author Note
Cornelius J. König, Maike E. Debus, Stéphanie Häusler, Nora Lendenmann, and Martin
Kleinmann, Psychologisches Institut, Universität Zürich, Switzerland. The order of the third
and fourth authors was alphabetically determined.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Cornelius J. König, Universität
Zürich, Psychologisches Institut, Binzmühlestrasse 14/12, CH-8050 Zürich, Switzerland.
Email: c.koenig@psychologie.uzh.ch
König, C. J., Debus, M. E., Häusler, S.,
Lendenmann, N., & Kleinmann, M.
(2010). Examining occupational self-
efficacy, work locus of control and
communication as moderators of the
job insecurity-job performance
relationship. Economic and Industrial
Democracy, 31, 231-247.
DOI: 10.1177/0143831X09358629
This preprint version may not exactly
replicate the final version – see also
http://eid.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abst
ract/31/2/231

Occupational Self-Efficacy … 2
2
Abstract
Employees’ performance has been shown to be moderately hampered by job
insecurity. Based on conservation of resources theory, the study examined whether three
possible resources (occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control, and communication)
moderate the negative job insecurity-performance relationship. Analyses of a large Swiss
dataset revealed two significant interaction effects: The higher job insecurity, the less
influence work locus of control and perceived communication exert on the job insecurity-
performance relationship. This suggests that work locus of control and perceived
communication may be resources that can only act beneficially in a situation of low job
insecurity.
Word count: 95
Keywords: job security – buffer variable – conservation of resources theory – organizational
citizenship behavior – in-role behavior

Occupational Self-Efficacy … 3
3
Occupational Self-Efficacy, Work Locus of Control and Communication as Moderators of the
Job Insecurity-Job Performance Relationship
Job insecurity has become a ‘hot topic’ in work and organizational psychology during
the last 20 years, and has recently been termed “one of the most important stressors in
contemporary working life” (De Cuyper, Bernhard-Oettel, Berntson, De Witte, & Alarco,
2008, p. 493). Due to the upsurge of mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and related
methods of adapting to the globalizing market (Hirsch & De Soucey, 2006), more and more
people are feeling uncertain about the future existence of their jobs (Burchell, 2002). Job
insecurity has been defined in numerous ways, such as a person’s “expectations about
continuity in a job situation” (Davy, Kinicki, & Scheck, 1997, p. 323) or the “perception of a
potential threat to continuity in his or her current job” (Heaney, Israel, & House, 1994, p.
1431). What is inherent in all of these definitions is that job insecurity is a subjective
phenomenon, with the subjectivity deemed to be a “cornerstone in most psychological
definitions of the construct” (Sverke, Hellgren, & Näswall, 2002, p. 243).
Especially from the perspective of organizational success, job insecurity and its effects
on performance at work appear relevant (cf. Reisel, Chia, & Maloles, 2005). Indeed, two
recent meta-analyses on job insecurity (Cheng & Chan, 2008; Gilboa, Shirom, Fried, &
Cooper, 2008) established a negative relationship between job insecurity and performance.
Cheng and Chan (2008) found a significant negative relationship of ! = -.21 between job
insecurity and performance. Gilboa et al. (2008) found a similarly negative relationship
between job insecurity and two performance measures (self-rated performance, ! = -.18, and
general performance, ! = -.19, with general performance being a composite measure taking
into account the intercorrelations among the source-specific measures included in it).
Although none of the meta-analyses differentiated between in-role behavior (i.e., the required
behavior of the job, Katz, 1964) and organizational citizenship behavior (i.e., a behavior that
goes beyond what is expected and is in support of the organization, OCB, Organ, 1988),

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions mentioned in the paper "Examining occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication as moderators of the job insecurity--job performance relationship" ?

Based on conservation of resources theory, the study examines whether three possible resources ( occupational self-efficacy, work locus of control and communication ) moderate the negative job insecurity—performance relationship. This suggests that work locus of control and perceived communication may be resources that can only act beneficially in a situation of low job insecurity. 

Q2. What is the role of communication in reducing insecurity?

Communication plays a central role in achieving good management and is one of the most recommended strategies for reducing insecurity during organizational change (Klein, 1996; Schweiger & DeNisi, 1991). 

Q3. What is the reason why the results of the study were not significant?

in the analyses in which the supervisor-rated performance measures were thedependent variables, downward method bias may account for the non-significant results (Conway, 2002). 

Q4. What is the reason why the authors did not find an interaction term?

Evans investigated the impact of correlated error among dependent and independent variables and demonstrated that an artificial creation of an interaction term is not possible when no such interaction term actually exists. 

Q5. What is the role of self-efficacy in the job insecurity relationship?

Since the current study takes place in an occupational setting, the authors focus on a context-specific form of self-efficacy, namely occupational self-efficacy, defined as “the competence that a person feels concerning the ability to successfully fulfill the tasks involved in his or her job” (Rigotti, Schyns, & Mohr, 2008, p. 238). 

Q6. What were the main factors that influenced the relationship between job insecurity and performance?

The authors proposed that selfefficacy, work locus of control, and perceived communication would each account as resources that buffer the negative relationship between job insecurity (i.e., a threat of resource loss) and job performance and tested these hypotheses for self- and supervisor-rated in-role performance and OCB. 

Q7. What is the relationship between job insecurity and performance?

This suggestsOccupational Self-Efficacy … 1515that the role that work locus of control and perceived communication play in the job insecurity-performance relationship gets smaller as job insecurity increases. 

Q8. Why did the authors find no significant interaction for self-rated performance measures?

one might assume that the reason why the authors did not find any significant interaction for supervisor-rated performance measures but did find an interaction for one type of self-rated performance, might be due to common method variance (Podsakoff et al., 2003). 

Q9. What is the effect of perceived communication on job insecurity?

Hypothesis 3: Perceived communication moderates the relationship between job insecurityand job performance (the better the perceived communication, the less negative therelationship between job insecurity and job performance). 

Q10. What is the reason why the authors did not find an interaction for self-rated performance?

one could also view their results as suggesting that the positive relationship between locus of control or communication and self-rated performance is hampered by job insecurity. 

Q11. What is the main effect of communication on the perception of job insecurity?

Schweiger and DeNisi (1991) conducted a quasi-experimental study and showed that communication by the organization can help employees deal with insecure situations and prevent them from showing dysfunctional effects.