Individual Job Insecurity and Job Insecurity Climate: Construct Validation in a Turkish Context

Yüce Selvi Ü.

The 32nd International Congress of Psychology Prague, 2021, Praha, Czech Republic, 18 - 23 July 2021, (Unpublished)

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Unpublished
  • City: Praha
  • Country: Czech Republic
  • Eskisehir Osmangazi University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Job insecurity (JI), “the overall concern about the continued existence of the job in the future” is a worry and stress source for many employees. This concern may be related to the continued existence of the job itself (i.e., quantitative JI) or valued job features (i.e., qualitative JI). Both dimensions reflect a subjective perception involving a threat of loss in the future. A large number of studies have provided evidence for the detrimental effects of JI (in both forms) on various outcomes. Traditionally, JI has been defined as an individual phenomenon; however recent research indicates that it can also be shared and represent climate level perceptions. The limited number of studies having examined JI climate show that also “the shared concern about the continued existence of the job in an organization” may have negative outcomes. However, how JI climate is measured matters. While some previous studies have measured JI climate by aggregating individuals’ ratings of their individual JI to unit levels, there is also a recently developed measure to assess individuals’ ratings of JI climate at their workplace. The present study aims to investigate the measurement properties and construct validity of individual JI and JI climate, both with quantitative and qualitative dimensions, in a Turkish sample. The sample was composed of 245 employees (51% women, Mage = 34, age range: 19-59). Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that the proposed four-factor model (individual JI and JI climate, both with quantitative and qualitative dimensions) provided a good fit to data and outperformed rivalling models. In general, the Cronbach's alpha reliability estimates were above .70 (the exception being individual quantitative job insecurity, α=0.64). Comparisons of associations between the four JI dimensions and demographic variables provided some evidence for the discriminant validity of the proposed four-factor representation of individual JI and JI climate.