Chronic job insecurity among automobile workers: Effects on job satisfaction and health

doi:10.1016/0277-9536(94)90281-X

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 38, Issue 10, May 1994, Pages 1431-1437

https://doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(94)90281-X Get rights and content

Abstract

Work conditions characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity are potential stressors for employees. One such stressor is job insecurity. This longitudinal study of 207 automobile manufacturing workers indicates that chronic job insecurity is predictive of changes over time in both job satisfaction and physical symptoms. Extended periods of job insecurity decrease job satisfaction and increase physical symptomatology, over and above the effects of job insecurity at any single point in time. These results indicate that job insecurity acts as a chronic stressor whose effects become more potent as the time of exposure increases. Worksite health professionals should develop strategies for reducing the impact of job insecurity on employee well-being, particularly in industries where employment opportunities are declining.

References (29)

L. Joelson et al.
The psychological meaning of job insecurity and job loss: results of a longitudinal study
Soc. Sci. Med.
(1987)
T.S. Kristensen
Sickness absence and work strain among Danish slaughterhouse workers: an analysis of absence from work regarded as coping behavior
Soc. Sci. Med.
(1991)
R. Karasek et al.
Healthy Work
(1990)
B. Fletcher
The epidemiology of occupational stress
R.R. Holt
Occupational stress
J.S. House et al.
Occupational stress and health among factory workers
J. Hlth Soc. Behav.
(1979)
B.A. Israel et al.
The relation of personal resources, participation, influence, interpersonal relationships and coping strategies to occupational stress, job strains an d health: a multivariate analysis
Work Stress
(1989)
J.K. Kiecolt-Glaser et al.
Psychological influences on immunity: making sense of the relationship between stressful life events and health
Adv. Exp. Med. Biol.
(1988)
S. Shilling et al.
Occupational health and safety risks and potential health consequences perceived by US workers
Public Health Rep.
(1987)
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health: Occupational Safety and Health Status FY 1986
(1987)

R. Sutton et al.

Prediction, understanding, and control as antidotes to organizational stress

M. Van Sell et al.

Role conflict and role ambiguity: integration of the literature and directions for future research

Human Relations

(1987)

R.J. Vance et al.

Job and employment security and security valence: interactive effects on employment adjustment

Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association

(1989)

R.D. Caplan et al.

Job Demands and Worker Health

(1975)

Cited by (278)

A study on the effect of job stress factors on mental health and service sabotage: Focusing on flight attendants in foreign airlines
2024, Journal of Air Transport Management
This study investigated the relationship among six job stress factors (job insecurity, meritocracy, vertical communication, acculturation stress, organizational silence, and psychological contract), mental health deterioration, and service sabotage in flight attendants working for foreign (non-Korean) airlines. Six job stressors were identified through a literature review and focus group interviews. To determine the causal relationships, a survey was conducted from February 8 to April 9, 2022, targeting Korean cabin crew members in Middle Eastern airlines. A total of 201 valid samples were used for the statistical analysis. The findings revealed that flight attendants' job stress negatively impacts their mental health, while mental health deterioration positively impacts service sabotage behavior. Job insecurity, vertical communication, and acculturation stress negatively impacts flight attendants' mental health. The findings indicate that mental health deterioration is important in mediating the relationship between job stress and service sabotage. Finally, it is confirmed that there are differences in job stress, mental health deterioration, and service sabotage based on various demographic and occupational characteristics. This study is noteworthy because it approaches the dependent variable of job stress from the perspective of employees’ mental health rather than job-related variables. Service sabotage is introduced as a new variable because this behavior by flight attendants, whose primary job is to interact with customers, can have serious consequences for airline organizations and customers alike.
In need of opportunities: A within-person investigation of opposing pathways in the relationship between job insecurity and participation in development activities
2023, Journal of Vocational Behavior
Improving one's work-related skills may be particularly valuable for workers coping with jobs at risk. The present study investigates the effect of job insecurity on participation in formal development activities and examines the antagonistic roles of need for development and availability of learning opportunities in this relationship. We used data from the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel (LISS-panel) of 3744 employees who were followed over an eight-year period. This study applied random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling to examine long-term within-individual changes. Results indicated that increases in job insecurity were related to increases in the need for development and decreases in learning opportunities. No significant relationships were found between changes in the need to improve one's skills and changes in participation in formal development, and between changes in learning opportunities and changes in participation in formal development. Our results suggest a duality: while individuals coping with increases in job insecurity experience increases in their need for learning opportunities, they experience decreases in the likelihood of receiving these opportunities. We also found a direct effect from job insecurity on participation, in which increases in job insecurity were related to decreases in participation in development activities. These findings showcase the long-term consequences of job insecurity on employee development.
People versus machines: The impact of being in an automatable job on Australian worker's mental health and life satisfaction
2022, Economics and Human Biology
Citation Excerpt :
Further, research has found that the threat of job loss induces even greater psychological distress than the actual occurrence of job loss (Watson and Osberg, 2018). Therefore, considering that job automation risk increases job insecurity, it would seem to follow that working in an automatable job has a detrimental effect on mental health and life satisfaction by inducing job insecurity (Heaney et al., 1994; Lordan and Neumark, 2018; Kronenberg and Boehnke, 2019). Notably, the literature differentiates between ‘quantitative’ and ‘qualitative’ job security, where quantitative job insecurity refers to concerns about the future of the present job, while qualitative refers to broader concerns around lack of career opportunities, decreasing salary development and deterioration of working conditions.
This study explores the effect on mental health and life satisfaction of working in an automatable job. We utilise an Australian panel dataset (HILDA), and take a fixed effects linear regression approach, to relate a person being in automatable work to proxies of their wellbeing. Overall, we find evidence that automatable work has a small, detrimental impact on the mental health and life satisfaction of workers within some industries, particularly those with higher levels of job automation risk, such as manufacturing. Furthermore, we find no strong trends to suggest that any particular demographic group is disproportionately impacted across industries. These findings are robust to a variety of specifications. We also find evidence of adaptation to these effects after one-year tenure on the job, indicating a limited role for firm policy.
An Examination of the Effects of Job Insecurity on Counterproductive Work Behavior Through Organizational Cynicism: Moderating Roles of Perceived Organizational Support and Quality of Leader-Member Exchange
2024, Psychological Reports
Does employee resilience work? The effects of job insecurity on psychological withdrawal behavior and work engagement
2024, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights
How and When Leader Job Insecurity Influences Engineer In-Role and Extra-Role Behaviors
2024, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Chronic job insecurity among automobile workers: Effects on job satisfaction and health

Abstract

Soc. Sci. Med.

Soc. Sci. Med.

Healthy Work

The epidemiology of occupational stress

Occupational stress

Occupational stress and health among factory workers

J. Hlth Soc. Behav.

The relation of personal resources, participation, influence, interpersonal relationships and coping strategies to occupational stress, job strains an d health: a multivariate analysis

Work Stress

Psychological influences on immunity: making sense of the relationship between stressful life events and health

Adv. Exp. Med. Biol.

Occupational health and safety risks and potential health consequences perceived by US workers

Public Health Rep.