This thesis focuses on the relations between job insecurity and its consequences by addressing several specific research aims. The first research aim focused on expanding the range of job insecurity consequences by studying the relation between job insecurity and work–family conflict over time. In Study 3 it was found that job insecurity affected work–family conflict one year later among men. The second research aim addressed mechanisms involved in the job insecurity–outcome relations, focusing on factors that might make employees more vulnerable to, or buffer against the negative effects of job insecurity. Coping styles were investigated as potential moderating factors in Study 1, where it was found that problem-focused coping did not function as a buffer, nor did devaluation or avoidance coping. Avoidance coping was actually a vulnerability factor for men, and related to more negative reactions to job insecurity in terms of well-being. Two forms of job dependence as potential moderating factors of the relations between job insecurity and its outcomes were investigated in Study 2. It was found that the relative contribution to the household income functioned as a vulnerability factor for men. Higher levels of work centrality combined with either quantitative or qualitative job insecurity were related to higher levels of job satisfaction among women. Finally, in Study 3, workload was investigated as a mediating variable of the relation between job insecurity and its outcomes, where workload linked job insecurity to work–family conflict one year later among men. The third research aim of this thesis addressed gender, where differences between men and women were found in all three studies. Overall men seemed to suffer more from job insecurity. The results of the thesis confirm the negative impact of job insecurity, but also provide information regarding important areas for future research to study, such as the investigation of mechanisms and the role of gender. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Submitted.

The study aimed to investigate if personality characteristics were associated with quantitative job insecurity among Swedish employees. This study implemented a cross-sectional design and a total of 157 employees participated in the study. Participants filled in an electronic survey consisting of 27 questions and the collected data was analyzed through one unadjusted and one adjusted regression analysis. The unadjusted regression analysis showed that personality characteristics were negatively associated with quantitative job inecurity, and the explained variance for personality characteristics on quantitative job insecurity was 14%. The results from the adjusted regression model showed that employment contract was positively, and personality characteristics were negatively associated with quantitative job insecurity, while seniority and qualitative job insecurity were not associated with quantitative job insecurity. Meaning that people with high values on personality characteristics and permanent employees were least affected by quantitative job insecurity. In total, employment contract, seniority, personality characteristics and qualitative job insecurity could explain 25% of the variance of quantitative job insecurity. Job insecurity is detrimental to both the individual and the organization and a strategy to counteract the experience of job insecurity might be to develop personality characteristics among employees.

Work is an essential part of most people’s lives. With increasing flexibility in work life, many employees experience job insecurity – they perceive that the future of their jobs is uncertain. However, job insecurity is not just an individual experience; employees can perceive that there is a climate of job insecurity at their workplace as well, as people collectively worry about their jobs. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the job insecurity climate construct and how it relates to work- and health-related outcomes and to individual job insecurity. Three empirical studies were conducted to investigate this aim. Study I investigated the dimensionality of the job insecurity construct by developing and testing a measure of job insecurity climate − conceptualized as the individual’s perception of the job insecurity climate at work − in a sample of employees working in Sweden. The results indicated that individual job insecurity and job insecurity climate are separate but related constructs and that job insecurity climate was related to work- and health-related outcomes. Study II examined the effects of individual job insecurity and job insecurity climate on work- and health-related outcomes in a sample of employees working in a private sector company in Sweden. The results showed that perceiving higher levels of job insecurity climate than others in the workgroup was associated with poorer self-rated health and higher levels of burnout. Study III tested the relationship between individual job insecurity and job insecurity climate in a sample of Flemish employees. The results indicated that individual job insecurity is contagious, as individual job insecurity predicted perceptions of job insecurity climate six months later. In conclusion, by focusing on perceptions of the job insecurity climate, the present thesis introduces a new approach to job insecurity climate research, showing that employees can perceive a climate of job insecurity in addition to their own individual job insecurity and, also, that this perception of the job insecurity climate at work has negative consequences for individuals and organizations. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p>

En alltmer globaliserad och konkurrensutsatt ekonomi har de senaste decennierna krävt ökad flexibilitet på arbetsmarknaden. Tidigare forskning har uppmärksammat hur förändringarna påverkar anställdas attityder och välbefinnande i olika sektorer. Anställningsotrygghet, det vill säga oron över att förlora arbetet eller att arbetssituationen ska försämras, är ett väldokumenterat fenomen som visat sig ha negativ påverkan på psykisk hälsa. Få studier har dock undersökt anställningsotrygghet inom vård och omsorg. Syftet med föreliggande tvärsnittsstudie var att undersöka relationen mellan trygghet och otrygghet i anställningen, organisatorisk rättvisa samt copingstrategier för vård- och omsorgspersonal. Anställda inom kommunal vård och omsorg i Västerbotten (n = 205) besvarade en enkät om deras nuvarande anställning, arbetssituation och hur de hanterar problem kopplade till arbetet. Svarsfrekvensen uppskattades vara 12 %. Regressionsanalyserna visade att anställningstid minskar kvantitativ men inte kvalitativ anställningsotrygghet i vår data. Därtill fann vi ett negativt samband mellan anställningsotrygghet och organisatorisk rättvisa samt ett positivt samband mellan anställningsotrygghet och undvikande coping. Tvärtemot tidigare forskning fann studien inget samband mellan anställningstrygghet och problemlösande eller emotionsfokuserad coping. Sammantaget stödjer delar av resultatet tidigare forskning och belyser vikten av att studera anställningsotrygghet för yrkesgrupper med olika arbetsvillkor. / The labor market has changed dramatically during the last decades due to increased globalization and competition, and thus consequently increased the demands of flexibility. Thus, previous studies have examined the effects on employees’ attitudes and well-being in different sectors of the labor market. The negative impact of job insecurity – i.e worrying about potential job loss or loss of valued job features – on mental health is well established in the academic field of psychology. The purpose of the present thesis was therefore to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, organizational justice and coping mechanisms for health care workers in the public sector by using a cross-sectional study design. Municipality workers in Västerbotten (n = 205) answered a questionnaire concerning their current employment, work environment and how they cope with problems at work. The estimated response rate was 12 %. The regression analysis showed a statistically significant decrease of quantitative but not qualitative job insecurity in relation to job tenure. Furthermore, the results showed a negative correlation between job insecurity and organizational justice, and a positive correlation between job insecurity and avoidant coping. However, contrary to our hypothesis and previous studies no relationship was detected between job insecurity and problem-solving or emotion-focused coping. The results of this study partly supports the findings of previous research. Nevertheless it highlights the importance of research on job insecurity for employeesin different sectors with varying conditions.