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 / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted.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 sought to examine the relationship between quality of work-life and quality of life depending on how central work is in an individual’s life and what value work holds for them. Literature internationally has shown that because work forms such an integral part of individuals’ lives, that this could influence their experience of quality of life, indicating that a high quality of work life could lead to a high quality of life. Similarly, if work is a central life interest and dependent on the value that work holds, the loss of work could potentially influence quality of life. A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used, with a correlational approach. Snowball sampling was used to gather a sample of 163 working adults in South Africa, through a personal network of family and friends. Participants completed scales assessing the four variables of interest provided in an online questionnaire. The results indicated that individuals who experienced their quality of work-life as more positive also indicated a higher quality of life. This relationship was stronger when individuals saw work as having intrinsic value. However, the degree to which work was central to a person’s life, and to which work was seen as having value as it provided monetary rewards (extrinsic value), social connections and relationships (social value), or status (prestige value) were not found to alter the relationship between quality of work-life and quality of life. As shown previously in both international and local literature, work is always placed second to family in importance. Based on these findings, limitations and recommendations were suggested, as well as theoretical and practical implications.

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Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka framträdande arbetsrelaterade värderingar hos generation Y. Urvalet bestod av tio yrkesverksamma respondenter födda mellan 1984 – 1994 utvalda via bekvämlighetsurval. En kvalitativ design tillämpades med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Insamlade data analyserades genom tematisk analys och författarna fann tre huvudteman som kan förklara värderingar hos generation Y: arbetets centralitet, sociala värderingar och kommunikation samt motivation. Framträdande arbetsvärderingar för respondenterna var balans i livet, utvecklingsmöjligheter och möjligheten att skräddarsy sitt arbete. / The purpose of this study was to investigate prominent work values of generation Y. Ten working respondents born between 1984 – 1994 participated by convenience sampling. A qualitative research design was used together with semi structured interviews. Collected data were analysed with thematic analysis and the authors found three main themes that could explain values within generation Y: work centrality, social values and communication and motivation. Prominent work values for respondents consisted of: work life balance, development opportunities, and the ability to customize their work.

Aim: The increasing importance of employee retention and talent acquisition have necessitated the need for a deeper understanding of employee psychology influencing these factors. As such, the current study examines the relationship between individual organizational attachment and work-nonwork conflict and work-nonwork enrichment.  Further interest was paid to possible moderating influences of work centrality, gender, number of dependents and number of contract hours. Design: Data was collected through online surveys. Participants were contacted through internet portals and selected business contacts at private companies. The study followed a cross-sectional design. The contributing sample consisted of 94 participants. Results: Organizational attachment styles contribute to differences in experienced work-nonwork conflict and work-nonwork enrichment. Anxious and avoidant organizational attachment exhibit a positive relationship with work-nonwork conflict and a negative relationship with work-nonwork enrichment. The relationship between organizational attachment anxiety and work-nonwork conflict is partially moderated by gender. No empirical support was found for the moderating influences of work centrality, number of dependents and number of contract hours. Implications: The results indicate that patterns of organizational attachment shape adult lives inside and outside of the workplace. Knowledge of how individuals experience work and nonwork depending on their organizational attachment allows for a sensitization towards individuality in the workplace. Catering to employees’ attachment needs could feasibly contribute to organizational viability and success. Novelty: Previous research has mostly examined attachment at work in terms of interpersonal attachment, while disregarding the role the organization can play as an attachment figure. While existing studies have examined the connection between (romantic) attachment and work-family or work-life conflict and enrichment, this study offers insights into how employees’ attachment relationships to the organization connects to the experience of work-nonwork conflict and enrichment.

This study focuses on the importance of intrinsic and extrinsic work rewards among women and men in 12 post-industrial nations in the Global North. Guiding my analyses was Esping-Andersen’s theoretical framework and the following three main research questions: (1) how individual attributes and national policies influence the salience individuals assign to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards; (2) how individual attributes and national policies differ from each other in relative magnitude as predictors of the value individuals assign to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards; and (3) how individual attributes and national policies impact the importance individuals assign to intrinsic and extrinsic rewards differs by gender. For the micro level analysis, I used data from the 2005 International Social Survey Program Work Orientation Module. The twelve countries included in the analysis are Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Macro level policy data are drawn from the 2005 Social Expenditure Database and maternity leave data are from the 2005 International Network on Leave Policy and Research. Analysis was performed using Stata regression with the cluster command. While not all variables included in the model were statistically significant, the general hypotheses were supported with the following results: (1) micro level variables (education, income, and employment) and macro level variables (paid family leave and the percentage of GDP spent on childcare and pre-primary education) increased the importance individual’s assign to intrinsic rewards; (2) the lack of human capital increases an individual’s emphasis on extrinsic rewards; (3) while macro level variables have a far greater impact on the importance individuals assign to intrinsic work rewards, both micro and macro level factors are important for explaining the maximum possible variation in the importance individuals assign to intrinsic work rewards; and (4) gender does not change the value an individual assigns to intrinsic or extrinsic rewards. This study represents a new, more comprehensive approach to studying the relationships among micro-level factors, structural opportunities and constraints, intrinsic and extrinsic work rewards, and gender. A review of the literature shows no other studies of this scope.

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