Job insecurity negatively affects your personality

New research shows that experiencing chronic job insecurity can change your personality for the worse

February 26, 2020

Science Daily/RMIT University

Drawing on Cybernetic Big Five Theory, this study proposes that chronic job insecurity is associated with an increase in neuroticism and decreases in agreeableness and conscientiousness.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, found those exposed to job insecurity over more than four years became less emotionally stable, less agreeable, and less conscientious.

Report co-author Dr Lena Wang from RMIT University's School of Management said the study built on a growing evidence base about the negative consequences of job insecurity.

"Traditionally, we've thought about the short-term consequences of job insecurity -- that it hurts your well-being, physical health, sense of self-esteem," Wang said.

"But now we are looking at how that actually changes who you are as a person over time, a long-term consequence that you may not even be aware of."

The study used nationally representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey in relation to answers about job security and personality for 1,046 employees over a nine-year period.

It applied a well-established personality framework known as the Big Five, which categorises human personality into five broad traits: emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness.

The study results showed that long-term job insecurity negatively affected the first three traits, which relate to a person's tendency to reliably achieve goals, get along with others, and cope with stress.

Wang said the results went against some assumptions about job insecurity.

"Some might believe that insecure work increases productivity because workers will work harder to keep their jobs, but our research suggests this may not be the case if job insecurity persists," Wang said.

"We found that those chronically exposed to job insecurity are in fact more likely to withdraw their effort and shy away from building strong, positive working relationships, which can undermine their productivity in the long run."

Previous research has shown that insecure work -- including labour hire practices, contract and casual work, and underemployment -- is on the rise in Australia and globally.

The HILDA data drew on responses from employees from a broad cross-section of professions and jobs, who were asked about how secure they perceived their jobs to be.

Study lead author Professor Chia-Huei Wu from Leeds University Business School said types of job insecurity might include short-term contracts or casual work, jobs threatened by automation, and positions that could be in line for a redundancy.

Importantly, said Wu, there are ways that employers can support workers who are feeling worried about their jobs.

"This is as much about perceived job insecurity as actual insecure contracts," Wu said.

"Some people simply feel daunted by the changing nature of their roles or fear they'll be replaced by automation.

"But while some existing jobs can be replaced by automation, new jobs will be created.

"So employers have the ability to reduce that perception, for example by investing in professional development, skills and training, or by giving career guidance."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200226151958.htm

Being treated unfairly at work increases risk of long-term sick leave

December 7, 2017

Science Daily/University of East Anglia

Staff who feel they are treated unfairly at work are at increased risk of being off sick more frequently and for longer, according to new research.

Sickness absence is a major health concern for organisations and important contributing factors are found in the work environment. For example, low job control and decision-making opportunities have previously been shown to increase the likelihood of sick leave.

A relatively new determinant of employee health is their perception of fairness in the work place, known as organisational justice. The new study, published today in BMC Public Health, focused on one element of this, called interactional justice, which relates to the treatment of employees by managers.

Interactional justice itself can encompass informational justice -- defined as receiving truthful and candid information with adequate justifications -- and interpersonal justice, concerning respectful and dignified treatment by the manager.

Using data from more than 19,000 employees in Sweden the researchers, from UEA's Norwich Business School, the Stress Research Institute and Department of Psychology at Stockholm University, investigated the relationship between interpersonal and informational justice and long and frequent sickness absence. They also explored whether times of high uncertainty at work, for example perceived job insecurity, had an effect on sick leave.

The team found that lower levels of justice at work relate both to an increase in shorter, but more frequent sickness absence periods, and to an increased risk of longer sickness absence episodes, irrespective of job insecurity and demographic variables of age, gender, socio-economic position and marital status. Also, higher levels of job insecurity turned out to be an important predictor of long and frequent sickness absence.

Co-author Dr Constanze Eib, a lecturer in organisational behaviour at Norwich Business School, said: "While shorter, but more frequent periods of sickness absence might be a chance for the individual to get relief from high levels of strain or stress, long-term sickness absence might be a sign of more serious health problems.

"Our results underline the need for fair and just treatment of employees irrespective of perceived job insecurity in order to keep the workforce healthy and to minimise lost work days due to sickness absence."

The study analysed data from participants in a long-term biennial survey -- the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) -- that focuses on the association between work organisation, work environment and health. It used data from the 2010, 2012, and 2014 waves of the survey, with the final sample consisting of 58,479 observations from 19,493 employees.

Lead author Dr Constanze Leineweber, from the Stress Research Institute, said: "Perceived fairness at work is a modifiable aspect of the work environment, as is job insecurity. Organisations have significant control over both and our results suggest that they may gain by investing or improving their policies and rules for fair treatment of their workforce and by improving job security.

"Organisations might also gain from the selection of managers for their qualities associated with fair practices, training them in justice principles, and implementing performance management practices for them that consider their use of organisational justice. Indeed, training in justice principles has been shown to be successful in different organisational contexts."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171207214216.htm