The Mediational Role of Organizational Justice in the Relationship between Job Insecurity and Organizational Discretionary Behaviours

In the current context of economic crisis, more flexibility from the workforce and organizations is required by the labour market. Job insecurity is a major source of psychological strain during these organizational changes. However, little research has been conducted about the influence of job insecurity on discretionary behaviors, a performance “domain” of central importance for organizational effectiveness. A two-study investigation with different samples was designed to examine the role of organizational justice (procedural and interactional) as contextual mediator of the job insecurity-discretionary behaviors relationship. Drawing on social exchange theory and social identity theory we proposed that organizational justice predicts behavioral criteria (OCB and CWB) in response to job insecurity quantitative (i.e., threats to the job as such; Study 1) and qualitative (i.e., threats to valued job features; Study 2). Data were obtained from 248 (Study 1) and 322 (Study 2) employees in five Italian organizations where job insecurity is highly relevant. Structural equation modeling was used to test for direct, complete and partial mediating effects, with bootstrapping estimates of indirect effects. Results showed the negative influence of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity on discretionary behaviors, relationships fully mediated by organizational justice perceptions.