Lack of perceived control: a possible explanation of the relationship between job insecurity and psychological strain?

Purpose In the current context of the Great Recession, 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. Relying on conservation of resources theory, uncertainty is stressful because it poses a threat to employment, which is considered a valued and important resource. In fact, individuals strive to retain, protect and build resources and what is threatening to them is the potential or actual loss of these valued resources. With this study, we intend to examine the psychological process underlying the relationship job insecurity-psychological strain. In particular, as mediational mechanism we propose perceived control, that is a psychological construct reflecting an individual’s beliefs in his or her ability to affect a change on the environment. Design Data were collected from 414 blue-collar workers in different organizational contexts. Structural equation modeling was used to test for direct, complete mediating, and partial mediating effects, with bootstrapping estimates of indirect effects. Results Results show that job insecurity is related to psychological strain indirectly (partial mediation) through lack of perceived control, that is the proximal cause for the negative outcomes. Practical Implications Enhancing a sense of control can be more important than reducing insecurity: for example, one possible means of increasing perception of control is the systematic and credible communication in uncertain organizational contexts.