The large majority of studies on job insecurity have focused upon the individual level. Recent research has also paid some attention to job insecurity at the level of the organisation, referred to as job insecurity climate. This research has shown negative relationships between job insecurity climate and employees' individual job attitudes. Nevertheless, in these studies no attention has been paid to organisational climate strength, in spite of the recommendations formulated in the literature on this topic. In response, this study aims to account for climate strength in the relationship between job insecurity and job attitudes. We hypothesise that climate strength is related to job satisfaction, organisational commitment, work involvement, and organisational trust. Moreover, we hypothesise that the relationship between job insecurity climate and these outcomes may be stronger when there is a strong agreement among employees concerning their job insecurity perceptions compared to when there is a weak agreement (strong versus weak climate strength). Results based on a Spanish sample of 428 employees from 20 organisations largely supported our hypotheses except in the case of work involvement: climate strength was negatively related to job attitudes, and the relationship between job insecurity climate and individual job attitudes was moderated by climate strength.
The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the most important healthcare and societal challenges to have emerged in the last century. It may have effects on both physical and psychosocial health, but studies considering the impact on vulnerable populations, such as people with chronic pain, are needed. In this cross-sectional study, an online survey of relevant chronic pain domains, coping strategies, triggers and potential related variables was answered by 502 Spanish individuals with chronic pain. Participants were mainly women (88%) with longstanding chronic pain and moderate to high pain intensity and disability. The perception of pain aggravation and the most pain-related outcomes were observed. Contextual variables such as job insecurity, worries about the future, people cohabiting, being close to someone who had passed away, or being potentially infected with COVID-19 were related to worse outcomes. More than half the participants altered their pain management style (e.g., increased medication intake) and several changes occurred with respect to pain triggers (cognitions, feelings of insecurity and loneliness, and sleeping problems were more frequently reported as triggers during lockdown). Our preliminary results highlight the negative effects of lockdown on patients with chronic pain as well as the need to make available cost-effective and remotely accessible healthcare resources for counteracting them.
Extensive use of temporary employment may create a climate of job insecurity among permanent workers in a specific organization. This climate is likely conditional upon the proportion of temporary workers in the organization, and upon the reasons for hiring temporary workers. The percentage of temporary workers may relate to permanent workers’ shared perceptions of job insecurity. Employers’ motives for hiring temporary workers may relate to permanent workers’ perceptions of job insecurity when these motives threaten the position of permanent workers. Conversely, the relationship with a climate of job insecurity is likely negative when the organization hires temporary workers to support permanent workers. Analyses are based on samples of Belgian ( N = 216) and Spanish ( N = 404) permanent workers among 14 and 29 organizations, respectively. The results show a positive relationship between the percentage of temporary workers and a climate of job insecurity among permanent workers. Few motives were predictive for permanent workers’ climate of job insecurity. The findings are interpreted with reference to the specific Belgian and Spanish context.
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