Revisiting the Curvilinear Relation Between Job Insecurity and Work Withdrawal: The Moderating Role of Achievement Orientation and Risk Aversion

• Published date: 01 May 2015
• Author: Shuhong Wang,Xiang Yi
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21638
• Date: 01 May 2015

Human Resource Management, May–June 2015, Vol. 54, No. 3. Pp. 499–515

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21638

Correspondence to: Xiang Yi, Department of Management and Marketing, Western Illinois University,

StipesHall414N, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, Phone: 309-298-1997, E-mail: X-Yi@wiu.edu

REVISITING THE CURVILINEAR

RELATION BETWEEN JOB

INSECURITY AND WORK

WITHDRAWAL: THE MODERATING

ROLE OF ACHIEVEMENT

ORIENTATION AND RISK AVERSION

XIANG YI AND SHUHONG WANG

Although speculation of the curvilinear relations between job insecurity and job-

related behaviors is theoretically appealing, the empirical evidence has been

sparse. The purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature on job inse-

curity and work withdrawal behaviors by reexamining their curvilinear relation,

and the effects of achievement orientation and propensity for risk aversion on

this U-shaped relationship. Using samples with both secure and insecure job

situations, we hypothesized that job insecurity could have both positive and

negative effects on work withdrawal simultaneously; however, one of these

effects could dominate the other at different levels of job insecurity. That is, a

U shape would best describe such a relationship, since a moderate level of job

insecurity would result in the lowest level of work withdrawal. Furthermore, we

hypothesized that achievement orientation and propensity for risk aversion mod-

erates this relationship in such a way that the curvilinear relationship is weaker

(fl attened curve) when the individual’s achievement orientation is high, and

that the curvilinear relationship is stronger (steep curve) when the individual’s

propensity for risk aversion is high. Results show that these hypotheses were

supported; implications and limitations of the study are discussed. © 2014 Wiley

Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: job insecurity, work withdrawal, achievement orientation, risk

aversion, curvilinear model

500 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MAY–JUNE 2015

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

Work withdrawal

is a representation

of employee

disengagement

from the job and the

organization while

maintaining work role

and organizational

membership.

employee job attitudes and work withdrawal

behaviors, one may predict that job insecurity is

positively related to work withdrawal, and some

empirical studies have evidenced this relationship

(e.g., Davy etal., 1997; Probst, 2000). However, a

limited number of studies found increased input

by employees when they feel threatened by inse-

cure job situations (e.g., Probst, Stewart, Gruys,

& Tierney, 2007; Van Vuuren, Klandermans,

Jacobson, & Hartley, 1991), indicating that there

might be negative relation between job insecurity

and work withdrawal (Staufenbiel & König, 2010).

In this study, we tried to shed light on the

conflicting argument of whether job insecurity is

“good” or “bad” in terms of its impact on employee

behaviors, and if it can be both, when and how it

changes between one another. We adopted a global

view of job insecurity from the literature, that is, an

overall conce rn about the future existence of the

job. Examples of definitions of job insecurity along

this line include “the perceived powerlessness to

maintain the desired continuity in a threatened

job situation” (Greenhalgh & Rosenblatt, 1984, p.

438) and the “perception of a potential threat to

the continuity of the current job” (Heaney, Israel,

& House, 1994, p. 1431) and the threat of job loss

or job uncertainty (Probst, 2000). We utilize stress

theory and try to provide relevant empirical sup-

port to the curvilinear model between stress and

workplace behaviors that has been challenged and

only sparsely supported (Muse, Harris, & Field,

2003). We propose that there is a U-shaped rela-

tionship between job insecurity and work with-

drawal such that the positive and negative effects

of job insecurity on work withdrawal dominate

one another at different levels of insecurity, and

that a moderate level of job insecurity will gener-

ate the lowest level of work withdrawal behaviors.

We are also interested to know why some

employees respond to similar job insecurity situ-

ations differently from others, and how managers

can identify and manage appropriate job insecu-

rity levels for employees who respond to job inse-

curity more positively than negatively. Therefore,

we concurrently examine how some individual

differences moderate the relationship between

experienced job insecurity and work withdrawal,

as suggested in theoretical studies from previous

literature (e.g., Greenhalgh & Rosenblatt, 1984).

Two important personality or personal character-

istics, achievement orientation and risk aversion,

have not been investigated in the context of job

insecurity. Achievement orientation relates to

people’s values and behaviors regarding accom-

plishment, success, and overcoming difficulties

and is considered to trigger behavior across dif-

ferent situations (Steinmayr & Spinath, 2009).

Introduction

During a time when economic reces-

sions occur frequently and technology

develops rapidly, there is an increasing

demand for workplace flexibility so

that organizations are prompted to be

responsive to the changing environment. Hence,

organizational activities such as downsizing or

“right-sizing,” restructuring, mergers and acquisi-

tions, and the use of contingent labor are a more

common phenomenon in the new millennium

than in the past decades (Hirsch & De Soucey,

2006). As a consequence, more employees from

around the globe feel insecure about their jobs

(Burchell, 2002).

Given the current economic climate where

job insecurity is a prevalent concern (e.g., Debus,

Probst, König, & Kleinmann, 2012; Sverke,

Hellgren, & Näswall, 2002), it is a very important

inquiry to examine how job inse-

curity impacts employee behaviors

and how managers can manage job

insecurity (e.g., reducing layoffs and

utilize other labor cost reduction

measures such as employee trans-

fer or pay reduction, or linking job

status with performance to increase

job insecurity level) in order to

influence employee behaviors. One

important set of behaviors that is

considered detrimental to organi-

zational productivity is employee

work withdrawal behaviors, defined

as a “set of behaviors dissatisfied

individuals enact to avoid the work

situation” (Hanisch & Hulin, 1990,

p. 63). Typical work withdrawal

behaviors include “taking longer breaks than

permitted, spending work time on personal mat-

ters, or putting less effort into one’s job” (Scott &

Barnes, 2011, p. 116). Work withdrawal is a rep-

resentation of employee disengagement from the

job and the organization while maintaining work

role and organizational membership (Dalal etal.,

2009; Hanisch & Hulin, 1991; Somers, 2009).

As Jacobson (1988) pointed out, many nega-

tive reactions such as demoralization, suspicion,

helplessness, and stress are common to feeling

insecure about one’s job. It is not surprising, then,

that there is a growing body of research examining

the negative relationship between job insecurity

and attitudes toward the job or the organization

such as job satisfaction, organizational commit-

ment, or organizational trust (e.g., Davy, Kinicki,

& Scheck, 1997; King, 2000; Staufenbiel & König,

2010). Because of the apparent association between