Applied Psychology-An International Review-Psychologie Appliquee-Revue Internationale最新文献

The rise of artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of work, making a discussion on job insecurity both timely and imperative. In this commentary, I critically examine several assumptions presented in Klug et al.'s lead article and propose alternative avenues to advance the field. First, I argue for a nuanced understanding of job insecurity by distinguishing between cognitive and affective dimensions, as well as between quantitative and qualitative aspects. By avoiding oversimplification, we can better capture the complex experiences of job insecurity. Second, I challenge the prevailing notion of job insecurity as solely a hindrance stressor with uniformly negative consequences. Instead, I emphasize its potentially motivating effects under certain conditions and advocate for exploring its curvilinear effects on outcomes. Third, I advocate for the adoption of competing theoretical frameworks to enrich our understanding of job insecurity's implications across multiple levels, especially focusing on outcomes at the team, unit, and organizational levels. Finally, I call for more intervention studies aimed at mitigating job insecurity at its sources and improving the well-being outcomes of job-insecure employees. To sum, I highlight the importance of challenging conventional assumptions and fostering innovative approaches in job insecurity research.

Job insecurity, that is, the perceived threat of job loss or of valued job features, is a well-documented stressor with negative consequences for employees. This lead article proposes to advance the field by going both deeper and broader in linking individual job insecurity experiences to their social context on the microlevel (individual characteristics), the mesolevel (the individual's immediate social context such as organizations) and the macrolevel (the wider context such as countries). Going deeper, we discuss theoretical and methodological approaches to investigate how job insecurity affects employees' experience of work but also their identity and life outside work—essentially, how people view themselves and their place in society. Going broader, we review evidence of macrolevel influences as predictors and moderators of job insecurity, as well as the effects of job insecurity on political attitudes and behaviour. Taken together, we discuss these two streams of research as top-down and bottom-up mechanisms in the interplay between individual job insecurity experiences and their socio-political context. We conclude with suggestions for future research and theory development to move the field forward. We hope to provide a fruitful point of departure to delve into the mechanisms between experiences of job insecurity and the broader social context.

Prior research has shown that customer incivility impacts targeted employees' performance. Yet, whether such experiences also influence bystander employees has been overlooked. In this work, we take a third-party perspective and suggest that observed customer-to-colleague incivility may have a positive impact on bystander employees' service performance. Drawing on social learning theory, we develop a model where we study the consequence of observed customer-to-colleague incivility on service performance through self-reflection. A two-week experience sampling study with data collected from 99 nurses revealed that, observed daily customer-to-colleague incivility was positively related to bystander employees' daily self-reflection, which in turn was positively associated with their daily service performance. Moreover, we identified performance-based self-esteem (i.e., the importance of performance to self-esteem) as a key boundary condition that explains for whom witnessing customer-to-colleague incivility is more likely to engender higher self-reflection. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Drawing from conservation of resources (COR) theory and the equifinality principle, we challenge the prominent “the-more-resources-the-better” understanding by examining both the additive and interactive effects of contextual (i.e., networking behaviors and social support) and personal (i.e., job search self-efficacy) resources on job seeking. Specifically, based on COR theory's resource gain corollary, we propose that higher levels of each resource are positively related to job search intensity and the number of interviews obtained (an additive effect). However, based on the equifinality principle that various resources can contribute to the same goal, we propose that each type of resource can compensate for low levels of the other (an interactive effect). In a four-wave study following 89 unemployed job seekers over 6 months, we find positive intra-individual relationships between networking behaviors and job search self-efficacy with job search intensity. We find that networking behaviors and job search self-efficacy are also positively related to the number of job interviews obtained and indirectly related through job search intensity for networking behaviors. In line with our predictions, high levels of either networking behaviors or job search self-efficacy compensate for low levels of the other resource when predicting job search intensity and the number of interviews obtained.

Entrepreneurial personality research has mostly used cross-sectional data, giving rise to the question of whether the results can be used to predict entrepreneurial outcomes. Using a unique longitudinal dataset, we investigate whether and from what age personality in childhood and adolescence predicts entrepreneurial intention in young adulthood. We cover a time span of 17 years by assessing personality at four different developmental phases (6–9, 9–12, 12–15, and 14–17 years of age) and one measurement of entrepreneurial intention in young adulthood (23–26 years of age). We employ a variable-oriented approach by studying the Big Five traits—imagination, conscientiousness, extraversion, benevolence, and emotional stability—individually and a person-oriented approach by studying the “entrepreneurial personality profile,” a configuration of these traits. Extraversion as measured at 9–12 years already predicts entrepreneurial intention in young adulthood. This relationship becomes stronger as the age at which extraversion is measured increases. Unlike earlier literature, we do not find clear prospective relationships regarding the other traits. Our study presents insights into the antecedents of entrepreneurial intention and highlights the importance of extraversion in childhood and adolescence. The difference between our results and those of previous cross-sectional research highlights the importance of using longitudinal data.

In their lead article, Klug et al. conceptualize job insecurity as a multilevel construct whereby individuals are situated in mesolevel and macrolevel contexts. In our article, we advocate deepening the current conceptual model with two partially intertwined perspectives. First, we suggest adding a systemic perspective at the mesolevel that considers individuals' nestedness in family and relationship systems, thus looking into how individuals' job insecurity affects close others (i.e., [romantic] partners and family members) and how close others affect individuals' experience of and reactions to job insecurity. To illustrate our propositions, we draw on the crossover model and the systemic-transactional model of stress processes within romantic couples. Second, we suggest adding a lifespan perspective that considers biographic time as a facet of the individual level in addition to historical time on the macrolevel. In doing so, we draw on the notion of path dependence and processes related to social learning. We advocate for future research taking into account the various, intertwined levels on which job insecurity operates to fully understand job insecurity as well as its consequences and remedies.

We are grateful for the two commentaries on our lead article on job insecurity, its psychological repercussions and broader social context, which provide important additions, as well as impetus to refine and clarify our arguments. In this rejoinder, we respond to the most important points raised by the commentators: we refine our conceptualization of job insecurity, challenge the idea of job insecurity as a motivator and discuss the role of employees' immediate social context at the meso-level, as well as theoretical explanations for the fundamental mechanisms of job insecurity. We conclude by emphasizing once more the political significance of job insecurity, as well as the need for evidence-based interventions to address its root causes.

Although the volume of literature on abusive supervision differentiation has increased in recent years, it remains a loosely organized body of work, with various conceptualizations, measurements, and contradictory opinions that create considerable confusion for future research. In this paper, we systematically review the conceptualizations and measurements and differentiate two levels of abusive supervision differentiation: abusive supervision dispersion at the group level and relative abusive supervision at the individual-within-group level. We then review the theoretical approaches and empirical findings on the consequences of abusive supervision dispersion and relative abusive supervision. Through this holistic review, we identify several conceptual and measurement issues associated with abusive supervision differentiation and find contradictory findings regarding the effects of abusive supervision differentiation. Accordingly, we propose a future research agenda that highlights the areas where additional research is needed to further our understanding of this topic. By doing so, we contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the complexity of abusive supervision differentiation and to the theoretical development of this subject.

The prevalence of job insecurity is increasing due to technological, geopolitical, and environmental changes worldwide, leading to negative stress-related reactions and health outcomes for employees and productivity loss for organizations. Despite these consequences, few recommendations exist for how people can effectively cope with perceived job insecurity to mitigate stress-related reactions. Drawing from resource-based stress theories, we highlight job embeddedness, which captures contextual resources derived from on-the-job and off-the-job domains, as a key factor shaping employee's stress-related reactions to job insecurity. Data collected at three time points over 12 months from 483 employees in various organizations in Japan reveals that on-the-job embeddedness exacerbates the positive relationships of job insecurity with both emotional exhaustion and chronic insomnia, whereas off-the-job embeddedness mitigates these associations. This study contributes to the literature by identifying off-the-job embeddedness as a bundle of contextual resources that helps employees cope with perceived job insecurity and demonstrating the contrasting effects of the two dimensions of embeddedness in shaping health-related consequences of job insecurity.

Research shows positive effects of Health-oriented Leadership (HoL) on followers' health. However, irritation elicited by ICT hassles may reduce leaders' capacity to engage in staff care. This study examines whether ICT hassles are associated with staff care (i.e., health-promoting follower-directed leadership) via irritation and whether particularly those engaging in self-care suffer more or less from ICT demands. A moderated mediation model was tested at three measurement points (N = 582 leaders).

As expected, results show more irritation for leaders with more ICT hassles which is further associated with less staff care. Moreover, the positive relationship between ICT hassles and irritation was stronger for leaders displaying high self-care. In the same vein, the negative relationship between irritation and staff care was stronger for leaders engaging in self-care.

Findings provide the first evidence that ICT hassles are negatively related to staff care via leaders' irritation. Leaders who engage in self-care show less irritation and higher staff care but suffer more from ICT demands. To promote leaders' health and staff care in digital working contexts, organizations should provide reliable IT equipment and technical support. The study ties in with research on digital leadership and its antecedents and offers a new view on the interplay of demands and resources.