The Effect of Self Efficacy on Perceived Job Insecurity in the Nigerian Banking Industry: the Mediating Role of Employee Self Esteem

Based on the assumption that the construct of self-esteem should acts as a major factor in the self- evaluation model and it’s often given a consideration whenever the objective is determining the nature of human behavior including the coping styles usually adopted by employees as a result of exposure to insecure job perception, this study extends on previous research by employing the use of Lazarus transactional stress theory and Korman social construction theory to present a research model which highlights employees self-efficacy as an antecedent of perceived job insecurity with employee’s self-esteem acting as a mediator in this relationship. To advance our line of theoretical reasoning, we elicit responses from a total of one hundred and fifty three (153) randomly selected bankers in four major Nigerian Banks to empirically prove that employee self-esteem represents a core construct whenever the objective is centered on reducing the perception of job insecurity from the perspective of job related efficacies. Specifically, two key findings were uncovered: 1) while increase in self-efficacy will directly lead to a significant increase in self-esteem, it will however lead to an insignificant decrease in perceived job insecurity. 2) An improvement in self-esteem exercises a direct, negative and statistically significant influence on perceived job insecurity. Hence, with the view that managers and practitioners can advance their course in reducing employee’s self-perceived job insecurity through self-efficacy by focusing on improving self-esteem, we conclude by proposing relevant personality based interventions in addition to those organizational and institutional based interventions which may be employed in advancing this course.