Job insecurity and work–family conflict: A moderated mediation model of perceived organizational justice, emotional exhaustion and work withdrawal
International Journal of Conflict Management
ISSN: 1044-4068
Article publication date: 6 March 2020
Issue publication date: 8 September 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate the processes underlying the linkages between job insecurity (JI) and work–family conflict (WFC) from a stress perspective, focusing on the mediating role of subordinates' work withdrawal (WW) and emotional exhaustion (EE). Specifically, the authors tested two distinct mediating mechanisms, namely, WW and EE that have received less attention in testing the JI and WFC linkage. The authors also tested the variable of perceived organizational justice (POJ) to moderate these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data collected at Time 1 and Time 2 included 206 professionals from different occupational sectors. The authors study independent variable (i.e. JI), moderator (POJ) and mediator (WW) were measured at Time-1, whereas the other mediator (EE) and outcome (WFC) were tapped by the same respondent at Time-2 with a time interval of one month between them.
Findings
The findings suggest that subordinates’ EE and WW mediate the relationship between JI and WFC. Further, the authors found that EE is a relatively more effective mechanism than WW in explaining how and why JI translates into WFC. The results of the moderated mediation analysis revealed that the indirect effect of JI on WFC is strengthened when POJ is low.
Practical implications
JI has adverse consequences on the employees’ well-being and a cost to the organization in terms of WW. HR and top management should anticipate the negative influence of WW and EE and should focus on nurturing positive work–family climates to help reduce WFCs. Managers should give employees opportunities for participation and foster a climate of fairness in the organization to mitigate the harmful consequences of JI.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the employees’ burnout, counter work behavior and the WFC literature. By introducing EE and WW as underlying mechanisms and identifying POJ as a work contextual variable to explain the JI – WFC relationship, the authors extend the nomological network of JI. The authors respond to the calls by prior researchers as little research has examined how perceived fairness (unfairness) can induce WFC.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Compliance with ethical standards
Funding: The authors declare that this research received financial funding and/or support from Riphah International University.
Disclosure of Potential Conflict of Interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article. Moreover, the submitted work was not carried out in the presence of any personal, professional or financial relationships that could potentially be construed as a conflict of interest.
Ethics Approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The ethics board of the first author’s university reviewed the research proposal and verified that the procedures conform to the university’s ethical standards and guidelines.
Participant Consent: Participation in the survey was voluntary, and study participants were first given details of the project and assured that their responses would be strictly anonymous and reported as aggregate results.
Citation
Nauman, S., Zheng, C. and Naseer, S. (2020), "Job insecurity and work–family conflict: A moderated mediation model of perceived organizational justice, emotional exhaustion and work withdrawal", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 729-751. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCMA-09-2019-0159
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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