Affective job insecurity and risk taking at work

摘要

The purpose of the study was to investigate the affective side of job insecurity, and how it might influence risk taking at work. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) affective aspects of job insecurity, together with hazardous work arrangements, and overtime pressure influence risk taking behaviour. (2) Job satisfaction and work motivation mediate the association between affective job insecurity and risk taking behaviour. Data were obtained from a Norwegian transport company. A self-completion questionnaire survey was distributed to employees experiencing organisational change (N = 1442). Affective job insecurity was positively related to risk taking behaviour. The same was the case for hazardous work arrangements and overtime pressure. Both job satisfaction and work motivation partly mediated these effects of background variables. Regarding job satisfaction, only the dimension tapping employee satisfaction with leadership and social conditions contributed significantly to risk taking. The importance of measuring the affective side of job insecurity as well as including organisational/management level factors when studying safety behaviour is discussed.