SELF‐REGULATION AND PERCEPTION OF JOB INSECURITY

Abstract

According to self‐determination theory, the attitude toward a threat is determined by the quality of self‐regulation. Job insecurity represents an intensive chronic stress, a threat without any objective signs that can undermine self‐regulation. This paper investigated the relationship between self‐regulation and job insecurity. More precisely, it investigated the way in which an increase in the quality of self‐regulation influences the affective component of job insecurity: feelings of powerlessness and the perception of threat intensity. The study was conducted on a sample of 310 employees of both genders, working in 24 companies of different sizes, profiles, structures, and ownership. The instruments used were the Perception of Job Insecurity Scale and the Ego Functioning Questionnaire. The hypotheses that an increase in self‐regulation quality is followed by a decrease in the sense of powerlessness with regard to the threat generated by job insecurity and a decrease of threat intensity caused by job insecurity were tested using multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that self‐regulation is associated with threat perception and sense of powerlessness. Integrated self‐regulation is related to a lower level of threat perception, whereas the impersonal one relates to higher perception of threat and sense of powerlessness. The paper confirms the role of personality dispositions vis‐à‐vis threat and further substantiates the value of self‐determination theory in the organizational context.

Keywords

• job insecurity
• self‐determination theory