Job insecurity and wellness of employees in a co–operation

Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.The current economic situation has reconfirmed the importance of researching job insecurity and the impact it has on the individual as well as the organisation. An individual outcome which is normally negatively affected is general health. Engagement, although an experience on individual level, is an organisational outcome affected by job insecurity. With the introduction of positive psychology, emotions in the workplace created new research grounds. It seems that hope and happiness have a positive influence on negative consequences, which can assist managers in finding a competitive advantage in their human capital. The objectives of this study were to investigate the relationship between job insecurity, general health, work engagement, hope and happiness of employees (N = 286) of a co-operation in the North-West Province by using a cross-sectional survey design. The measuring instruments used were Job Insecurity Scale (JIS), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Hope Scale (HS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWL), and a biographical questionnaire. The measuring instruments were translated into Afrikaans which is the language mostly used by the target population. Four articles explained the study through a brief literature review and empirical study in each. Factor analyses were done to determine construct validity, and Cronbach's alphas and inter-item correlation coefficients assessed the internal consistency of the instruments. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient as well as regressions, MANOVA and ANOVA was done to determine relationships between variables. Hierarchical regression was performed to test for moderation and mediation. JIS, GHQ, HS and SWLS confirmed their structural models and proved good internal consistencies. Gender, cultural group and qualification were found to have statistically significant influence on job insecurity. Females regarded the importance of job features and importance of changes to total job higher than their male colleagues. The cultural group 'other' indicated higher levels of job insecurity with regard to likelihood to loose a job feature. This fear was also experienced by participants with a qualification Grade 7 and lower as well as likelihood to changes in total job. No correlation was found between job insecurity and general health, but job insecurity did show correlations with engagement and hope. Hope and happiness were also positively correlated and hope was found to predict happiness. Hope did not moderate the job insecurity general health relationship, but did moderate the relationship between job insecurity and engagement. Hope explained 7% of the variance in general health and 14% of the variance in engagement. Happiness moderated the effect of job insecurity on general health but not of job insecurity on engagement. Happiness also showed a main effect of 13% on general health and predicted 10% of the variance in engagement. When tested, a partial mediation of happiness on the relationship between job insecurity and engagement was found. Recommendations for the organisation and future research were made.Doctora