The job insecurity-performance relationship in Germany and China: the buffering effect of uncertainty avoidance

Authors

  • Lara Christina Roll Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
  • Oi-ling Siu Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong
  • Simon Y.W. Li Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Keywords:

Job insecurity, uncertainty avoidance, job performance

Abstract

Job insecurity is related to many negative outcomes, including reduced performance. The present research aimed to investigate two different types of job insecurity (quantitative and qualitative) in relation to job performance in two cultural contexts (Germany and China). Moreover, uncertainty avoidance (UAI) has been suggested as a buffer in these relationships, yet UAI has only been tested on a country-level. Therefore, the present study investigated individual-level UAI as a buffer in the relationship between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity and performance. We sampled 374 German and 197 Chinese employees. Results from the German context suggest that quantitative and qualitative job insecurity are both problematic and may negatively impact performance. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance acted as a buffer in these relationships. However, there was no negative effect of job insecurity for Chinese employees. Thus, whether job insecurity has a negative influence on job performance appears to depend on cultural context.

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Author Biographies

Lara Christina Roll, Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Oi-ling Siu, Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Simon Y.W. Li, Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

Department of Applied Psychology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong

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Published

2019-10-20

How to Cite

Roll, L. C., Siu, O.- ling, & Li, S. Y. (2019). The job insecurity-performance relationship in Germany and China: the buffering effect of uncertainty avoidance. Psihologia Resurselor Umane, 13(2), 165–178. Retrieved from https://www.hrp-journal.com/index.php/pru/article/view/104

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 2 (2015): Psihologia Resurselor Umane

Section

Research articles

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