Stuck in Neutral, The Effect of Career Inaction on the Relation Between Job Insecurity and Well-being.

Abstract

Job insecurity and well-being have been heavily linked in research. It is seen that experiencing more insecurity in a job has a negative impact on one’s well-being. Using the transactional theory of stress, this study proposes that this relationship might be explained through the existence of career inaction. It also tries to see what role an individual’s future focus plays in this effect. A moderated mediation analysis is conducted on a sample of 307 participants from countries like Iran, the Netherlands, Canada, and China. The results show that job insecurity is indeed negatively related to well-being. Further, it is found that career inaction explains some of the variance of job insecurity on well-being, therefore it is seen that career inaction mediates the effect of job insecurity and well-being. However, no significant moderating effect of future focus is found in this study. These results have implications for future research on career inaction.