Impact of job insecurity on emotional exhaustion—The moderating role of social support

Abstract

Abstract: Job insecurity, defined as a critical stressor during organizational change, not only leads employees to concern the job continuity and stability, but also triggers many psychological health problems. This study builds a moderation model to examine the moderating roles of different types of social support between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion from the cognitive and emotional perspectives. Using a sample of 197 employees from ten enterprises, this study conducted hierarchical regression analyses to verify the hypothesized model. The results indicated that cognitive and affective job insecurity were both significantly and positively related to emotional exhaustion. Instrumental support negatively moderated the relationship between cognitive job insecurity and emotional exhaustion. Emotional support attenuated the positive impact of affective job insecurity on emotional exhaustion. Thus, organizations can take specific support strategies to help employees manage job stress from cognitive and emotional perspectives in order to lower the impact of job insecurity on emotional exhaustion.

Key words: job insecurity, emotional exhaustion, social support

CLC Number:

C936

Zhang Li, Lin Yuchuan, Zhang Lin. Impact of job insecurity on emotional exhaustion—The moderating role of social support[J]. Science Research Management, 2014, 35(3): 91-98.

References

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