The mediating role of psychological needs in the relation between qualitative job insecurity and counterproductive work behavior

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to add to the understanding of the qualitative job insecurity, i.e. the insecurity about the continuity of valued job aspects in future. Specifically, the paper examines whether qualitative job insecurity is related to counterproductive work behavior (CWB), both directed to the organization (i.e. CWB-O) and other individuals at work (i.e. CWB-I), and whether frustration of the basic psychological needs of autonomy, belongingness and competence, as defined in self-determination theory, may account for these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – The hypothesis were examined using structural equation modeling in heterogeneous sample of Romanian employees. Findings – Results support the hypotheses showing that feeling insecure about one’s valued job aspects associates with high levels of need frustration and, therefore, also with both CWB-O and CWB-I. While each of the accounted for the associations of qualitative insecurity and CWB-O, only frustration of the need for autonomy explained its detrimental association with CWB-I. Originality/value – This study is innovative, as it integrates and extends three different fields and has high practical relevance. The authors detail qualitative job insecurity, an increasing, but understudied job stressor. The authors extend research on the antecedents of CWB by focussing on environmental factors. The authors develop need satisfaction, as integrative theoretical underlying mechanism.