Validation of a short and generic Qualitative Job Insecurity Scale (QUAL-JIS)

The Qualitative Job Insecurity Scale (QUAL-JIS) has been used in job insecurity (JI) research for the past 9 years, without formal validation. The goal of the current study was to test the scale s psychometric properties. We checked the scale s reliability, as well as its validity, investigating evidence based on the scale s content, internal structure, and relations to other variables (convergent and discriminant, predictive and concurrent, as well as incremental predictive evidence). We additionally evaluated its cross-country and longitudinal invariance over three measurement times (6 months apart) in two countries (Romania and Belgium; NRO = 388, NBE = 1,992). We found evidence for the scale s reliability and validity, QUAL-JIS showing partial scalar invariance across time and between the two countries. Interestingly, qualitative JI measured with QUAL-JIS explained additional variance in the employees need for recovery above and beyond another popular qualitative JI scale.