Gain and loss spirals: Reciprocal relationships between resources and job insecurity

Abstract

Based on gain and loss spiral principles from Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, we examined change-related reciprocal relations between three key resources (i.e. self-esteem, sense of belonging and perceived social support) and job insecurity. We adopted a latent change score (LCS) approach and examined the loss and gain spirals with a seven-wave longitudinal dataset from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 6518). The LCS models indicated that: (1) self-esteem predicts decreased job insecurity, but not vice versa, (2) sense of belonging predicts decreased job insecurity, but not vice versa and (3) there is a change-related reciprocal relationship between perceived social support and job insecurity. Inconsistent with the primacy of resource loss proposed by COR theory, we also confirm that the effects of self-esteem, sense of belonging and perceived social support on changes in job insecurity (i.e., gain spirals) are stronger than the effects of job insecurity on changes in these three resources (i.e., loss spirals). These findings provide a cautionary note to previous research based on cross-sectional or lagged designs and using regression or (traditional or random intercept) cross-lagged analyses. By taking a resource perspective, our research provides an impetus for understanding change-related reciprocal relations between resources and job insecurity.