Why do some workers experience less insecurity than others even when facing the same objectively insecure work situation? Combining appraisal theory with the construct of proactive coping, we propose that proactive career behavior represents a form of resource accumulation that mitigates the extent to which insecure work situations result in perceived insecurity. We hypothesize that proactive career behavior moderates the effect of an acute insecure work situation (time remaining before contract expiration) and a chronic insecure work situation (probability of digitalization) on control appraisals of these situations and, in turn, perceptions of job and employment insecurity. We tested this moderated mediation model in a 3-wave field study with 2 samples. First, workers in unstable temporary jobs (with no renewed contract, N = 227) perceived higher lack of control and hence higher job insecurity as their contract got closer to expiring. As hypothesized, this process was mitigated by proactive career behavior. Second, workers in stable jobs (with a renewed contract or a permanent contract, N = 205) perceived higher lack of control and hence higher employment insecurity, as their occupation had a higher probability of digitalization. In contrast to our hypothesis, proactive career behavior did not mitigate this effect. Results further replicated established relationships between perceived insecurity and later stress and career dissatisfaction. By moving up the causal chain and focusing on the emergence of insecurity rather than the more common emphasis on consequences of insecurity, our study uncovers the role of proactive coping in the job insecurity process. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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旁观者眼中：主动应对如何改变对不安全感的看法。

为什么即使面对同样客观上不安全的工作环境，一些员工的不安全感也比其他人少？将评估理论与主动应对的结构相结合，我们提出主动职业行为代表了一种资源积累形式，可以减轻不安全的工作情况导致感知不安全的程度。我们假设积极的职业行为会缓和急性不安全工作情况（合同到期前剩余时间）和长期不安全工作情况（数字化的可能性）对这些情况的控制评估的影响，进而影响对工作和就业不安全感的看法. 我们在具有 2 个样本的 3 波场研究中测试了这种调节调解模型。首先，从事不稳定临时工作的工人（没有续签合同，N = 227) 当他们的合同接近到期时，他们认为更缺乏控制，因此更高的工作不安全感。正如假设的那样，积极的职业行为减轻了这一过程。其次，从事稳定工作（续签合同或永久合同，N = 205）的工人认为更缺乏控制，因此就业不安全感更高，因为他们的职业有更高的数字化可能性。与我们的假设相反，积极的职业行为并没有减轻这种影响。结果进一步复制了感知的不安全感与后来的压力和职业不满之间的既定关系。通过将因果链向上移动并关注不安全感的出现，而不是更普遍地强调不安全感的后果，我们的研究揭示了主动应对在工作不安全感过程中的作用。