How national culture shapes employee reactions to job insecurity : The role of national corruption

Responding to calls for examining the underlying mechanisms through which national culture influences employee attitudes, we test whether cultural values (egalitarianism, hierarchy, and power distance) alter the relationships of job insecurity with job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, promotion satisfaction, and organizational commitment via national corruption. Combining four data sources (i.e., the International Social Survey Programme, Hofstede’s and Schwartz’s cultural scores, and Transparency International’s corruption index), we tested the multilevel mediated moderation model with Study 1 of 25,030 employees nested within 32 countries in 2005, and Study 2 of 27,868 employees nested within 37 countries in 2015. Multilevel moderation analyses indicated that egalitarianism buffered against the negative impact of job insecurity on job satisfaction (Study 1 & Study 2), pay satisfaction (Study 1), and organizational commitment (Study 1 & Study 2), whereas power distance exacerbated the effect of job insecurity on pay satisfaction (Study 2). Meanwhile, national corruption aggravated the negative impact of job insecurity across outcomes and samples. Finally, the moderation effects of egalitarianism and power distance on employees’ reactions to job insecurity were mediated by national corruption. We discuss our findings in light of pervasive corruption and job insecurity globally.