Chronic job insecurity can effect your personality in negative way - Study

Experiencing job insecurity in the form of short-term contracts or casual work over a long period of time may negatively change an individual's personality, according to a study unveiled on Thursday.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, found that people exposed to job insecurity for more than four years became less emotionally stable, less agreeable, and had reduced conscientiousness.

The study, built on a growing evidence base about the negative consequences of job insecurity.

“Traditionally, we’ve thought about the short-term consequences of job insecurity –



that it hurts your well-being, physical health, sense of self-esteem,” said study researcher Lena Wang from RMIT University in Australia.

“But now we are looking at how that actually changes who you are as a person over time, a long-term consequence that you may not even be aware of,” Wang added.

The researchers said the results went against some assumptions about job insecurity.The researchers found that those chronically exposed to job insecurity are more likely to withdraw their effort and shy away from building strong, positive working relationships, which can undermine their productivity in the long run.