Flexible working practices and job-related anxiety: Examining the roles of trust in management and job autonomy

Suhaer Yunus and Ahmed Mohammed Sayed Mostafa
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Suhaer Yunus: University of Lincoln, UK
Ahmed Mohammed Sayed Mostafa: University of Leeds, UK

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2022, vol. 43, issue 3, 1340-1368

Abstract: Although flexible working practices (FWPs) have been associated with positive individual outcomes, less is known about ‘how’ and ‘why’ such associations occur. Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory, this study examines the mediating and moderating processes which underpin the relationship between FWPs and job-related anxiety. The study’s hypotheses, proposing a moderated mediation model, are tested using data from Britain’s Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) 2011. The results of generalised multilevel structural equation modelling (GMSEM) reveal that FWPs increase trust in management (TIM), which, in turn, decreases job-related anxiety. Furthermore, job autonomy moderates both the positive relationship between FWPs and TIM and the indirect relationship between FWPs and job anxiety through TIM, such that the mediated relationship becomes stronger when perceived autonomy is high. Our study encourages focusing on FWPs, as these stimulate perceptions of resource gain spiral, and the integrated influence of resources accumulated through such positive gain spirals promotes well-being.

Keywords: Conservation of Resources theory; flexible working practices; job autonomy; job-related anxiety; resource gain spiral; trust in management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:3:p:1340-1368

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X21995259

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