Psychological foundations of ambiguity in the hybrid workplace: the role of managerial risk-taking and AI-induced job insecurity

Mai Nguyen (), Tuan Phong Nham (), Rsha Alghafes (), Bhumika Gupta () and Gábor Szabó-Szentgróti ()
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Mai Nguyen: Griffith University [Brisbane], HAUI - Hanoi University of Industry
Tuan Phong Nham: VNU-University of Economics and Business
Rsha Alghafes: Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University
Bhumika Gupta: LITEM - Laboratoire en Innovation, Technologies, Economie et Management (EA 7363) - UEVE - Université d'Évry-Val-d'Essonne - Université Paris-Saclay - IMT-BS - Institut Mines-Télécom Business School - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], IMT-BS - MMS - Département Management, Marketing et Stratégie - TEM - Télécom Ecole de Management - IMT-BS - Institut Mines-Télécom Business School - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris], ETHOS - Ethique, Technologies, Humains, Organisations, Société - IMT-BS - Institut Mines-Télécom Business School - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris]
Gábor Szabó-Szentgróti: Széchenyi István University

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Abstract: In the modern ever-changing organizational environment, where hybrid workplace arrangement is becoming increasingly common, and artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been used widely, employees tend to face a situation characterized by ambiguity of work and it is difficult to perceive an understanding of role, expectations, and employment. The paper explores the interrelationship between task ambiguity, risk-taking by managers, AI-induced job insecurity, and employee outcomes in a hybrid working environment. This is based on Social Information Processing Theory where we advance a theoretical model that explores how workforce members actively learn and process information in their social context to get through ambiguity and foster resilience. The evidence of the proposed relationships is substantiated by three studies. Study 1 focuses on the way task ambiguity influences active lurking and also job engagement. Study 2 explores with the moderating factor on the relationship among the variables of task ambiguity, active lurking, and job engagement on managerial risk-taking. Study 3 examines how AI-induced job insecurity can moderate the link between task ambiguity and active lurking and job engagement. The results emphasize the need to ensure clear task specification, active lurking, management risk-taking and proactive efforts to reduce the issue of AI-induced job insecurity as factors that enhance employee engagement. The implications of the study are given and recommendations to conduct further research are outlined.

Keywords: Hybrid workplace; Job insecurity; AI; Task ambiguity; Active lurking; Managerial risk-taking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-02
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Published in Acta Psychologica, 2026, 262, pp.106182. ⟨10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.106182⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05456930

DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.106182

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