Does proactive career behaviour matter with respect to job insecurity? The mediating role of work-related basic needs satisfaction and the moderating role of contract type

Purpose Using conservation of resources and self-determination theories, this study explores the negative ties between proactive career behaviour and job insecurity, which are mediated by work-related basic needs satisfaction, and how contract type affects these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Two waves of data were collected from 332 Chinese employees. The mediation and moderated mediation models were tested with MPLUS 8.30 and SPSS’s PROCESS macro. Findings Proactive career behaviour negatively affects (both quantitatively and qualitatively) job insecurity through work-related basic needs satisfaction. Contract type moderates the relationship between proactive career behaviour and work-related basic needs satisfaction as well as the indirect relationship between proactive career behaviour and quantitative (but not qualitative) job insecurity via work-related basic needs satisfaction. These findings suggest that temporary employees can obtain greater benefits by engaging in proactive career behaviour than can their permanent counterparts. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited research on job insecurity antecedents, mechanisms and key moderators.