The psychology of casualization: Evidence for the mediating roles of security, status and social identification

Organizational research from a social identity perspective has shown that people expend effort on behalf of a work unit to the extent that the unit contributes to their sense of social identity. Moreover, it has been suggested that identification is enhanced to the extent that group members anticipate future interaction with one other (Worchel et al., 1998). This study examined these ideas in relation to the phenomenon of workplace casualization, looking at whether assigning individuals to different employment roles impacts on their intentions to contribute to the functioning of an organization in both typical and non-typical ways. In a scenario-based study, public sector employees (N = 138) indicated their willingness to contribute positively to the organization after being assigned either casual, temporary or permanent roles in a team that had, or did not have, a future. Consistent with the social identity approach (e.g., Haslam, 2004), results indicated that assignment to a permanent role increased willingness to contribute to the organization and that this was mediated by social identification.