Predictors of survivors' job involvement following layoffs: A field study

We sought to delineate some of the factors associated with survivors' job involvement subsequent to layoffs. On the basis of a general model of organizational stress, we hypothesized that survivors with a strong work ethic would be more involved with their jobs than would those who had a weaker work ethic. It also was expected that workers' prior history of role ambiguity would be negatively related to their job involvement. Moreover, we explored whether these hypothesized effects would be stronger following mild or severe layoffs. Regression analyses revealed that survivors' work ethic and prior role ambiguity were related to their job involvement only in the mild layoff condition; as expected, work ethic was positively and prior role ambiguity was negatively related to job involvement. The significance as well as the limitations of these findings are discussed.