Cynicism and dedication to work in post-docs: relationships between individual job insecurity, job insecurity climate, and supervisor support

Owing to the temporary nature of their job position, postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) are among those workers in the academic sector who experience the most job insecurity as well as high levels of turnover intention and disengagement. The present study improves the extant knowledge on the effect of job insecurity on postdocs’ cynicism and dedication to work, understands the joint role of two forms of job insecurity–namely individual job insecurity and the job insecurity climate–and identifies how social support can serve as a resource to buffer their negative impacts. A sample of 191 postdocs from an Italian public university participated in a self-report questionnaire survey. Moderated-mediation analyses revealed that individual job insecurity serves as a mediator in the relationship between the job insecurity climate and both cynicism and dedication. Furthermore, supervisor support significantly buffers the relationship between the job insecurity climate and individual job insecurity. These findings improve extant knowledge on postdoctoral working conditions, highlighting the joint role of two different forms of job insecurity in relation to wellbeing outcomes, as well as the role of supervisors as a relevant resource for coping with the uncertainty experienced within the academic work environment.