This study aims to examine the effects of insecure adult attachment on job insecurity among university students and to verify the mediating role of emotion regulation goals in this relationship. In particular, the study investigated whether five types...
This study aims to examine the effects of insecure adult attachment on job insecurity among university students and to verify the mediating role of emotion regulation goals in this relationship. In particular, the study investigated whether five types of emotion regulation goals—hedonic-averse, hedonic, performance, prosocial, and impression management—mediate the relationship between insecure adult attachment (anxious and avoidant attachment) and job insecurity.
A survey was conducted with university students, and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, multiple regression analyses, and mediation analyses with Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 4) and 5,000 bootstrap samples.
The findings are as follows. First, insecure adult attachment was positively associated with job insecurity and hedonic-averse goals, and negatively associated with hedonic, performance, prosocial, and impression management goals. Second, anxious and avoidant attachment significantly increased hedonic-averse goals, while both decreased performance and prosocial goals; avoidant attachment additionally decreased hedonic and impression management goals. Third, analyses showed that hedonic, performance, prosocial, and impression management goals reduced job insecurity, whereas hedonic-averse goals increased it. Fourth, all five types of emotion regulation goals were confirmed to partially mediate the relationship between insecure adult attachment and job insecurity.
In conclusion, the results indicate that insecure adult attachment influences job insecurity both directly and indirectly through emotion regulation goals. This study extends previous findings by clarifying the indirect pathways linking attachment and job insecurity, and suggests that interventions and educational programs addressing both attachment patterns and adaptive emotion regulation goals may help reduce job insecurity among university students.