Coping With Organizational Layoffs: Managers’ Increased Active Listening Reduces Job Insecurity via Perceived Situational Control

In this article, we draw on interdisciplinary research and theorizing to posit change in managerial active listening as a lever shaping change in affective job insecurity (AJI). Specifically, drawing on transactional theory, we argue that an increase (decrease) in active listening from one’s manager should facilitate a dynamic coping process by strengthening (diminishing) perceived control. In turn, changes in perceived control should shape AJI. Using a longitudinal field study design, we collected three waves of survey data from 268 employees of a large real estate firm that was preparing for restructuring and layoffs. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found support for a mediation model in which an increase in active listening quality predicted a decrease in AJI, mediated by an increase in perceived control. Our findings suggest that in environments characterized by widespread change and impending job loss, an increase in active listening may have a ripple effect in increasing perceived control and decreasing AJI.