This project aims to investigate the opportunities and challenges faced by those who are solo self-employed, and specifically to explore how they organize their work in relation to the conditions and characteristics of the assignments they take on.

A furthered understanding of the implications for work-related outcomes and health factors in addition to possibilities of personal and professional growth as a self-employed individual is of primary focus within this project.

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Self-employment

Our goal for this project is to focus on young graduates whose entry into the labor market starts with employment through a temporary agency. We want to highlight how they experience their first employment and how they plan for and develop their career.

We are interested in learning more about the experiences of young graduates in their first employment at temporary agencies. Of particular interest are their expectations and career plans, experiences of supervisor support at the host organization as well as at the agency, what they learn in their placements, and how they shape their employability and career prospects.

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Temporary agency work

This project aims to investigate how employment contracts and job insecurity are associated with psychosocial work environment factors, as well as various work-related and health-related factors among women and men working in academia.

Particular emphasis will be placed on furthering the understanding of potential underlying mechanisms for relations between such factors.

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Academia

This aim of this project is to investigate how types of employment, job insecurity, and psychosocial work environment factors associate with work-related and health-related outcomes among women and men in the retail and wholesale sector.

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Retail

The aim of this project is to explore the role of unions in today’s labor market, primarily in relation to various non-standard employment contracts, which have become notably more commonplace.

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The role of unions

The principal aim of this integrative project is to strengthen knowledge with regards to the new organization of work.

More specifically, this project incorporates insights and results from four empirical cases to contribute to a furthered understanding of the similarities and differences when it comes to various forms of employment.

In addition, the project seeks to illustrate how employment types, perceptions of job insecurity, and work environment factors relate to work-related and health-related outcomes. Mechanisms that may explain these relationships are of the utmost interest.

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New organization of work: Theoretical integration and development

In 2019, the research program “Employment contracts, job insecurity, unionization, working conditions, work-related attitudes and health among women and men in a flexible labor market” was awarded a grant of 8.7 million Swedish Kronor from Forte for the first three years of this six-year-long program.

In 2022, after our half-time report, Forte awarded an additional grant of 8.7 million Swedish Kronor for the remaining three years.

Project-id: 2019-01311

Start date: 2019-07-01
End date phase 1: 2022-06-30
End date phase 2: 2025-06-30
Last disposition date: 2026-06-30

Read more about the research program in SweCRIS

Scientific publications include scientific articles, book chapters, research reports, and conference presentations. To the extent that these are freely accessible, or "open access", there is also a link to download the publication.

Journal articles

Bentzen, M., Kenttä, G., Richter, A., & Lemyre, P.-N. (2020). Impact of job insecurity on psychological well- and ill-being among high-performance coaches. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 6939. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17196939

Bergman, L., Bernhard-Oettel, C., Bujacz, A., Leineweber, C., & Toivanen, S. (2021). Comparing depressive symptoms, emotional exhaustion, and sleep disturbances in self-employed and employed workers: Application of approximate Bayesian measurement invariance. Frontiers in Psychology, 11:598303. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.598303

Bernhard‐Oettel, C., Eib, C., Griep, Y., & Leineweber, C. (2020). How do job insecurity and organizational justice relate to depressive symptoms and sleep difficulties: A multilevel study on immediate and prolonged effects in Swedish workers. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 69(4), 1271-1300. doi: 10.1111/apps.12222

Blotenberg, I., & Richter, A. (2020). Validation of the QJIM- A measure of qualitative job insecurity. Work & Stress, 34(4), 406-417. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2020.1719553

Bujacz, A., Eib, C., & Toivanen, S. (2020). Not all are equal: A latent profile analysis of well-being among the self-employed. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21, 1661-1680. doi: 10.1007/s10902-019-00147-1

Eib, C., & Bernhard-Oettel, C. (2023). Entrepreneurial action and eudaimonic well-being in a crisis: Insights from entrepreneurs in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic and Industrial Democracy. DOI: 10.1177/0143831X231154753

Klug, K., Selenko, E., van Hootegem, A., Sverke, M., & De Witte, H. (in press, 2023). A discussion paper to go deeper and broader in job insecurity research: Understanding an individual perception in its social and political context. Applied Psychology: An International Review.

Klug, K., Selenko, E., van Hootegem, A., Sverke, M., & De Witte, H. (in press, 2024). Seeing the forest for the trees: A response to commentaries on job insecurity conceptualizations, processes, and social context. Applied Psychology: An International Review.

Låstad, L., Tanimoto, A.S., & Lindfors, P. (2021). How do job insecurity profiles correspond to employee experiences of work-home interference, self-rated health, and psychological well-being? Journal of Occupational Health, 63:e12253. doi: 10.1002/1348-9585.12253

Nikolova, I., Caniëls, M., & Sverke, M. (2022, online first). Qualitative job insecurity and extra-role behaviours: The moderating role of work motivation and perceived investment in employee development. Economic and Industrial Democracy. doi: 10.1177/0143831X221081167

Richter, A., Vander Elst, T., & De Witte, H. (2020). Job insecurity and subsequent actual turnover: Rumination as a valid explanation? Frontiers in psychology, 11, 712. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00712

Roczniewska, M., & Richter, A. (2021). Are we seeing "eye to eye" on qualitative job insecurity in healthcare? Employee–teammates perceptual (in)congruence and individual well-being. Anxiety, stress, and coping, 35(2), 171-189. doi: 10.1080/10615806.2021.1913489

Stephan, U., Zbierowski, P., Perez-Luno, A., Barki, E., Benzari, A., Bernhard-Oettel, C., Boeckhorse, J. A., Cabanas, M. A., Dash, A., Efendic, A., Eib, C., Hanard, P.-J., Iakovleva, T., Kawakatsu, S., Khalid, S., Leatherbee, M., Li, J., Parker, S., Qu, J., Rosati, F., Sahasranamam, S., Sekiguchi, T., Thomas, N., Torres, O., Wach, D., Ward, M. K., Wiklund, J., Williamson, A., & Zahid, M. (2023). Act or Wait-and-See? Adversity, Agility, and Entrepreneur Wellbeing across Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 47(3), 682–723. doi: 10.1177/10422587221104820

Stephan, U., et al. (2021). Agility or Wait-and-See? How the Covid-19 Crisis Impacts Entrepreneurs’ Well-being across Countries. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2021(1): 11848. doi: 10.5465/AMBPP.2021.11848abstract

Sverke, M., Låstad, L., Hellgren, J., Richter, A., & Näswall, K. (2019). A meta-analysis of job insecurity and employee performance: Testing temporal aspects, rating source, welfare regime, and union density as moderators. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14): 2536. doi:  10.3390/ijerph16142536

Tanimoto, A. S., Richter, A., & Lindfors, P. (2023). How do Effort, Reward, and Their Combined Effects Predict Burnout, Self-rated Health, and Work-family Conflict Among Permanent and Fixed-term Faculty? Annals of Work Exposures and Health. DOI: 10.1093/annweh/wxac094

Van Hootegem, A., Sverke, M., & De Witte, H. (2022). Does occupational self-efficacy mediate the relationships between job insecurity and work-related learning? A latent growth modelling approach. Work & Stress, 36(3), 229-250. doi: 10.1080/02678373.2021.1891585

Vesper, D., Grzymala-Moszczynska, J., König, C. J., Martínez-Iñigo, D., Sverke, M., & Zickar, M. J. (2024). One opportunity of antiwork: Bringing unions (back) to the I-O table. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 17(1), 70-74. 10.1017/iop.2023.80

Yüce-Selvi, Ü., Sümer, N., Toker-Gültaş, Y., Låstad, L., & Sverke, M. (2023). Behavioral reactions to job insecurity climate perceptions: Exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 5732. 10.3390/ijerph20095732
 

Book chapters

Eib, C., Bernhard-Oettel, C., & Leineweber, C. (in press). Fairness at work. In P. Brough, E. Gardiner and K. Daniels (Eds.). Handbook Series in Occupational Health Sciences. Handbook on Management and Employment Practices. Springer.

Klug, K., Bernhard-Oettel, C., Selenko, E., & Sverke, M. (2020). Temporal and person-oriented perspectives on job insecurity. In Y. Griep, S. Hansen, J. Hofmans, & T. Vantilborgh (Eds.), Handbook on the temporal dynamics of organizational behavior (pp. 91-104). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (ISBN: 978 1 78897 437 0).

Sverke, M., Ferré Hernandez, I., Tanimoto, A. S., Hellgren, J., & Näswall, K. (2023). Can unions represent the interests of insecure workers? In N. De Cuyper, E. Selenko, M. Euwema, & W. Schaufeli (Eds.), Job insecurity, precarious employment and burnout: Facts and fables in work psychology research (pp. 105–125). Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.

Tanimoto, A. S., Ferré Hernandez, I., Hellgren, J., & Sverke, M. (2021). Non-standard employment contracts: Characteristics and consequences of new ways of working. In C. Korunka (Ed.), Flexible working practices and approaches: Psychological and social implications (pp. 191-211). Springer, Cham.
 

Research reports

Eib, C., & Bernhard-Oettel, C. (2020). (Egen-)företagare under och efter COVID-19 – En första bedömning av kort- och långsiktiga konsekvenser i Sverige.
Fulltext: Egenföretagare under och efter COVID-19 (663 Kb)
 

Conference presentations

Tanimoto, A., Richter, A., Bujacz, A., & Lindfors, P. (2023). Job insecurity profiles in relation to indicators of health and well-being among faculty in Sweden. In Program and Abstract Book from the 17th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine: From Local to Global: Behavior, Climate and Health. Vancouver, BC, Canada, August 23–26, 2023.

Muller, F., Eib, C., & Bernhard-Oettel, C. (2023). How do Swedish solo-self-employed make sense of uncertainty and control when evaluating aspects of a sustainable career? Poster, 2023 European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Katowice, Poland.

Eib, C., Bernhard-Oettel, C., & Muller, F. (2023). Not so alone after all? From where do entrepreneurs get fair treatment at work – and does it matter for their well-being? Presentation in Symposium “The Challenges We Face: What Can Work and Organizational Psychologists Learn from Entrepreneurs and How can Psychology Help Entrepreneurs”, Organizer: Constanze Eib, 2023 European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Katowice, Poland.

Eib, C. (2023). Organization of symposium ‘The Challenges We Face: What Can Work and Organizational Psychologists Learn from Entrepreneurs and How can Psychology Help Entrepreneurs?’, 2023 European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, Katowice, Poland.

Tanimoto, A., Richter, A., & Lindfors, P. (2023). How do effort, reward, and their combined effects predict burnout, self-rated health, and work-family conflict among permanent and fixed-term faculty? In Book of Abstracts from the 21st European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Congress: The future is now: The changing world of work. Katowice, Poland, May 24–27, 2023.

Ström, P., Falkenberg, H., Pienaar, J., Leineweber, C., & Sverke, M. (2023). Towards sustainable jobs in retail. In Book of Abstracts from the 21st European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Congress: The future is now: The changing world of work. Katowice, Poland, May 24–27, 2023.

Sverke, M., Pienaar, J., Richter, A., Hellgren, J., Näswall, K., & Låstad, L. (2023). Moving on up now? A meta-analysis of the associations between job insecurity and career, learning, employability, and mobility outcomes. In Book of Abstracts from the 21st European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Congress: The future is now: The changing world of work. Katowice, Poland, May 24–27, 2023.

Falkenberg, H., Pienaar, J., Ström, P., & Sverke, M. (2022). Research project: Does the trade sector offer attractive workplaces? The importance of work environment factors for attitudes, behaviors and health. Poster presented at Sigtuna Meeting, Sigtuna, October 20-21 2022.

Tanimoto, A. S., Richter, A., & Lindfors, P. (2022). Contract type, psychosocial work environment factors and burnout in academia: A pre-pandemic investigation of academic employees in Sweden. European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP), Bordeaux, France.

Lindfors, P., Tanimoto, A. S., & Låstad, L. (2022). Profiling job insecurity among full-time working women and men in Sweden. European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EAOHP), Bordeaux, France.

Sverke, M. (2021). Flexibility and its implications for employment arrangements. Paper presented at the Annual workshop of the European Network of Organizational Psychologists, Paris, 11–12 June 2021.

Eib, C., Påhls Hansson, M., Eklund, S., & Bernhard-Oettel, C. (2022). Entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 pandemic: Entrepreneurial insecurity, well-being and success in a crisis. Presentation in Symposium “Labour market uncertainty and job insecurity – what can be done and for whom?”, Organizator: Claudia Bernhard-Oettel. European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology (EAWOP), Glasgow, UK.

Bernhard-Oettel, C. (2021). Hur kan anställningsformer och anställningsotrygghet i dagens arbetsliv beskrivas och undersökas? Forum för Arbetslivsforskning (FALF), Hälsosamt arbetsliv: utopi eller verklighet? Mälardalens högskola, 14–16 juni 2021. Info i DiVA

Eib, C., Hansson Påhls, M., & Bernhard-Oettel, C. (2021). Covid-19-pandemin - en tid att upptäcka nya affärsmöjligheter? Betydelsen av psykologiska resurser bland svenska företagare. Presentation i symposiet ”Arbetsmiljö och hälsa bland egenföretagare före och under COVID-19-pandemin”. Organisatör: Claudia Bernhard-Oettel, Susanna Toivanen. 2021 FALF, digital conference.

Hellgren, J., Ferré Hernandez, I., Tanimoto, A. S., & Sverke, M. (2021). Vad vet vi om fackets roll i ett föränderligt arbetsliv? Forum för Arbetslivsforskning (FALF), Hälsosamt arbetsliv: utopi eller verklighet? Mälardalens högskola, 14–16 juni 2021. Info i DiVA

Lindfors, P., & Bernhard-Oettel, C . (2021). Anställningsformer och anställningsotrygghet i ett föränderligt arbetsliv: symposium. Forum för Arbetslivsforskning (FALF), Hälsosamt arbetsliv: utopi eller verklighet? Mälardalens högskola, 14–16 juni 2021. Info i DiVA

Lindfors, P., Tanimoto, A.S., & Låstad, L. (2021). Variabler eller individer: kan individfokus ge profilerad kunskap? Forum för Arbetslivsforskning (FALF), Hälsosamt arbetsliv: utopi eller verklighet? Mälardalens högskola, 14–16 juni 2021. Info i DiVA

Låstad, L., Sverke, M., Hellgren, J., Richter, A., & Näswall, K. (2021). Anställningsotrygghet och prestation: resultat från en meta-analys. Forum för Arbetslivsforskning (FALF), Hälsosamt arbetsliv: utopi eller verklighet? Mälardalens högskola, 14–16 juni 2021. Info i DiVA

Here is a list of NOWSTARS in the media, that is articles where the program’s researchers are interviewed, seminar presentations in which NOWSTARS members participate, and other media appearances.

In the September 2021 issue of The Link, a magazine published by The Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the United Kingdom – a non profit organization, Petra Lindfors was invited to write a piece around the return to the office after the pandemic.

Read more in The Link, page 34

”Arbetsmiljöarbetet i en snabb strukturomvandling – en inkluderande strategi för att förebygga ohälsa och olycksfall”. Magnus Sverke participates in a seminar organized by the Swedish ILERA association and comments upon the governmment’s work environment strategy for the modern working life, on December 1 2020. Some of the members of NOWSTARS’ labor market reference group participate in the panel debate.

Watch the seminar on LO Play

”Oron för uppsägningar kan drabba hela arbetsplatsen”. Lena Låstad is interviewed about job insecurity in the membership magazine Ingenjören, on August 18 2020.

Read the article (in Swedish)

You can find more examples of NOWSTARS in the media on our Swedish site.

The NOWSTARS researchers are keen to supervise degree projects at the undergraduate and advanced levels. The list of degree projects is updated as such work is completed.

Algotsson, R. (spring 2023). Egenföretagares och egenanställdas välbefinnande - Vilken betydelse har finansiell osäkerhet, anställningsbarhet och socialt stöd? Masteruppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Claudia Bernhard-Oettel och Franziska Müller.

Bergstock Johansson, F., & Sander, E. (spring 2021). Lönesättningens inverkan på arbetsrelaterade attityder. En kvantitativ studie kring vilken inverkan kommunikation i lönesättningen har för arbetstrivsel och lönetillfredsställelse inom handel- och besöksnäring. Kandidatuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Helena Falkenberg.

Checa, N. (2022). Obalans mellan arbete och privatliv inom högskolesektorn: en studie om uppelvelser av obalans mellan arbete och privatliv i relation till anställnings(o)trygghet, arbetstillfredsställelse och arbetsengagemang. Självständigt arbete, avancerad nivå, Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Uppsatshandledare: Petra Lindfors & Anna S Tanimoto.

Dybeck, K., & Lindvall, A. (autumn 2022). Att arbeta övertid utan betalning: En kvalitativ studie om butiksanställdas upplevelser av att arbeta obetald övertid. Kandidatuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Helena Falkenberg.
Fulltext i DiVA

Eklund, S. (spring 2021). The struggle for success: Stressors and resources during COVID-19 among business owners in Sweden. Psykologexamensuppsats vid Uppsala Universitet. Handledare: Constanze Eib, Uppsala Universitet.

Frick, C., & Ekervhén, F. (spring 2021). Vilken betydelse har personlighet för att få ihop livspusslet? – En studie om anställda inom handel och besöksnäring. Kandidatuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Helena Falkenberg.

Green, E., & Gustavsson, J. (spring 2022). Viljan att stanna kvar på en arbetsplats: En studie om samband mellan anställdas psykologiska behov och vilja att stanna kvar på sin arbetsplats och organisationsengagemang inom handel- och besöksnäring. Kandidatuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Helena Falkenberg.
Fulltext i DiVA

Hellberg, K. (autumn 2022). Är belöningen värd ansträngningen? En kvalitativ studie om egenföretagares arbetssituation i Sverige. Psykologexamensuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Claudia Bernhard-Oettel.

Medborg, E. (2023). Utbrändhet som mediator mellan anställningsotrygghet, autonomi och sjuknärvaro bland lärare och forskare inom den svenska högskolesektorn. Självständigt arbete, avancerad nivå. Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Uppsatshandledare: Anna S Tanimoto & Petra Lindfors.

Påhls Hansson, M. (autumn 2020). Svenska företagare under Covid-19-pandemin: Betydelsen av psykologiska-, personliga- och företagsresurser för att upptäcka nya affärsmöjligheter. Kandidatuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Claudia Bernhard-Oettel och Constanze Eib, Stockholm University.

Segerbäck, J. (autumn 2022). Att forska eller inte: anställningsotrygghet bland disputerade verksamma inom akademin. Självständigt arbete, avancerad nivå (psykologexamensarbete), Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Uppsatshandledare: Petra Lindfors.

Ström, E., & Wallón, F. (spring 2023). Faktorer av betydelse för handelsanställdas val av fackligt medlemskap. Kandidatuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Magnus Sverke.

Stuart, J. (2023). A psychometric evaluation of the Scale of Work Engagement and Burnout (SWEBO) among women and men within Swedish academia. Master thesis, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University. Supervisors: Anna S Tanimoto & Petra Lindfors.

Syoufani, L. (spring 2022). Do different sources of social support moderate differently between job insecurity and individual and organizational outcome variables? Mastersuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Jacobus Pienaar.
Fulltext i DiVA

Westling, L. (2022). Osäkerhetens och ojämställdhetens långa arm: återhämtning bland kvinnor och män i högskolan. Självständigt arbete, avancerad nivå. Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Uppsatshandledare: Petra Lindfors & Anna S Tanimoto.

Zivanovic, E., & Widén Gatehag, I. (spring 2023). Integrationen av unga och nyblivna konsulter i en trepartsrelation. Kandidatuppsats vid Psykologiska institutionen, Stockholms universitet. Handledare: Franziska Müller.