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Assoc Prof Vivien Lim is with the Department of Management and Organisation.

She has published articles in internationally refereed academic journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior and Human Relations. Her research interests focus on cyberloafing and cyber incivility at the workplace, job loss and job insecurity, workplace deviance, money attitudes and workplace health.

She has won numerous research awards and recognition for her papers on managing HIV at the workplace, cyberloafing and job insecurity. She also received Faculty Recognition for Excellence as an Outstanding Researcher in Dec 2006, and won several teaching awards such as the Departmental Outstanding Educator Awards and Dean's Commendation for Teaching Excellence.

Assoc Prof Vivien Lim received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh and she can be contacted here .

 

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Given the current worldwide recession, where unemployment is expected to reach an unprecedented high, this study by Professor Vivien Lim and her student, Sng Qing Si is especially relevant. Based on a survey among 185 youths and their parents, Prof Lim studied the effects of job insecurity on a range of issues including anxiety in both parents and children, motives for earning money and motivation to work.

The spillover theory suggests that an employee's work experiences can carry over into the home and vice versa. Job insecurity has been found to be a work stressor that arouses much stress, strain and other negative feelings such as hostility and social withdrawal.

The Findings

  Paternal job insecurity was associated with paternal money anxiety.
In Asia, where men are often socialized to be breadwinners, work has become a salient part of a father's life. Hence, potential inability to provide for the family may prove more challenging for fathers, leading to more anxiety over monetary issues.

  Maternal job insecurity was not associated with maternal money anxiety. A mother's employment and income may be treated as secondary and supplemental. Her job insecurity has less effect on her money concerns.

  Parental feelings of distress, concerns and worries about money matters crossover to affect their children.
When youths perceive their parents to have some sort of money anxiety arising from fear of losing their jobs, they develop feelings of insecurity and feel anxious about money matters.

  Such experiences of money anxiety encourage youths to be driven with social motives for money.
Youths who experience money anxiety are likely to place a greater emphasis on money matters relative to other aspects of their lives. Money occupies a central position in their value system, but more for social reasons.

  Youths with money anxiety tend to work for money rather than for work itself.
Such youths view work merely as a means to an end. Hence, youths exposed to parental unemployment may manifest negative work values and attitudes.

This study was based only on dual-income families, with an average annual family income of S$70,000. The average age of the youths was 20, while the average age of their fathers was 51 and their mothers 48.