Open AccessArticle
Underemployment, Work Needs, and Job Satisfaction: Does Social Support Matter?
Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun 55139, Türkiye
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Behav. Sci. 2024, 14(4), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14040335
Submission received: 15 February 2024 / Revised: 1 April 2024 / Accepted: 15 April 2024 / Published: 17 April 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Job-Related Stress, Burnout and Quality of Life)
Abstract
Global problems that have emerged in recent years have caused an increase in underemployment rates, especially in developing countries. Researchers emphasize that underemployment has as many negative consequences as unemployment on well-being. In order to examine the variables that may buffer these consequences, we draw on the Psychology of Working Theory to propose a model in which a mediating role of psychological needs and a moderating role of social support are assumed in the relationship between underemployment and job satisfaction. We collected and analyzed data from 459 Turkish employees (181 women and 278 men) and found that underemployment was negatively related to job satisfaction and that work needs satisfaction mediated the relationship between underemployment and job satisfaction. Further, social support moderated the relationship between subjective underemployment and job satisfaction, so it was insignificant when social support was higher. These findings provide researchers and practitioners with a different perspective on underemployment.