No one is safe! But who's more susceptible? Locus of control moderates pandemic perceptions' effects on job insecurity and psychosocial factors amongst MENA hospitality frontliners: a PLS-SEM approach

Protective effects of physical activity on mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has been linked with increased reports of depression, anxiety, and stress. Stay-at-home directives during the pandemic-imposed lifestyle changes, including eating and sedentary behaviors that can further undermine mental health outcomes. Physical activity is a vital component for metabolic health, as well as for mental health by serving as an active coping strategy to manage stress and promote resilience. Global reports of increased sedentary leisure behaviors have been associated with feelings of depression and anxiety, but it unclear whether the relationship between physical activity and depression or anxiety persists over time. In this longitudinal study, we investigated (i) whether physical activity at the onset of the pandemic was related to feelings of depression or anxiety over time and (ii) whether this relationship was mediated by stress appraisals during the pandemic. We surveyed 319 adults living in Canada or the United States to assess physical activity, stress appraisals, and mental health outcomes at two time points over a 6-month period. We found a reduction in leisure-time physical activity that was linked to subsequent feelings of depression. Furthermore, individuals with lower levels of physical activity were more likely to appraise their COVID-19 situation to be uncontrollable at pandemic onset and as the pandemic continued. Stress appraisals of threat and uncontrollability were also positively related to feelings of depression. Modelling these three factors together showed that appraising a situation as uncontrollable mediated the relationship between initial physical activity and subsequent depressive feelings. Although correlational, these data highlight the protective role of leisure-time physical activity against worsened mental health outcomes during periods of prolonged stress.

Job Insecurity and Intention to Quit: The Role of Psychological Distress and Resistance to Change in the UAE Hotel Industry

Hotel organizations today are in a state of constant change due to high competition, the emergence of pandemics, and cyclical economic crises. Hospitality employees are currently affected by job insecurity. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of job insecurity on intention to quit among hospitality workers, integrating the mediating effect of psychological distress and resistance to change and their mutual relationship. A total of 312 surveys were completed in four four- and five-star hotels in the UAE (Dubai and Sharjah). The SmartPLS 4 software was used to test the hypotheses in a mediation model with the bootstrapping method. The results showed that all of the direct links were positive and significant, and mediating relationships were confirmed. This study found that job insecurity predicts intention to quit through psychological distress and resistance to change acting as mediators, and these factors themselves also impact significantly on intention to quit. Resistance to change is impacted significantly by job insecurity and psychological distress, which suggests that a deeper approach to employees' resistance to change should be taken, especially when conducting performance appraisals in the hotel industry, by searching for its roots and aiming to minimize employees' intention to quit.

A Parallel Mediation Analysis on the Effects of Pandemic Accentuated Occupational Stress on Hospitality Industry Staff Turnover Intentions in COVID-19 Context

The purpose of this research was to analyze how different effects of the COVID pandemic, expressed through pandemic accentuated occupational stress, perceived job insecurity, occupational safety and health perception and perceived organizational effectiveness, may impact turnover intentions of the personnel in the hospitality industry. Our research team designed an online questionnaire which was analyzed with network analysis to depict the relationship between factors, and, then, a confirmatory factor analysis was employed to confirm the distribution of the items to the envisaged five factors. Based on a sample of 324 randomized Romanian hospitality industry staff, the results of our cross-sectional study revealed that occupational safety and health perception, perceived organizational effectiveness and perceived job insecurity in the pandemic accentuated occupational stress to indirectly and significantly impact hospitality industry staff turnover intentions (TI). The results indicated that, while the total effect of PAOS on TI was significant, the direct effect was still significant, while all three mediators remained significant predictors. Overall, mediators partially mediated the relationship between PAOS and TI, indicating that employees with low scores on occupational safety and health perception (OSHP), and perceived organizational effectiveness (POE) and high scores on perceived job insecurity (PJI) were more likely to have higher levels of TI turnover intentions.