Economic and Industrial Democracy 2

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Democracy
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Patterns of Contract Motives and Work Involvement in Temporary

Work: Relationships to Work-Related and General Well-Being
Claudia Bernhard-Oettel, Kerstin Isaksson and Katalin Bellaagh
Economic and Industrial Democracy 2008 29: 565
DOI: 10.1177/0143831X08096231
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Patterns of Contract Motives and Work

Involvement in Temporary Work: Relationships
to Work-Related and General Well-Being
Claudia Bernhard-Oettel
Stockholm University
Kerstin Isaksson
Mlardalen University
Katalin Bellaagh
National Board of Health and Welfare, Stockholm
Temporary work is characterized by heterogeneity, and contract motives

and work involvement are believed to differentiate temporary workers,
which may explain their divergence in terms of subjective well-being.
Applying a person-oriented approach using questionnaire data from a
sample of Swedish temporary workers (N = 184), this study identified six
patterns, characterized by distinct combinations of voluntary and involuntary contract motives and work involvement. While controlling for demographics, comparative analyses found differences between these patterns
in terms of work-related and general well-being. These findings indicate
that knowledge about temporary work and its various consequences is
enhanced by considering whole patterns instead of single variables in a
person-oriented approach.
Keywords: alternative employment, contract motives, employee well-being, person-oriented

approach, work involvement
The growth of temporary employment has been discussed as a shifting

of risks from organizations to the individual (Beck, 2000) since
being employed on a short- or fixed-term basis may imply higher
job insecurity, a loss of organizational identification and a sense of
marginalization (Guest, 2004). Therefore, temporary work has frequently been assumed to be a stressful experience that should lead
to impaired well-being. Until now, however, the empirical evidence
Economic and Industrial Democracy 2008 Department of Economic

History, Uppsala University, Sweden,
Vol. 29(4): 565591. DOI:10.1177/0143831X08096231
www.sagepublications.com
566
Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)
has been mixed (De Cuyper et al., 2008). Some studies have found
that temporary workers report poorer well-being than permanent
employees (Benavides et al., 2000; Martens et al., 1999), while other
studies report that there is no difference or even better well-being for
temporary workers as compared to permanent workers (Claes et al.,
2002; Sverke et al., 2000; Virtanen et al., 2002).
This study sought to clarify whether well-being of temporary workers
may be better understood if the heterogeneity of individuals motives
for taking on temporary contracts and their differences in individual
levels of work involvement are taken into account (e.g. Ellingson et al.,
1998; Isaksson et al., 2001; Tan and Tan, 2002). These aspects may be
of particular relevance since there is growing evidence that traditional
conceptions of the low-skilled temporary worker who prefers permanent employment are challenged by the increasing number of knowledge workers (Guest, 2004) who prefer flexibility (Marler et al., 2002)
and choose temporary work as a lifestyle (Krausz, 2000). As far as consequences are concerned, a good fit of employment to personal preferences and motivation has been found to affect job attitudes positively
(Ellingson et al., 1998; Krausz, 2000; Tan and Tan, 2002) and seems to
reduce role stress (Krausz, 2000). Furthermore, the centrality of work
in an individuals life has earlier been discussed as a possible buffer
against negative consequences of job insecurity (Sverke et al., 2002).
Surprisingly few studies, however, have closely investigated the possible effects of motives and involvement on well-being of temporary
employees. Moreover, most previous analyses have focused on the
effects of single factors (Ellingson et al., 1998; Krausz, 2000; for an
exception, see De Jong et al., in press) and thereby overlooked the possibility that workers motives for wanting temporary contracts, as well
as their willingness to be involved in their work, may interact and shape
certain patterns which may differentiate temporary workers and, subsequently, their well-being.
This study aims to add to earlier research using an individual-based
pattern approach to capture heterogeneity among temporary employees (see, for example, Bernhard and Sverke, 2003; De Jong et al., in
press; Marler et al., 2002; Silla et al., 2005). The particular contribution
of this study is twofold: it investigates patterns of individual voluntary
and involuntary contract motives in combination with work involvement
and it is one of the first to explore the links these patterns may have with
subjective well-being.
Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work
567
Contract Motives and Work Involvement in Temporary Work

Previous research on temporary workers has uncovered a plethora of
motives or reasons for taking on non-permanent employment (De Cuyper
et al., 2005). Generally, these motives can be dichotomized into voluntary vs involuntary (Ellingson et al., 1998).
Voluntary motives emphasize the advantages of flexibility from an
employees perspective. Here, family-related motives are frequently
mentioned, as the freedom and flexible time schedules of temporary
assignments might facilitate the organization of childcare or other family obligations (Tan and Tan, 2002). This has been assumed to be particularly attractive for women (Nollen, 1996). Also, temporary work is
sometimes seen as a chance to bring in an extra income (Tan and Tan,
2002) or to increase wages (Morris and Vekker, 2001). Young individuals, or individuals who recently completed education, commonly work
as temporaries while being in school or training (Bernasek and Kinnear,
1999; DiNatale, 2001), or because they want to gain work experience in different organizations and improve their skills and knowledge
(Nollen, 1996; Tan and Tan, 2002). Finally, some individuals express
a personal preference for temporary work that is motivated by a dislike for the degree of commitment involved in permanent employment
(Guest, 2004). However, labour statistics from the US and Europe reveal
that only about 30 percent of temporary workers cite predominantly
voluntary motives for seeking this form of employment (Guest, 2004).
Involuntary motives relate to circumstances in which individuals
accept temporary contracts due to lack of other, more permanent alternatives (Morris and Vekker, 2001). Such motives may be to avoid unemployment (Bellaagh and Isaksson, 1999), to use temporary employment
as a means to get back into the labour market (Tan and Tan, 2002) or
to get permanent employment (DiNatale, 2001). The motive to re-enter
the labour market has sometimes also been called the stepping-stone
motive (De Jong et al., in press). Several empirical studies in Europe
and North America reveal that a majority of temporary workers are compelled to accept whatever assignment there is in order to avoid unemployment (De Cuyper et al., 2005).
However, rather than being an either/or distinction, there is growing
evidence that both types of motives may coexist in various combinations.
Earlier studies found moderate correlations between scales capturing
voluntary and involuntary motives (Ellingson et al., 1998; Tan and Tan,
2002). A recent classification of temporary workers used three single
motives chosen on theoretical grounds to reflect involuntary, voluntary
568
and a stepping-stone motive (De Jong et al., in press). Results of this

classification show that motives can combine in several ways. One group
of involuntary temps could be distinguished from a group reporting relatively low levels on all motives, and a third group that combined involuntary and stepping-stone motives.
Associations between motives and individual characteristics such as
gender, age, education or family situation have been well documented
(see, for example, DiNatale, 2001; Wiens-Tuers and Hill, 2002), even
though the typology reported by De Jong et al. (in press) found workrelated variables (e.g. position) to be more important than sociodemographic factors (e.g. gender). In contrast, little research has paid attention
to the psychological consequences of various motives and, when it has,
it has focused on satisfaction and performance aspects (Ellingson et al.,
1998; Tan and Tan, 2002). It seems plausible, however, that choosing
temporary employment entirely on voluntary grounds may give a feeling of being in control over ones life and career (Krausz, 2000), which
is known to be associated with well-being (Marler et al., 2002). Work
stress and well-being have been analysed in two earlier studies, but here
temporary workers were divided into voluntary vs involuntary without considering that both types of motives may coexist (see, for example,
Krausz, 2000; Silla et al., 2005). Consequently, what a mix of voluntary
and involuntary motives for taking on temporary assignments implies for
subjective well-being and health remains largely unanswered.
Earlier studies on temporary workers contract preferences have combined their analyses with skill levels and wage differences (Marler et
al., 2002) or perceived employability (Silla et al., 2005) and found that
these aspects are not unrelated to each other. In this article, we suggest
that another aspect to consider in regard to voluntary and involuntary
contract motives and their relationship to subjective well-being is the
individual level of work involvement. Work involvement is defined as a
normative belief about the value of work in ones life (Kanungo, 1982:
342), which is supposed to arise as a function of past cultural conditions and socialization. The work involvement of temporary workers
has rarely been studied; however, the level of work involvement can be
expected to vary within the temporary workforce in a similar way as for
permanent workers, given the divergences in temporaries background
variables (Bernhard and Sverke, 2003). Temporary work is mostly allocated to the youngest and oldest workers; it is more typical for fairly low
or fairly highly educated individuals, and women are overrepresented
in temporary employment (OECD, 2002). Research on work involvement has found relationships between such individual factors and work
569
involvement; as for instance older workers are generally found to report

higher work commitment (Gallie et al., 1998; Isaksson, 1990), and work
involvement is positively related to educational level (Gallie et al., 1998).
Although decreasing when the dual-income earners become the norm
(Isaksson et al., 2004), gender differences also still seem to exist for
work involvement, in line with traditional values of male breadwinners
(Nswall, 2004). Thus, it is conceivable that, for example, older male
temporary workers have a higher work involvement than women of the
same age, or that work is less important for temporarily working high
school students than for temporary workers with a completed education
and high career aspirations.
The links between work involvement, temporary employment and wellbeing have scarcely been studied in previous research. One Swedish study
comparing workers at a temporary agency and on-call workers (Isaksson
et al., 2001) found that contract motives and work involvement differed
between these two employment groups. Studies of unemployed samples
have revealed that this factor is important for well-being especially in a
situation when choices are limited (Isaksson et al., 2004). For example,
it has been found that a high degree of work involvement may make it
difficult to adapt to unemployment (e.g. Warr and Jackson, 1985), which
should then have a negative impact on well-being. Drawing parallels to
these results, it may be plausible that involuntary temporary workers
with high work involvement may have difficulties coping with the threat
of unemployment that is inherent in time-limited contracts. However,
since the importance of work involvement and contract motives in relation to temporary workers well-being and distress is largely unclear, a
number of alternative hypotheses are conceivable. For example, given
that work involvement is known to influence attitudes and health positively, it might buffer against negative consequences of job insecurity
(Sverke et al., 2002), and this may particularly be the case when insecure
employment is taken involuntarily.
The Study of Patterns

Analyses of the linear associations between single variables have been
the most commonly used approach for identifying the predictors of
well-being for temporary workers. However, in these analyses questions still remain about the possible impact of combinations of factors,
including whether it is possible to have both involuntary and voluntary
motives when accepting a certain contract or whether one or the other
570
tends to be more pronounced. Second, with respect to the consequences

for well-being, it is unclear how the influence of each variable changes
when they interact. In other words, the effects of having involuntary
contract motives are unknown when they are combined with a high
level of work involvement. Moreover, most multivariate studies use a
linear statistical model assuming that the effects indeed are linear and
additive. Whether or not this is the case is rarely tested.
In this light, it is only recently that the holistic view has been reconsidered as an alternative viewpoint, which is mainly due to developments
in its content, theory and methodology (Bergman et al., 2003). In this
study, we chose to use a more holistic and multivariate approach in
order to try to account for the complex reality that individuals experience. With the individual being the entity under study (Baltes and
Nesselroade, 1979: 1), a pattern approach offers better insight into the
functioning totality that is formed by the interactions of the elements
involved (Bergman and Magnusson, 1997). Hence, the specific patterns
of elements under study become the main analytic units for an investigation of individual differences (Magnusson, 1998). This way, heterogeneity among temporary workers is accounted for by looking at patterns
of variables, rather than studying each one of the factors separately or as
interaction terms in a hierarchical system that would generally be very
difficult to interpret.
Originally the pattern approach was applied in the developmental
sciences, but even in the context of work-life studies it is now being
used more frequently. Attempting to capture the heterogeneity in the
temporary workforce, researchers have successfully identified patterns
of individual background characteristics and related divergence in attitudes and well-being (Bernhard and Sverke, 2003). Marler et al. (2002)
analysed diversity of the temporary workforce based on contract preferences and skills, but also relations to age, wages and job alternatives.
Altogether, this differentiated boundaryless workers who combined high
voluntary motives with high skills from traditional temporaries, who
were low skilled and preferring permanent employment. Rather similarly, a taxonomy of temporary workers along a two two table of the
voluntaryinvoluntary dichotomy in combination with employability has
been suggested and tested against well-being and satisfaction measures
(Silla et al., 2005). A recent classification challenges the assumption that
employment preferences are strictly voluntary vs involuntary (De Jong
et al., in press); however, here, possible outcomes in terms of health and
well-being were not investigated.
571
Aims
Overall, the aims of the present study are twofold, thereby extending
previous research in several ways. The first aim is to identify patterns
among temporary workers based on their voluntary and involuntary
contract motives and work involvement, using an individual-oriented
approach. Thus, this study goes beyond a dichotomy of a voluntary vs
involuntary dimension and includes work involvement as a variable of
relevance that has rarely been studied before in the temporary workforce.
Also, using scales on both voluntary and involuntary motives, we adopt
a broader approach capturing the variety of possible reasons for accepting certain contract conditions, which should increase reliability of the
patterns found.
The second aim is to explore how these patterns of motives and work
involvement differ on indicators of subjective work-related well-being
(moods of anxiety and depression prior to work, work-related irritation
and positive workhome interference) and general well-being (general
health and life satisfaction). The outcomes were chosen to capture proximal, work-related variables as well as more distal, individual long-term
correlates (as suggested by Sverke et al., 2002). Limited evidence exists
on the possible link between well-being, voluntary and involuntary contract motives, and work involvement, and here, this article makes another
particular contribution to add to the understanding of temporary work
and its potential implications.
Generally, earlier research guided our expectation that a high level
of voluntary motives and work involvement in combination with low
levels of involuntary contract motives would have positive associations with well-being, whereas the opposite pattern may relate to
more negative outcomes. However, largely unknown and of particular
interest in this study is whether or not contradictory combinations
(e.g. high level of involuntary motives combined with high voluntary motives and/or work involvement) carry more or fewer risks
in terms of workers well-being than generally positive or negative
combinations.
When relating different patterns to well-being indicators, possible confounding individual and work-related background characteristics such
as age, gender, education, occupation and type of employment contract
were controlled for, since they are well-researched correlates of wellbeing (Diener et al., 1999).
572
Methods
Data Collection and Sample Characteristics
The data used in this study were collected in 2004 by surveying
employees from three different sectors: manufacturing, education and
retail. During the time of data collection, unemployment rates in Sweden
were on the rise, lying a little over 5 percent while at the same time
employment growth diminished (SCB, 2004). Around 13 percent of all
employment contracts were signed on a temporary basis (SCB, 2004).
With respect to type of temporary employment, fixed-term arrangements
are most common in Sweden, followed by on-call contracts of short
duration (Bernhard-Oettel and Isaksson, 2005). In terms of data collection procedure, questionnaires were distributed at the workplace. Along
with the questionnaire, an accompanying letter explained the studys purpose and assured that participation was voluntary and responses would
be kept confidential. The completed questionnaires were either returned
to the research group in sealed envelopes or the sealed envelopes were
collected by a coordinator in the company who forwarded them to the
research group after the end of the prespecified deadline. Up to three
reminders were given to employees, resulting in an overall response rate
of 52 percent.
The final sample used for pattern analysis of motives and work
involvement comprised 184 persons, of which 174 had completed all
questions related to well-being. The respondents average age was 34
years (SD = 12.3), and slightly more women (53 percent) than men participated. Almost two out of three had an academic degree (64 percent),
and the majority lived with a partner (52 percent). About one out of
every four temporary workers in this sample (24 percent) were employed
on-call to fill short-term vacancies for a few hours or days (on very
short notice), but the majority (76 percent) had a fixed-term contract.
The average working time was 29 hours per week, and many of the
participants were white-collar workers (59 percent). Almost half of the
sample (46 percent) worked in the educational sector, one-third in the
food industry (32 percent) and only a minority (22 percent) in retail.
Measures
Table 1 presents descriptive statistics, estimates of Cronbachs alpha and
the intercorrelations of all study variables. All indices have been used
573
and validated in earlier research in different employment settings, and

in different types of contracts (see, for example, Clinton et al., 2005;
Isaksson et al., 2003). Factor analyses in this sample showed that all
measures had single-factor structures and demonstrated satisfactory reliabilities of .70 or above, except for the index of involuntary contract
motives ( = .60), which was slightly below the preferred limit, but was
kept for theoretical reasons. Unless stated otherwise, respondents were
asked to indicate their agreement on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree)
to 5 (strongly agree).
Pattern variables. Voluntary motives for temporary contract included
four items, corresponding to aspects of family, economy, self-improvement
and personal preferences that resulted in a voluntary choice of temporary
employment, and were adapted from Tan and Tan (2002). For instance,
one item read: I have a non-permanent contract because it gives me more
freedom. Involuntary motives for a temporary contract were adapted from
Tan and Tan (2002), and measured by three items capturing the difficulty
in finding permanent employment, e.g. I have a non-permanent contract
because it was the only type of contract I could get. Work involvement was
measured by three items from Kanungo (1982), e.g. The most important
things that happen to me involve work.
Work-related well-being. Two scales were chosen to indicate how
workers feel prior to going to work. The first scale, work-related anxiety,
consisted of five items (Warr, 1990), asking how often respondents had
felt, e.g. tense or uneasy before going to work in the last few weeks.
In the second scale, depressive moods prior to going to work were measured with three items of Warrs (1990) work-related depression scale
that asked how often they had felt, e.g. depressed or miserable before
going to work in the last few weeks. Furthermore, two scales were
chosen to measure how work influenced life after coming home from
work. Work-related irritation (Mohr et al., 2006) was measured by four
items regarding the thoughts and emotions associated with problems at
work, e.g. When I come home tired after work, I feel irritable. Positive
workhome interference (Wagena and Geurts, 2000) was measured by
four items, e.g. How often does it happen that you come home cheerfully after a successful day at work, positively affecting the atmosphere
at home?
General well-being. General health was measured using Wares (1999)
general health scale of five items, including, e.g. I seem to get sick a
1 Gender (1 = female)
2 Age
.13
3 Education
.22
(1 = academic)
4 Marital status
.03
(1 = cohabiting)
5 Type of contract
.10
(1 = on-call contract)
6 Weekly working
.23
hours
7 Work status
.30
(1 = white-collar
worker)
8 Sector food
.28
industry
9 Sector education
.20
10 Voluntary contract
.06
motives
11 Involuntary contract
.08
motives
12 Work involvement
.04
13 Work-related irritation .21
14 Positive workhome
.06
interference
.10
.14
.31
.41
.37
.54
.02
.08
.05
.16
.08
.01
.31
.36
.41
.59
.05
.11
.24
.03
.26
.18
.33
.13
.18
.05
.16
.02
.16
.18
.09
.13
.14
.41
.14 .02
.06
.13
.13 .14
.23 .09
.12 .29
.19 .22
.24
.00 .22
.39
.03
.34
.22
.09
.69
.16
.72
.12
.28
.19
.05
10
11
.10 .04 .01

.28 .08 .24
.24 .16. .24
.24 .12
.66
.09 .15
.01
.34
12
.08
13
14
15
TABLE 1
Correlations, Means and Standard Deviations for All Variables and -Reliabilities for All Scales (N = 174)
16
17
18
574
.09
.15
.10
.01
33.57
12.21
.39
.15
.53
.50
.18
.05
.64
.48
.09
.05
.35
.01
.52
.50
.06
.28
.15
.03
.26
.14
.24 28.99
.43 14.10
.08 .08
.11 .06
.02
.05
.59
.49
.05
.04
.37
.14
.05
.32
.47
.12
.05
.07
.06 .09
.04
.49 2.57 3.25

.50 1.03 1.09
.71 .60
.07 .02 .12

.14 .06 .06
.33 .41
-.13
2.46
.75
.71
.11
.21
.33
.04
.01
.37
2.42 3.99 4.93
.93 .74 1.24
.86 .72 .86
.14 .39 .28

.29 .40 .44
.38
2.94 2.46 2.32

1.41 .83 .82
.86 .82 .85
.37
.41
.11 .38
.55
For r .15 p .05; for r .20 p .01.

Scale range: 01 (variables 1, 35, 79 [for these variables the mean value symbolizes the proportion scoring 1]), 15 (variables 1017), 17 (variable
18), years (variables 2), hours/week (variable 6).
M
SD
15 Mood prior to work

anxiety
16 Mood prior to work
depression
17 General health
18 Life satisfaction

575
576
little easier than other people. Life satisfaction was measured using five
items of Guest and Conways (1998) scale, including, e.g. How satisfied
are you with your life in general? For each of these five items assessing
life satisfaction, respondents had to score their answer on a seven-point
scale ranging from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied).
Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the different measures of
well-being represented different latent constructs (2 (284) = 767.6,
p < .001, RMSEA = .09, GFI = .76), with the six-factor model clearly
outperforming possible alternative models specifying up to five different
factors of well-being.
Individual and work-related background variables. Age was measured in years. Weekly working hours were assessed by respondents
reporting their average working hours per week. Gender (1 = female,
0 = male), education (1 = academic, 0 = other), marital status
(1 = cohabiting, 0 = other), type of temporary contract (1 = on-call
contract, 0 = fixed-term contract) and work status (1 = white-collar
worker, 0 = blue-collar worker) were dummy variables. Two categorical
variables were constructed, representing the most frequent sectors: the
educational sector (1 = educational sector, 0 = other) and food industry
(1 = food industry, 0 = other). Financial responsibility and organizational
tenure were not included as control factors, since neither of those two
variables correlated with any of the outcome variables nor significantly
differed among the patterns of temporary workers.
Statistical Analysis
Before starting the data analysis, we tested whether the samples from
three different sectors can be clustered and analysed jointly. The test
(Boxs M = 15.29, p = .25) revealed that the variancecovariance matrices of voluntary and involuntary contract motives and work involvement
were not significantly different across sectors; thus, data from the educational sector, the food sector and the retail sector were merged.
For the purpose of identifying patterns with small within-group differences regarding contract motives and involvement, a cluster analysis
was performed using the software SLEIPNER 2.1, a statistical package for person-oriented analysis (Bergman et al., 2003). Classificatory
analysis in SLEIPNER can be performed as in other statistical packages;
however, SLEIPNER provides more detailed information about cluster
homogeneity and the overall amount of explained variance. Moreover,
577
the program facilitates preprocessing data preparation in order to ensure

that assumptions for the use of cluster analysis were met. Accordingly,
data were screened and descriptive information about the multivariate
data set was inspected with a special focus on the configuration of missing values. The imputation of missing values was performed, using a
close neighbour case to replace the missing value in an incomplete
case. Imputation was restricted to one missing value per case, and this
procedure resulted in the imputation of values in 12 cases. Finally, a
residual analysis was used to detect and delete multivariate outliers, and
two cases were omitted from further analysis.
With this complete and outlier-free data set (N = 184), cluster analysis was performed using standardized variable values and employing
WARDs method of hierarchical cluster analysis. In this procedure, each
individual initially represents a cluster, and clusters that produce the
smallest increase of the overall sum of squared within-cluster Euclidian
distances are merged at each step until all cases go together in one cluster.
Cluster analysis procedures provide no statistical stop criteria when the
best solution is found, but to obtain a manageable number of clusters
regarding the number of cases and variables of our data, the last 10 iterations were inspected. The final decision on the number of clusters was
based on the guidelines provided by Bergman et al. (2003): (1) the solution selected has to be judged theoretically meaningful; (2) a sudden drop
in the explained error sum of squares (ESS) of the solution may indicate
that too few clusters have been reached; and (3) the explained ESS for the
chosen cluster solution should preferably exceed two-thirds and minimally
50 percent of the total ESS in the one-cluster solution (Bergman, pers.
comm.). Furthermore, (4) the homogeneity coefficients for each cluster
should be inspected and, preferably, be under 1.00. A final cluster solution
based on these guidelines cannot normally be expected to be fewer than 5
and should for practical reasons not exceed 15 (Bergman et al., 2003).
In order to analyse whether the different patterns in the chosen cluster solution corresponded to differences in work-related or general wellbeing, two separate multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA)
were performed on (1) work-related and (2) general well-being, while
controlling for background characteristics. To investigate the multivariate effects in more detail, univariate F-tests were subsequently employed.
Given that the indicators of well-being in each MANCOVA correlated,
RoyBargman step down F-tests were then used to account for related
dependent variables. In this procedure, a variable that has been tested for
group differences is added to the covariates, which allows relating them
to the next dependent variable tested. The dependent variables were tested
578
in the order they are presented in Table 1. Finally, Bonferroni post hoc
tests were utilized for the investigation of between-group differences.
To ensure that the assumptions for the use of covariance analyses
were met, data were screened for multicollinearity, normality, outliers
and homogeneity of variancecovariance matrices (Boxs M test). The
results justified the use of the above-described analyses.
Results
Patterns of Voluntary and Involuntary Contract Motives and Work
Involvement
The cluster analysis results for the final 10 iterations, in terms of cluster
size (range of n), ESS (value and decrease) and homogeneity coefficients
(range and n above 1.00), are shown in Table 2.
As can be seen, the explained ESS decreased sharply when all cases
were merged into five or fewer clusters. Whereas the explained variance
is still close to the required two-thirds in the six-cluster solution, it fell
below the required absolute minimum of 50 percent in the four-cluster
solution. Two of the clusters in the six-cluster solution had a homogeneity coefficient slightly above 1.00, and this result remained the same
until all cases were merged into four clusters. Cluster sizes became
slightly more equal (range 1229) after the eight-cluster solution, before
TABLE 2
Cluster Size (Range of N), ESS (Value and Decrease) and Homogeneity Coefficients
(Range and N above 1.00) for the Last 10 Iterations
Cluster
Cluster Size
Explained ESS
Homogeneity
Coefficients
Solution
(Range n)
Value
Range
n >1.00
10 clusters
9 clusters
8 clusters
7 clusters
6 clusters
5 clusters
4 clusters
3 clusters
2 clusters
1 cluster
529
1229
1232
1248
1248
1254
12102
38102
82102
184
74.93
72.55
69.14
65.68
61.68
55.95
48.34
38.80
20.59
0
.26.90
.35.93
.351.11
.441.11
.441.12
.591.12
.591.12
1.061.76
1.062.27
2.00
0
0
1
1
2
2
3
3
2
1
Decrease
4.37
6.23
6.34
6.99
10.81
13.93
17.46
33.33
37.67
579
large differences in cluster size appeared in the four-cluster solution.

Considering all the criteria, the six-cluster solution was found to meet all
statistical criteria in the most appropriate way.
Description of the Six Different Cluster Profiles

The inspection of the cluster profiles (Figure 1) provided a meaningful
and distinct classification for the six-cluster solution, because all patterns
differed from each other in shape, magnitude, or both. The identified
patterns are described in more detail below.
Cluster 1 (n = 27): the involuntaries. The motives for working in 8
temporary employment were more often involuntary than voluntary for
individuals with this pattern. Also, they expressed a relatively low level
of work involvement.
Cluster 2 (n = 32): the balanced. Respondents with this pattern appeared to express balanced motives for taking on temporary
5
1
Vol. contract motives
C1
C2
Invol. contract motives

C3
Work involvement
C4
C5
C6
FIGURE 1
Profiles in the Six-Cluster Solution in Voluntary and Involuntary, Contract Motives
and Work Involvement
580
employment, since voluntary and involuntary contract motives were

reported equally often. Also, as compared to other patterns, the level of
work involvement was rather high.
Cluster 3 (n = 38): the accepters. Compared to all other groups,
this pattern had a shape characterized by the lowest level of involuntary
motives of all the groups, whereas both work involvement and voluntary
contract motives were higher. However, the means of both motive scales
are below the scale midpoint, expressing more of an acceptance rather
than a deliberateness regarding motives or involvement.
Cluster 4 (n = 27): the misplaced. Individuals with this pattern
signed a temporary contract largely because of involuntary contract
motives. Furthermore, they reported very low levels of voluntary contract motives and work involvement as compared to the others.
Cluster 5 (n = 12): the involved. This pattern comprised only 12
individuals, who had a rather unexpected combination of pattern variables. This pattern showed the highest level of work involvement, but
similar to the misplaced pattern, this pattern of the involved was typically characterized by involuntary temporary work.
Cluster 6 (n = 48): the indifferent. Respondents with this pattern expressed a tendency for more involuntary than voluntary contract
motives. However, these motives did not differ much, and with a magnitude close to the scale midpoint, there appears to be no clear preference.
In contrast, the level of work involvement was among the lowest of all
groups.
Comparisons on individual and work-related demographics showed differences with respect to age (F = 4.82, p < .001), type of temporary
contract (2 = 16.02, p < .01), the proportion working in the educational
sector (2 = 17.51, p < .01) and the retail sector (2 = 14.17, p < .01).
More specifically, the indifferent, the misplaced and the accepters
were on average 30 years old whereas the involved had an average age
of 46 years. The accepters and the indifferent had a higher proportion of on-call contract workers than the balanced and the misplaced,
who were mostly employed on a fixed-term basis. Most of the involved
worked in the educational sector, and the accepters had the largest share
of retail workers compared to all other clusters. No differences between
the clusters were found with respect to education or gender.
581
Differences in Work-Related and General Well-Being

The mean values of all six well-being indicators are presented and
compared in Table 3. Based on estimated marginal means, controlling
for covariates, a multivariate effect of the patterns was found in the
MANCOVAs of work-related (multivariate F[20,636] = 2.76, p < .01) and
general well-being indicators (multivariate F[10,318] = 4.11, p < .001).
When the F-tests were conducted, using the RoyBargman stepdown
procedure, the effects found in the univariate F-tests remained significant, with the exception of work-related irritation. More specifically,
significant differences were reported for mood of anxiety (F[5,161]
= 2.83, p < .05), mood of depression (F[5,160] = 2.97, p < .05), positive
workhome interference (F[5,158] = 3.35, p < .01), general health
(F[5,161] = 6.02, p < .001) and life satisfaction (F[6,160] = 2.28,
p <.05). Bonferroni post hoc tests for between-group comparisons
revealed that the indifferent reported significantly more anxiety moods
prior to work and work-related irritation than the accepters. In terms
of depressive mood prior to work, the Bonferroni comparisons failed to
reach significance. Positive workhome interference was found to be
significantly lower among the involuntaries, the misplaced and the
accepters than the balanced. The involuntaries also differed from
the involved, who reported the most positive workhome interference
among all groups. With respect to general well-being, the indifferent
reported significantly lower levels of general health than the involuntaries, the accepters or the involved, and also the misplaced showed
significantly lower general health levels than the accepters. Furthermore, the involuntaries and the indifferent appeared to report lower
levels of life satisfaction than the accepters.
Discussion
The primary aim of this study was to explore patterns of voluntary and
involuntary contract motives and work involvement among temporary
workers and to look more closely at how these patterns differentiate and
relate to well-being. This study offers some interesting new findings,
which add to the existing literature in several ways.
The pattern approach has been shown to help illustrate and clarify
the complexity that characterizes voluntary and involuntary contract
motives along with work involvement. The analyses shed some light
on the interactions that occur between individual reasons for wanting
3.98
4.17
5.14
2.54
2.17
3.04
2.92
2.22
2.55
2.78
2.19
4.57
32
27
C2
Balanced
5.51
4.31
1.96
2.28
2.28
2.21
38
4.60
3.76
2.34
2.69
2.93
2.23
27
5.04
4.51
2.25
1.96
3.01
3.01
12
C3
C4
C5
Accepters Misplaced Involved
4.68
3.64
2.57
2.64
3.44
2.52
48
3.29**
6.02***
2.83*
2.66*
3.57**
5.07***
C6
Univariate
Indifferent
F
2.28*
6.02***
2.83*
2.97*
1.61
3.35**
Stepdown
F
56; 34
13; 63
16, 36;
36
?
36
12; 15;
23; 24
Mean
Comparison
* p .05; ** p .01; *** p .001.

Covariates (age, gender, education, marital status, type of temporary contract, weekly working hours, work status, educational sector, food industry) are
evaluated at the mean values for the total sample.
Life satisfaction
N
Work-related well-being
Mood prior to work: anxiety
Mood prior to work: depression
Work-related irritation
Positive workhome
interference
General well-being
General health
C1
Involuntaries
TABLE 3
Mean Differences of Patterns in Work-Related and General Well-Being Based on Estimated Marginal Means (MANCOVA), (N = 174)
582
583
a certain contract arrangement and their general view of the role work
should play in their lives. Six subgroups could be differentiated in the
sample studied on the basis of both statistical criteria and the requirement of meaningful interpretation (see Bergman et al., 2003). None
of the groups resembled the typical free workers (Guest, 2004: 2) or
boundaryless workers (Marler et al., 2002: 425), where having a distinct preference for a temporary contract is a defining aspect. Perhaps the
balanced pattern may be seen as most similar to that of boundaryless
temporary workers, insofar as its members had relatively high levels of
voluntary contract motives. However, they reported an almost equally
high level of involuntary motives. Voluntary motives compared favourably to involuntary contract motives in only one group (the accepters);
however, the magnitude of these motives resembled an acceptance more
than true preference for temporary assignments. All other four groups
identified in the sample reported a dislike of the temporary contract, but
the magnitude of the involuntary motives, the relative difference between
involuntary and voluntary motives and the combination with high, neutral or low levels of work involvement differed, and thus, resulted in
four distinct profiles. Thus, in line with earlier studies, we conclude that
the majority of the temporary workers reported an involuntary as compared to voluntary motivation for accepting the temporary contract (De
Cuyper et al., 2005). However, our findings also revealed the existence
of patterns in which both voluntary and involuntary motives can occur
together for individuals, which is most pronounced in the balanced
group or the group of the indifferent. The findings thus add to other
recent evidence (see, for example, De Jong et al., in press; Tan and Tan,
2002) showing that contract motives may be inappropriately depicted if
they are merely categorized as either voluntary or involuntary (see, for
example, Krausz, 2000). Furthermore, it appears that work involvement
indeed seems to be a rather general construct, not necessarily guiding
contract choices. The majority of the groups expressed a low or neutral
level of work involvement, and yet they differed in their configuration
of contract motives. Also, among those with rather high work involvement, we find both a group with relatively balanced voluntary and involuntary motives (the balanced), and a small group of individuals (the
involved) who were involuntarily contracted on a temporary basis.
As in earlier typologies involving motives, we also find differences in
background characteristics, particularly with respect to age (Marler et al.,
2002; Silla et al., 2005) and work-related demographics (De Jong et al.,
in press) such as type of employment contract and sector representation.
In contrast to these studies, no differences in educational level or gender
584
existed, but since typologies were built on different input data and using
different classification techniques, an exact replication of earlier results
may perhaps not be expected.
Going beyond the scope of earlier typology tests that related temporary
workers motives to their characteristics, this study adds an important
component, since it is one of the few to empirically address the question of how certain patterns of motives and involvement relate to the
subjective well-being of temporary workers. Interestingly, comparing
the groups on work-related and general well-being showed significant
differences in five of six indicators tested. Compared to the insignificant
or rather small bivariate correlations between the variables, the contribution of the analysis of patterns becomes evident. The group labelled
the indifferent in particular, and also the misplaced to a lesser degree,
report the least favourable results with respect to both work-related and
more general indicators of well-being. In contrast, positive tendencies
were found for the group of the balanced and the involved, who
expressed most positive workhome interference, and tended to report
the lowest levels of depressive mood prior to work. In between these
clear positive or negative trends, we find two groups, the accepters and
the involuntaries, for whom conclusions are somewhat more difficult.
The accepters report favourably in terms of their general well-being
and express low levels of prior-to-work anxiety and work-related irritation. However, they are also found to be among the groups with lowest
positive workhome interference. The involuntaries report favourably
on general health, but when it comes to life satisfaction and positive
workhome interference, unfavourable results comparable to the misplaced or the indifferent are revealed. We therefore conclude that the
involuntaries seem to show more negative than positive tendencies,
whereas the accepters tend to show more positive than negative trends.
The fact that the differences in well-being reached significance when
controlling for individual and work-related background characteristics,
and when controlling for possible overlap between the well-being indicators, lends further credibility to our findings.
Taking a closer look at the shapes and magnitude of the patterns, some
interesting observations can be made in relation to well-being results.
The balanced and the indifferent have almost identical levels of involuntary contract motives, and the very same is true for the involved
and the misplaced. However, in each of these pairs, the groups in
which this involuntary choice is equalled by high work involvement
and/or voluntary contract motivation, work-related and general wellbeing reports are more favourable. This result supports the idea that
585
work involvement indeed may be a buffer factor when job insecurity

is present (see Sverke et al., 2002). Thus, work involvement seems to
counterbalance high involuntariness in contract motives rather than making adjustments to job insecurity and threat of job loss more difficult, as,
for example, parallels to unemployment research would suggest. More
evidence for the conclusion that the whole pattern matters and associates
with subjective well-being is provided when comparing the accepters
and the involuntaries. Both groups have almost identical work involvement values; however, their motive combinations mirror each other. In
terms of well-being, the group that signed the contract more voluntarily
tends to report better results.
Based on these findings, several conclusions can be drawn. First,
this study illustrates that contract motives and work involvement may
not only relate to aspects of satisfaction and performance (as has
been found previously, for example, by Ellingson et al., 1998; Tan
and Tan, 2002), but may also be particularly when their combined
effect is seen in different patterns an important key to understanding
the variations in temporary workers individual well-being. Second,
effects were found both for proximal and distal outcomes (see Sverke
et al., 2002), thus, working under circumstances that do not match an
individuals preferences and values does not only associate with unfavourable spillover directly before or after work, it also even relates to
more generalized indicators of subjective well-being. Third, for the
management of temporary workers, several points in these findings
may be of particular interest. First, managers may benefit from trying
to understand what drives their temporary workforce, and what role
these workers ascribe to work in their lives, since that may enable more
suitable motivation and guidance corresponding to individual needs,
which may be rather heterogeneous in this workforce. Also, temporary work on involuntary grounds may not necessarily imply negative
consequences for the individual and organization, as long as there is a
balance with voluntary motives or a general interest in work as such.
We furthermore feel tempted to conclude that the type of the truly
voluntary temporary worker seems to be rather the exception than the
norm. Finally, a very interesting observation of this study is that temporary work seems to be most problematic for those who ascribe work
a less central role in their lives, but may feel forced to go the extra mile
in order to ensure that their contract is renewed, or that employment
becomes permanent.
586
Methodological Considerations
There are some limitations to this study that need to be addressed, since
they may affect the conclusions that can be drawn. First, this study is
based on cross-sectional data, which unfortunately hampered causal
inferences. However, the results carry important meaning in that they
help to discover associations for which longitudinal tests are indicated.
Second, since well-being was measured with self-reported data, inferences for objective health conditions cannot be made. Third, the sample of temporary workers studied here had an average organizational
tenure of three years, which makes it possible that the respondents
contract motives no longer reflect their initial reasons for accepting
temporary work. It is also possible that the motive patterns reported
(see, for example, the balanced) are the result of a coping mechanism
to reduce cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957). Despite the difficulties involved, longitudinal studies are clearly warranted. The results
of this study indicate that the voluntary as well as involuntary motives
carry important information, but future research would benefit from an
improvement of the involuntary motive scale in terms of reliability. This
is particularly important since classificatory results can be improved
when reliable clustering variables are used as input data (Bergman
et al., 2003), a recommendation that our study as compared to many
earlier typologies involving contract motives otherwise lived up to.
Although comprising workers across different sectors, companies and
occupations, the sample is not representative. However, with a majority of involuntary temporary workers, holding a fixed-term rather than
an on-call contract, and being employed over a rather long period, this
sample fits representative Swedish temporary worker samples rather well
(see, for example, Aronsson et al., 2002; Bernhard-Oettel and Isaksson,
2005). Further research may benefit from sampling in other sectors, for
example the healthcare sector, which has one of the highest shares of
temporary contracts in Sweden (Holmlund and Storrie, 2002), and even
other temporary contract types such as self-employment or temporary
agency work to test the generalizability of our findings. Furthermore,
although the sample is limited in size, recent analyses on clustering
methods report a rather good robustness, showing that cluster centroids
align with population centroids for samples approaching about 200 individuals (Moadab, 1998). Thus, particularly for the objective to explore
typical patterns, the sample size of this study appears to be suitable.
Finally, in regard to the classification methods used for identifying patterns, we employed the statistical package SLEIPNER, which
587
was conceptualized for conducting analyses within a person-oriented

paradigm (Bergman et al., 2003). The use of this comprehensive package helped to improve the quality of our classifications, since it provided some relevant statistical criteria on the basis of which the most
reliable solution of the cluster analysis could be chosen. For example,
with a mere visual inspection of the cluster groups, one may tend to
summarize the patterns of low voluntary, high involuntary motives and
low work involvement, and indeed, in step four of the hierarchical analysis, the involuntaries, the misplaced and the indifferent converged
into one group. However, this simplification also significantly impaired
the homogeneity in this cluster, and the amount of explained variance
declined to under 50 percent. In terms of well-being, the differentiated
picture of more positive well-being for the group of the involuntaries
as compared to the other two groups disappeared, and, thus, meaningful
information had been missed. Taking this example, the strength of clear
guidelines is underlined.
Conclusion
This rather exploratory study yields some important conclusions. It
illustrates that temporary workers can be distinguished on the basis of
their individual patterns of voluntary and involuntary contract motives,
and their work involvement. More importantly, links between these patterns and subjective well-being could be established, while identifying
groups with positive trends and particular at-risk groups in this sample.
Overall, this study demonstrates the benefits of accounting for contract
motives and work involvement in relation to each other, which offers a
more holistic picture of how differences in well-being among temporary workers may emerge. Thus, these findings underscore how a pattern
approach can be utilized to bring forth a more comprehensive picture of
how well-being is affected, because it helps us to understand the meaning of seemingly opposite views (e.g. being highly involved, but under
an involuntary contract) and is able to come a bit closer to capturing the
complexity of real life. Individuals rather than just single variables were
in better view, which carries the advantage that the results may be easier
to communicate to practitioners, who can apply them to recruitment,
occupational healthcare and career coaching, for example, or even the
development of political regulations for temporary employment.
In conclusion, it may be said that future studies could also benefit
from using a person-oriented approach, since temporary work indeed
588
implies a heterogeneity that needs to be better understood (Marler et al.,

2002), especially by politicians and practitioners, who need to be kept
as informed as possible in their attempts to bring about a sustainable
working life.
Note
This research is part of the Psycones-project (PSYchological CONtracts across Employment Situations) supported by a grant from the EU, Fifth Framework Programme (HPSECT-2002-00121). Further information about the project is available at www.uv.es/~psycon
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Claudia Bernhard-Oettel
is a PhD student at the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University. Her main
research interests concern temporary work,
psychological contracts, employability,
health and well-being.
Kerstin Isaksson
is Professor of Psychology at the School
of Sustainable Development of Society
and Technology, Mlardalen University
in Vsters. Research areas are work and
organizational psychology, mainly with a
focus on social relations in the workplace,
e.g. psychological contracts.
Katalin Bellaagh
is a behavioural scientist employed at the
National Board of Health and Welfare,
which is a government agency under the
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in
Sweden. She works with methodological
issues within health and medical service
supervision.

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Patterns of Contract Motives and Work Involvement in Temporary

>> Version of Record - Oct 21, 2008

Patterns of Contract Motives and Work

National Board of Health and Welfare, Stockholm

Temporary work is characterized by heterogeneity, and contract motives

Keywords: alternative employment, contract motives, employee well-being, person-oriented

The growth of temporary employment has been discussed as a shifting

Economic and Industrial Democracy 2008 Department of Economic

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Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)

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Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

Contract Motives and Work Involvement in Temporary Work

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Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)

and a stepping-stone motive (De Jong et al., in press). Results of this

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Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

involvement; as for instance older workers are generally found to report

The Study of Patterns

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Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)

tends to be more pronounced. Second, with respect to the consequences

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Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

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Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)

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Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

and validated in earlier research in different employment settings, and

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.10 .04 .01

.49 2.57 3.25

.07 .02 .12

.14 .39 .28

2.94 2.46 2.32

For r .15 p .05; for r .20 p .01.

15 Mood prior to work

Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

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Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)

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Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

the program facilitates preprocessing data preparation in order to ensure

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Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)

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Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

large differences in cluster size appeared in the four-cluster solution.

Description of the Six Different Cluster Profiles

Invol. contract motives

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Economic and Industrial Democracy 29(4)

employment, since voluntary and involuntary contract motives were

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Bernhard-Oettel et al.: Temporary Work

Differences in Work-Related and General Well-Being

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* p .05; ** p .01; *** p .001.

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* p .05; p .01; * p .001.