Investigating the Impact of Social Support, Job Insecurity, and Role Strain on Workplace Anxiety with Emotional Regulation as a Mediator

Abstract

In contemporary workplaces, psychological strain increasingly undermines employee vitality, yet the interplay of relational resources and structural stressors in emerging economies is still poorly understood. Guided by the Job Demands–Resources and Conservation of Resources perspectives, the present paper investigates how perceived social support, job insecurity and role strain shape employees’ workplace anxiety through their influence on emotional regulation. The quantitative, theory-driven design ensured conceptual clarity. A cross-sectional survey was administered to full-time Pakistani employees from diverse service and manufacturing organizations, and the dataset was analyzed with structural equation modelling supported by rigorous validity checks. The theoretical model posits that supportive interactions function as replenishing resources, whereas insecurity and ambiguous roles operate as energy-depleting demands; emotional regulation is framed as a personal resource that channels these environmental forces into felt anxiety. Empirical testing confirmed the model: higher support corresponded with lower anxiety, while insecurity and role strain corresponded with greater anxiety, and each path was partially routed through employees’ capacity to regulate emotions. The study advances occupational health theory by integrating interpersonal, structural and intrapersonal factors into a single explanatory chain, thereby moving beyond siloed accounts of stress.