Research Perspectives from Job Control to Flexibility: Historical Outline, Depiction of Risks, and Implications for Future Research

Although organizational psychology has long been researching the concept of job control, there are still gaps and differences in defining job control and closely related concepts (e.g., autonomy). Advances in the development of information and communication technology (ICT) and the accompanying changes in the world of work have brought new aspects of job control into the spotlight, notably in relation to flexible work and similar concepts. While classic theories emphasize the role of job control as a resource, doubts have arisen about whether contemporary forms of high job control within flexible work environments have exclusively beneficial effects for workers. This chapter clarifies and distinguishes the popular terms of “autonomy” and “control” and considers their function within work-related sciences. It then discusses work flexibility and its link to subjectivation and indirect job control, which are mechanisms that directly counteract the beneficial effects of workers’ job control. We discuss implications for the individual, such as self-control demands and self-exploitation, and their connection to technologically enabled work