After the first layoff I experienced, I went through 3 more within the next few years (I was a survivor each time, but that still took its toll). Because this was so commonplace at the companies I worked at, what I found is that it took me years before I was really ever comfortable, anywhere. I kept few personal items at my desk, so that it wouldn’t feel like it was really ever mine — I knew how fast things could change.

This behavior is different than the one you mention, but I think it’s part of the same type of defensive thinking we adopt when we’ve experienced that sort of trauma.