The Social and Psychological Impact of Unemployment

This article reviews recent studies on the social and psychological impact of unemployment. Included are the economic costs of unemployment, the impact on the family and the individual, and recommended methods for providing services.     

Unemployment, Underemployment, and Mental Health: Conceptualizing Employment Status as a Continuum

The economy is one of the most important social environments that affect well-being, and community psychologists have long studied the social costs of one key economic stressor—job loss. But economically inadequate employment has received much less research attention than unemployment in regard to mental health effects. This paper contrasts these two literatures and considers factors that might account for their differential growth including actual rates of unemployment and underemployment. Recent panel studies offer no support for another possible basis for this differential growth—the assumption that inadequate employment is more like adequate employment than unemployment. Implications of a paradigm shift from a dichotomous perspective (employment vs. unemployment) to a continuum perspective with variations of both unemployment and employment are discussed for research and prevention. Another implication is the need to expand standard labor force statistics to reflect better the degree of underemployment.     

The Effect of Unemployment on Life Satisfaction: A Cross-National Comparison Between Canada,Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States

This paper investigates the effect of unemployment on life satisfaction from a comparative perspective. It also tests whether the link between unemployment and life satisfaction is moderated or reinforced by contextual unemployment across regions within a country—either through a negative spillover or a positive social-norm effect, or both. The results suggest that noticeable non-pecuniary costs are associated with unemployment in the four countries studied. Cross-national differences also emerged in the impact of the moderating factors. Regional unemployment is a strong moderating factor of own unemployment in Canada and to a lesser extent in the United States; the effect is ambiguous in the United Kingdom and exacerbating in Germany. The results also support a negative spillover effect of regional unemployment on the employed in the United States and Germany, no spillover effect in the United Kingdom and, surprisingly, a positive overall spillover effect in Canada. Sensitivity testing further revealed that this Canadian anomaly was a phenomenon mainly in Atlantic Canada, not across the whole country.

     

Long-Term Unemployment Among Young People: The Risk of Social Exclusion

The European Union considers long-term unemployment among youth an impediment to their full integration into society. The Commission of the European Union has, therefore, supported research into the mechanisms by which youth unemployment leads to social exclusion. This paper provides a brief summary of the project's findings. These imply that theories and previous research concerning social exclusion and social support can help explain the effects of youth unemployment although the phenomena vary from country to country. Results also suggest that the construct of social exclusion leads to interventions that reduce the personal and societal costs of youth unemployment.     

CONFIANCE EXCESSIVE: CONNAISSANCES ET CROYANCES

It had already been found (Lamarche 1988; Oskamp 1965) that the overconfidence shown in answering a question increased with the number of new informations given. The objective of our research was to verify if there was a relation between that phenomenon, obtained with knowledge questions, and the evolution of confidence, in the same circumstances, when belief questions are involved. On the one hand, we presented to our subjects knowledge questions which were repeated with a growing number of clues; on the other hand, the same subjects were asked to form an impression of a person based on a list of traits presented sequentially. Using a calibration index, we were able to observe anew the growing overconfidence with knowledge questions. However, in the case of beliefs, the confidence level did not grow in the same way. We explain that result by our choice of traits. Nevertheless, there was a relation between the increase of confidence and the decrease of calibration. We think this could be the result of a lack of involvement with the belief questionnaire which is less so when answered first.     

Property rights and genetic engineering: Developing nations at risk

Eighty percent of (commercial) genetically engineered seeds (GES) are designed only to resist herbicides. Letting farmers use more chemicals, they cut labor costs. But developing nations say GES cause food shortages, unemployment, resistant weeds, and extinction of native cultivars when “volunteers” drift nearby. While GES patents are reasonable, this paper argues many patent policies are not. The paper surveys GE technology, outlines John Locke’s classic account of property rights, and argues that current patent policies must be revised to take account of Lockean ethical constraints. After answering a key objection, it provides concrete suggestions for implementing its ethical conclusions.     

The role of temporal shifts in turnover processes: it's about time

To better understand the process of organizational withdrawal, a turnover model incorporating dynamic predictors measured at 5 distinct points in time was examined by following a large occupationally and organizationally diverse sample over a 2-year period. Results demonstrated that turnover can be predicted by perceived costs of turnover, organizational commitment, and critical events measured soon after entry into the organization. Occupational unemployment rates, job satisfaction, and search for alternative jobs also become significant predictors when measured over time. Critical events predicted turnover in a manner distinct from the operation of attitudes, consistent with the unfolding model (Lee & Mitchell, 1994). The path to turnover was marked by consistently low perceived costs of turnover and satisfaction, decreases in commitment, and increases in job search over time.     

The correlates of psychological health among the Turkish unemployed: Psychological burden of financial help during unemployment

The purpose of this study is to examine the major determinants of psychological health during unemployment. With this in mind, 438 (17% female and 83% male) unemployed individuals were contacted through Turkey's State Employment Office. It was expected that the relationship between duration of unemployment and psychological wellbeing would be nonlinear. Additionally it was hypothesized that perceived social support would moderate the relationship between length of unemployment and psychological health. Further, we suggested that self‐esteem would be related to psychological health and moderate the relationship between length of unemployment and psychological health. The results supported the curvilinearity hypothesis of the relationship between unemployment duration and psychological health as measured by General Health Questionnaire. However, social support was not found to moderate the relationship between unemployment duration and psychological health. The hypothesis that self‐esteem would moderate the relationship between length of unemployment and psychological distress was not supported, although self‐esteem was a strong negative determinant of psychological distress during unemployment. Regression analysis showed that the best predictors of psychological health were self‐esteem, perceived social support and perceived adequacy of financial aid received from relatives. Interestingly, perceived adequacy of the financial aid was negatively related to psychological health. This result was contradictory with the previous literature pointing out that financial aid reduces the effects of poverty due to unemployment. The findings of this study are important since the relationship between unemployment duration and psychological health was nonlinear, indicating that relevant services should be especially careful to intervene to increase social support and self‐esteem during these critical times. The other results and limitations are discussed.     

Family problems and youth unemployment

This study attempted to determine the extent to which family and personal characteristics relate to the employment situation of adolescents. Data were drawn from the Utrecht Study of Adolescent Development (USAD), which investigated, longitudinally, a national sample of Dutch youths aged 12 to 24 years in 1991. Specifically, two waves of a sample of 955 non-school-going respondents between 18 and 27 years old were analyzed. Parental divorce, parental unemployment (only for males), low parental affective involvement, and adolescent relationship problems were related to youth unemployment, but educational career and work commitment were not. For males, parental unemployment demonstrated the strongest correlation with youth unemployment. For females, only variables in the relational domain played a role in explaining unemployment; relationship variables were also important predictors of male unemployment. The results suggest that the family factors included in this study are better predictors of youth unemployment than are the classic individual (personal) variables.     

Wellbeing at Work and the Great Recession: The Effect of Others’ Unemployment

The recent recession has generated a tremendous increase in unemployment rates in Spain. In this paper we use a very rich repeated cross-section dataset on workers’ job conditions, together with regional unemployment rates, to investigate whether peers’ unemployment affects individuals’ job satisfaction. We find that, once perceived job stability is controlled for, peers’ unemployment shows a positive effect on individuals’ wellbeing at work, greater and more precisely estimated for men and private-sector workers. The impact is highly non-linear and the greatest effect is found for unemployment rates exceeding 10 %. Interestingly, the results are robust to controlling for workforce selection.     

BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT OF CAFFEINISM: REDUCING EXCESSIVE COFFEE DRINKING

Excessive coffee drinking can have deleterious effects because of the large amounts of caffeine that are ingested. Caffeine is thought to be addicting, and prolonged and excessive use can lead to caffeinism, a condition that has serious behavioral and physiological side effects. The present study developed and evaluated a treatment program to reduce excessive daily coffee drinking to moderate and presumably safer levels. Three habitual coffee drinkers received individualized changing criterion programs that systematically and gradually reduced their daily caffeine intake. The coffee drinkers were required to self-monitor and plot their daily intake of caffeine. They received monetary prizes for not exceeding the treatment phase criteria and forfeited a portion of their pretreatment deposit when they did. Their coffee drinking decreased from almost nine cups per day (over 1100 mg of caffeine) during baseline to less than three cups per day (less than 343 mg) at the end of treatment or a reduction of 69%. The treatment effect was maintained during a 10-month follow-up, averaging a 67% reduction from baseline. The program appears to be a reasonable method of reducing and then maintaining daily caffeine intake at less harmful levels.     

EAS temperaments as predictors of unemployment in young adults: A 9-year follow-up of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

EAS temperament traits (negative emotionality, activity, sociability) are known to be associated with psychosocial adjustment. We examined whether these traits also predict unemployment in young adults. The participants (n = 1493–1893) were from the population based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. EAS temperaments were assessed three times during a 9-year period from 1992 to 2001. Unemployment status and duration of unemployment were assessed in 2001 when the participants were from 24- to 39 -year olds. Especially higher negative emotionality and lower activity were associated with greater likelihood of reporting unemployment at the end of the follow-up. Higher negative emotionality and lower sociability and lower activity predicted unemployment duration. These results suggest that temperament traits are associated with risk of unemployment.     

The Emotional Timeline of Unemployment: Anticipation,Reaction, and Adaptation

Unemployment continues to be one of the major challenges in industrialized societies. Aside from its economic and societal repercussions, questions concerning the subjective experience of unemployment have recently attracted increasing attention. Although existing studies have documented the detrimental effects of unemployment for cognitive (life satisfaction) and affective well-being, studies directly comparing these two dimensions of subjective well-being and their temporal dynamics in anticipation of and response to unemployment are absent from the literature. Using longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and applying fixed effects regressions, we investigate changes in cognitive and affective well-being prior to and after job loss. Extending previous studies, we use discrete emotion measures instead of affect balance indicators to assess affective well-being. Our results support existing findings that unemployment leads to decreases in life satisfaction and that the unemployed do not adapt towards previous levels of life satisfaction. We also find that individuals more often experience sadness and anxiety, and less often happiness when transitioning into unemployment. Importantly, changes in affective well-being are less enduring compared to the changes in life satisfaction.     

Liberal Egalitarianism and Workfare

abstract In this paper we ask whether liberal egalitarians can endorse workfare policies that require that welfare recipients should work in return for their welfare benefits. In particular, we focus on the fairness‐based case for workfare, which holds that people should be responsible for their own welfare since they would otherwise impose unfair costs on others. Two versions of the fairness‐based case are considered. The first defends workfare on the grounds that it would form part of an unemployment insurance scheme that individuals would endorse under certain hypothetical conditions that are salient for the purposes of determining just public policy. The second appeals to the notion of reciprocity in order to justify the requirement that people work for their benefits. We cast doubt on both of these arguments for workfare. Neither argument shows that the unconditional provision of welfare benefits is unjust; hence, the fairness case for workfare is inconclusive.     

Maintaining perceived control with unemployment facilitates future adjustment

Unemployment is a major challenge to individuals' development. An important personal resource to ameliorate the negative impact of unemployment may be perceived control, a general-purpose belief system. Little is known, however, about how perceived control itself changes with the experience of unemployment and what the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of such change in perceived control are in different ages. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (N = 413 who experienced unemployment and N = 413 case-matched controls; time period of data collection: 1994–1996) to examine whether perceived control changes with unemployment, explore the role of socio-demographic, psychosocial and health factors in moderating such change, and investigate whether levels of perceived control prior to unemployment and unemployment-related change in perceived control predict unemployment-related outcomes up to five years following. Results indicated that, on average, perceived control remained relatively stable with unemployment, and that younger and older workers did not differ in this regard. However, there were sizeable individual differences in change in perceived control, with women and those with fewer years of education experiencing greater unemployment-related declines in perceived control. Lower levels of perceived control prior to unemployment and steeper unemployment-related decrements in perceived control were each associated with a higher risk of remaining unemployed in the 12 months immediately following unemployment. Steeper unemployment-related declines in perceived control also predicted lower life satisfaction up to five years following. We discuss possible pathways by which perceived control may facilitate adjustment to unemployment, consider the role of perceived control for better understanding the dynamics of unemployment, and suggest routes for further more process-oriented inquiry.     

Hard times and European youth. The effect of economic insecurity on human values,social attitudes and well‐being

While economic downturns have adverse effects on young people's life chances, empirical studies examining whether and to what extent human values, social attitudes and well‐being indicators respond to sudden economic shocks are scarce. To assess the claim that human values are less affected by economic shocks than social attitudes and well‐being, two distinct yet related studies based on the European Social Survey (ESS) are conducted. The first employs a fixed effects pseudo‐panel analysis of the 2008–2014 ESS‐waves to detect whether changes over time in the socio‐demographic group's unemployment risk and national youth unemployment affect individual dispositions to varying degrees. The second study captures micro‐ and cross‐national effects in the 2010 ESS cross‐section. Unique for this set‐up is that we can test whether the findings hold for over‐time changes in youth unemployment within countries (pseudo‐panel), as well as for cross‐country differences in youth unemployment (multilevel). Both studies indicate that political trust, satisfaction with the economy and subjective well‐being are lowered by economic risk and hardship, while social trust and self‐rated health are less affected by changes in youth unemployment. Secondly, human values are immune to economic risk, underscoring that values transcend specific situations and are therefore resistant against sudden economic shocks.     

Coping With Unemployment: The Impact of Unemployment Duration and Personality on Trajectories of Life Satisfaction

Unemployment is a major life event that causes an enormous drop in people's life satisfaction. However, there is substantial variability in people's ability (or inability) to cope with the experience of unemployment. In the present study, we examined the causes of individual differences in trajectories of life satisfaction when people were faced with unemployment by taking into account the persistence of unemployment, pre‐event personality and age. Analyses were based on data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel. Using latent growth curve modelling, life satisfaction was investigated from 3 years before to 3 years after a person became unemployed in a total sample of 908 individuals. As expected, unemployment caused a substantial drop in life satisfaction that persisted for at least 3 years after the event. On average, individuals did not completely return to their previous satisfaction level. This pattern existed even for participants who re‐entered the labour market. Moreover, our results showed that variability in coping with unemployment can be explained in part by personality traits. For people with short periods of unemployment, Conscientiousness reinforced the negative effect of unemployment, whereas Extraversion softened the effect. In sum, our analyses showed that (a) the negative effect of unemployment on life satisfaction differs according to the length of the unemployment period and (b) personality partially moderates responses to unemployment over time. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Correlations for number of sunspots, unemployment rate, and suicide mortality in Japan

We studied the correlations among sunspot numbers, business cycles, and suicide mortalitites. Based on data from Japan between 1971 and 2001, a significant negative correlation between sunspot numbers and unemployment rate was found, R= -.17. The correlation between suicide mortality and unemployment rate was positive for males (R=.46) and negative for females (R =-.69). Both are statistically significant. The hypothesis that variation of sun activity may affect the economy and the unemployment rate and hence increase the male suicide mortality is raised.     

Configurations of unemployment,reemployment, and psychological well-being: A longitudinal study of unemployed individuals in Portugal

This study examined how four different configurations of unemployment and reemployment (defined by history of past unemployment and unemployment/reemployment 3 years later) related to changes in psychological well-being. The longitudinal sample consisted of 566 Portuguese men and women who were unemployed at the beginning of the study. Using true change score models, we found that individuals who reported a long period of unemployment at T1 but were reemployed at T2 showed meaningful gains in positive affect and life satisfaction compared to those who had a shorter history of unemployment and were reemployed. An examination of gender differences revealed that the women who were reemployed after a long history of unemployment showed the greatest relative gains in positive affect. We conclude by noting limitations of this research and suggesting future research to address these limitations.