Incongruence as an explanation for the negative mental health effects of unemployment: Meta‐analytic evidence

The present paper is concerned with the effects of incongruence between a person's level of employment commitment (measured with scales of work involvement, Protestant work ethic or similar concepts) and his or her current employment situation (employed or not employed). We hypothesize that this kind of incongruence (a) is a typical characteristic of the unemployment situation and (b) is systematically associated with diminished well‐being and mental health. Meta‐analyses of empirical data endorse both hypotheses. (a) Employed people show only marginally stronger levels of employment commitment than unemployed people (d = 0.11, equivalent to r = .05). Both groups are characterized by high mean levels of employment commitment. Therefore, unemployed people are in an incongruent situation, while employed people are not. (b) Incongruent levels of employment commitment, that is, high levels among the unemployed and low levels among the employed, are significantly associated with psychological distress (mixed symptoms of distress: r = .19; depression: r = .19; anxiety: r = .14; subjective well‐being/life satisfaction: r = .13; self‐esteem: r = .08). In sum, available cross‐sectional data clearly endorse the incongruence model. Meta‐analyses of longitudinal data, although based on small sample sizes, are also consistent with the model.