Age, Gender, Psychological Wellbeing and the Impact of Losing the Latent and Manifest Benefits of Employment in Unemployed People
Abstract
Three hundred and eighty-six unemployed adults were administered surveys measuring well-being, the latent (social support, activity, collective purpose, time structure, status) and manifest (financial strain) benefits of employment, and neuroticism. Participants were divided into three groups: 142 'young' (18-24.9 years), 125 'middle-aged' (25-34.9) and 119 'mature-aged' unemployed (aged 35-55 years). It was hypothesised that age and gender effects would be found for well-being, that these would be associated with differences in access to the latent and manifest benefits of employment, and the manifest and latent benefits ...
View more >Three hundred and eighty-six unemployed adults were administered surveys measuring well-being, the latent (social support, activity, collective purpose, time structure, status) and manifest (financial strain) benefits of employment, and neuroticism. Participants were divided into three groups: 142 'young' (18-24.9 years), 125 'middle-aged' (25-34.9) and 119 'mature-aged' unemployed (aged 35-55 years). It was hypothesised that age and gender effects would be found for well-being, that these would be associated with differences in access to the latent and manifest benefits of employment, and the manifest and latent benefits would interact in predicting well-being. No gender main effects were found. The young unemployed reported higher well-being, more social support, and higher status than the mature group, and less time structure and higher status than the middle-aged group. No differences were identified between the middle-aged and mature unemployed. Neuroticism was the most important individual predictor of well-being for all age groups, but particularly for the mature group. Financial strain was a significant predictor in the young and middle-aged groups, and the social support by financial strain interaction was a significant predictor in the young group. Results are discussed in the context of specific models of unemployment and well-being.
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View more >Three hundred and eighty-six unemployed adults were administered surveys measuring well-being, the latent (social support, activity, collective purpose, time structure, status) and manifest (financial strain) benefits of employment, and neuroticism. Participants were divided into three groups: 142 'young' (18-24.9 years), 125 'middle-aged' (25-34.9) and 119 'mature-aged' unemployed (aged 35-55 years). It was hypothesised that age and gender effects would be found for well-being, that these would be associated with differences in access to the latent and manifest benefits of employment, and the manifest and latent benefits would interact in predicting well-being. No gender main effects were found. The young unemployed reported higher well-being, more social support, and higher status than the mature group, and less time structure and higher status than the middle-aged group. No differences were identified between the middle-aged and mature unemployed. Neuroticism was the most important individual predictor of well-being for all age groups, but particularly for the mature group. Financial strain was a significant predictor in the young and middle-aged groups, and the social support by financial strain interaction was a significant predictor in the young group. Results are discussed in the context of specific models of unemployment and well-being.
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Journal Title
Australian Journal of Psychology
Volume
55
Issue
2
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2003 Australian Psychological Society. This is the author-manuscript version of the paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal link for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Cognitive and computational psychology