Self-esteem, affectivity, and deprivation: predictors of well-being in the unemployed

Abstract

[Abstract]: Theories of economic and latent deprivation have been used by many researchers to explain the deterioration in well-being typically experienced by unemployed individuals. Using a new scale, this study looks at how well deprivation of the latent benefits of employment (i.e., Time Structure, Social Contact, Collective Purpose, Enforced Activity, and Status) predicts psychological distress after other key predictors have been controlled. A standard multiple regression found that the latent benefits accounted for a significant 14 per cent of the variance in distress, as measured by the GHQ-12, but only Time Structure emerged as a significant unique predictor of distress. After controlling for Self-Esteem, PA, NA, Satisfaction with Employment Status, Employment Commitment, and Financial Strain in a hierarchical regression, the latent benefits were unable to significantly predict well-being. These results cast some doubt over the role of latent deprivation as proposed by Jahoda (1982) and suggest that it could play a more indirect role in the prediction of well-being.