Boyce, Christopher J. and Wood, Alex M. and Daly, Michael and Sedikides, Constantine (2015) Personality change following unemployment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100 (4). pp. 991-1011. ISSN 0021-9010

Preview

Download (223kB) | Preview

Abstract

Unemployment has a strongly negative influence on well-being, but it is unclear whether it also alters basic personality traits. Whether personality changes arise through natural maturation processes or contextual/environmental factors is still a matter of debate. Unemployment, a relatively unexpected and commonly occurring life event, may shed light on the relevance of context for personality change. We examined, using a latent change model, the influence of unemployment on the five-factor model of personality in a sample of 6,769 German adults, who completed personality measures at 2 time points 4 years apart. All participants were employed at the first time point, and a subset became unemployed over the course of the study. By the second time point, participants had either remained in employment, been unemployed from 1 to 4 years, or had experienced some unemployment but become reemployed. Compared with those who had remained in employment, unemployed men and women experienced significant patterns of change in their mean levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, whereas reemployed individuals experienced limited change. The results indicate that unemployment has wider psychological implications than previously thought. In addition, the results are consistent with the view that personality changes as a function of contextual and environmental factors.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	unemployment; personality; personality change; well-being; five-factor model;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	15564
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038647
Depositing User:	Michael Daly
Date Deposited:	24 Feb 2022 11:16
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Applied Psychology
Publisher:	American Psychological Association
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads