Attributions of causes for unemployment by unemployed workers

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Abstract

This study investigated the assignment of causes for unemployment by unemployed workers, with a view to analyzing the predictive power of sociodemographic variables for the assignment. A scale of causal attribution of unemployment, originally developed by Furnham, was applied to 376 unemployed people. After confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the scale factors were used in a regression model containing sociodemographic variables as predictors. The CFA results support Furnham’s original three-factor model of unemployment causes (individualistic, societal, and fatalistic; χ 2 (100)=261.53, p<0.001; χ2/gl=2.61; CFI=0.91, TLI=0.90; RMSEA=0.06). Regression analysis identified significant prediction for only the income variable and individualistic causes factor (β=0.15, p<0.01), the income variable and societal causes factor (β=0.10, p<0.001), and the educational level variable and societal causes factor (β=-0.15, p<0.01). Societal causes presented the highest average score, which was significantly (p<0.001) different than the scores for the other two factors. The study concludes that educational level does not seem to have a linear impact on beliefs regarding the causes for unemployment, nor does gender have a significant influence on these beliefs. Palavras-chave: Unemployment, Attributing causes, Furnham’s scale. The importance of understanding socioeconomic and psychological factors related to unemployment has grown throughout the world, particularly since the global financial crisis of 2007. Eurostat (February 2014) reported EU unemployment rates above 10% – for example, in Spain (25.6%), France (10.4%), Italy (13.0%), and Portugal (15.3%). Brazil has had similar unemployment rates, such as 18.7% according to DIEESE (2006), and only recently has Brazil managed to reduce and stabilize unemployment rates around 10% (Figure 1). Two of the ways in which unemployment causes damage to a society are the permanent loss of human capital in the medium and long term, especially for the young, and the negative impact on people’s health and well-being (Choudhry, Marelli, & Signorelli, 2013). With regard to the former, the International Labor Organization special report on Trends in Global Employment 2013 stated that globally, 197 million people were unemployed in 2012, and that young people were especially prominent among the groups most affected by the financial crises (International Labour Organization [ILO], 2013). People with little work experience and less developed skills, as is the case with young people, offer a lower human capital than adult workers and are thus more vulnerable. With regard to the negative impacts of unemployment on health and well-being, Boyce, Wood, Daly, and Sedikides (in press) conducted a longitudinal study of employment, following the occupational history of more than 6,000 people, and they found strong evidence that the unemployment experience is associated with personality changes, with repercussions for ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.