The restorative effect of work after unemployment: An intraindividual analysis of subjective well-being recovery through reemployment

Previous research shows that unemployment has lasting detrimental effects on individuals' subjective well-being. However, the issue of how well-being evolves after individuals switch back into the labor force has received little theoretical and empirical attention. This study examines the exten...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of applied psychology Vol. 104; no. 9; p. 1195
Main Authors Zhou, Ying, Zou, Min, Woods, Stephen A, Wu, Chia-Huei
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.09.2019
Subjects
Adolescent
Adult
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Personal Satisfaction
Return to Work - psychology
Unemployment - psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:Previous research shows that unemployment has lasting detrimental effects on individuals' subjective well-being. However, the issue of how well-being evolves after individuals switch back into the labor force has received little theoretical and empirical attention. This study examines the extent to which reemployment restores individuals' subjective well-being following a period of unemployment. Applying fixed effects models to the large-scale longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey, we find that recovery of subjective well-being upon reemployment is fast, complete and enduring, even when individuals take less favorable employment options to return to work. By contrast, transitions into economic inactivity following unemployment are accompanied by persistent scars on subsequent well-being trajectories. This study advances our understanding of well-being development over the entire employment-unemployment-reemployment cycle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
ISSN:1939-1854
DOI:10.1037/apl0000393