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Does financial hardship explain differences between belgian and south african unemployed regarding experiences of unemployment, employment commitment, and job search behaviour?

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Version 1 2019-04-10, 15:14
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-18, 14:16 authored by W Vleugels, S Rothmann, Y Griep, H De Witte
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Belgian and South African unemployed differed regarding three psychological dimensions of unemployment: affect (experiences of unemployment), attitudes (employment commitment), and behaviour (job search intensity). Moreover, we expected country of residence to indirectly influence unemployed people's experiences, employment commitment, and job search intensity via financial hardship. A cross-sectional survey design was used to test our hypotheses. Data were sampled from unemployed people in the Brussels area in Belgium (N = 305), and the Potchefstroom area in South Africa (N = 381). The results indicated that, compared to the Belgian unemployed, the South African unemployed experienced their unemployment as more negative, were more committed towards employment and more intensively searched for work. Moreover, country of residence indirectly influenced unemployed people's experiences, employment commitment, and job search intensity via financial hardship. Some policy recommendations are suggested.

History

Journal

Psychologica Belgica

Volume

53

Pagination

75-95

Location

Leuven, Belgium

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

0033-2879

eISSN

2054-670X

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article, C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Issue

2

Publisher

Psychologica Belgica

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