Effect of unemployment on psychological well-being, personality traits, and social abilities
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Increased depressed symptoms and unemployment have a well-established relationship. Regarding this association's nature, there is some uncertainty, nevertheless. The current pilot study aims to thoroughly characterize respondents who are unemployed and carefully match them with those who are employed. An experimental behavioural paradigm was used to gauge their level of social and communicative abilities in addition to depression symptoms and personality traits. A complex, standardized challenge setting that necessitates social and communication abilities for a successful resolution is made up of the experimental group paradigm. An individual behavioural analysis based on videos came next. Those who were unemployed exhibited more depressive symptoms than those who were employed, as one might expect, but they did not exhibit higher levels of vulnerable personality features. Social and communicative skills did not change between employed and jobless respondents; nonetheless, these abilities were significantly linked with depression levels. Unemployment is a significant stressor that affects mental health. The lack of vulnerability features and skill gaps shows that depressive disorders result in unemployment rather than being the cause of it. Social abilities cannot stop depression symptoms that arise from unemployment. The dataset included 30 adult males with 15 employed and 15 unemployed respondents who were matched based on age, education, and cognitive level. The research also notes the importance of separating the vulnerabilities that are there before the unemployment and the psychological impact of unemployment and there is no reason to believe that depression caused by unemployment is invariably caused by lack of personality or lack of social skills. A combination of an experimental behavioural paradigm and a video-based analysis enhances the precision of the methods that allow the interactional capacities to be evaluated in detail. Results have shown that the interventions must be focused on regulating the psychological impacts of unemployment instead of presupposing the absence of communication or personality drawbacks. Another indication that this relationship is complex in this study is that unemployment does not worsen social abilities, rather it enhances depression. The findings provide a platform on which to improve therapeutic interventions and policies to reduce the mental health risks of unemployment.
Authors: Sathish S. Kumar, Tarang Bhatnagar, Prateek Garg, Angad Tiwary, Yavana S. Rani, Praveen Kumar Tomar
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4414814714