Does financial hardship explain differences between belgian and south african unemployed regarding experiences of unemployment, employment commitment, and job search behaviour?
[en] 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.
Research center :
LENTIC - Laboratoire d'Études sur les Nouvelles Formes de Travail, l'Innovation et le Changement - ULiège
Disciplines :
Human resources management Social, industrial & organizational psychology
Author, co-author :
Vleugels, Wouter ; Université de Liège - ULiège > HEC Liège : UER > UER Management : Strategic and Sustainable Human Resource Management ; Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, K.U. Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Rothmann, Sebastiaan; Optentia Research Programme, North-west University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa
Griep, Yannick; Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium ; Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, K.U. Leuven, Belgium
De Witte, Hans; Optentia Research Programme, North-west University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa ; Department of Work and Organizational Psychology, K.U. Leuven, Belgium
Language :
English
Title :
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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