Bessere Chancen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt durch soziale Netzwerke
Press Release of October 26, 2004
The question of whether unemployment will remain a brief phase in one’s career or evolve into a long-term condition depends not only on the overall economic situation—as determined by such reforms as Hartz IV—but also on the personal and social characteristics of unemployed individuals themselves. A recently released DIW Berlin study entitled “The influence of personality characteristics and social resources on the duration of unemployment”, based on empirical data from the longitudinal study Socio-economic Panel (SOEP), finds evidence of different influences of these personal and social characteristics between the former East and West German states.
The author of the study, Arne Uhlendorff, reports evidence that unemployed individuals in the West who assume that they can act relatively autonomously in determining the results of their actions have above-average chances of escaping unemployment. Individuals who hold this self-confident “control belief” have a 17% higher chance of finding a new job.
In the former East Germany, the “control belief” has no effect. Here, social capital—in the form of political and volunteer work—produces above-average chances of finding a new job. Individuals who work on a weekly basis in a club, association, or social service organization or are active politically have a 45% higher likelihood of finding work than individuals who do not engage in any such activities. In the West, social networks play no role in reemployment.
In his study, Arne Uhlendorff cites the extensive structural change in the former East Germany as one crucial reason for the differing effects in East and West. According to Arne Uhlendorff, “In the East, within the context of the new institutional framework, the individual’s career is defined by individual resources and family situation. A strong belief in one’s own capacity for achievement, however, has no effect.” In the former West Germany—a region characterized by relative social continuity and low unemployment—this same trait can have a positive effect.
Arne Uhlendorff’s study, “The influence of personality characteristics and social resources on the duration of unemployment” appeared in the “Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie”, Issue 2, 2004.
In the former East Germany, the “control belief” has no effect. Here, social capital—in the form of political and volunteer work—produces above-average chances of finding a new job. Individuals who work on a weekly basis in a club, association, or social service organization or are active politically have a 45% higher likelihood of finding work than individuals who do not engage in any such activities. In the West, social networks play no role in reemployment.
In his study, Arne Uhlendorff cites the extensive structural change in the former East Germany as one crucial reason for the differing effects in East and West. According to Arne Uhlendorff, “In the East, within the context of the new institutional framework, the individual’s career is defined by individual resources and family situation. A strong belief in one’s own capacity for achievement, however, has no effect.” In the former West Germany—a region characterized by relative social continuity and low unemployment—this same trait can have a positive effect.
Arne Uhlendorff’s study, “The influence of personality characteristics and social resources on the duration of unemployment” appeared in the “Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie”, Issue 2, 2004.
