Frank Infurna, Denis Gerstorf, Nilam Ram, Gert G. Wagner, Jutta Heckhausen
Perceived control is a general-purpose mechanism for adaptation and a resource people draw upon in the face of obstacles. Little is known, however, about how control itself changes with the experience of critical life events and what the antecedents, correlates, and consequences are. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (N = 413, M Age = 41, 48% women) and examine how perceived control changes with unemployment, explore the role of sociodemographic, psychosocial, health, work, and contextual factors factors in moderating such change, and investigate whether levels of control prior to and unemployment-related control change predict unemployment-related outcomes in the years following. Results indicated that control remained, on average, relatively stable with unemployment, but there were sizeable between-person differences in such change. Women and those with less education, fewer children, and living in East Germany at the time of unemployment experienced stronger control declines. Findings also revealed that steeper unemployment-related decrements in perceived control were associated with higher risk of remaining unemployed and lower life satisfaction in the years following unemployment. We discuss possible pathways by which control facilitates adjustment to unemployment and suggest routes for further more mechanism-oriented inquiry.
Themen: Arbeit und Beschäftigung
Keywords: Sense of Control, Unemployment, German Socio-Economic Panel Study, Major Life Events, Self-Regulation
DIW-Link
Array