Is There Any Relationship between Unemployment in Young Graduates and Psychological Resources? An Empirical Research from the Conservation of Resources Theory

Abstract

The recession suffered in the western world since 2007 has left thousands of people unemployed. One of the countries most affected by unemployment is Spain and specially its young population (34.7%). Considering this context, we try to find out the role of psychological resources, well-being, distress, and eustress, among young employed and unemployed graduates. We worked with a sample of 542 young graduates, of whom 48.3% were unemployed, and those employed held job positions related to their academic background. Our results suggest that: 1) it is somewhat likely for young recent graduates to find a job if they score high in optimism; 2) resilience, optimism, autonomy, self-efficacy, environmental mastery, and overall life satisfaction are deteriorated in unemployment youth, while negative affect is increased in this group; and 3) environmental mastery plays a fundamental role among young unemployed graduates, for its loss is related to distress while its gain is related to eustress. The results of this research are relevant with regards to the implementation of training programs that contribute to the improvement of the well-being and life quality of these unemployed individuals, therefore allowing them to be in a better position to find a job.

Keywords

• Psychological resources
• Unemployment of young graduates
• Conservation of Resources Theory