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AGE DIFFERENCES IN COPING WITH JOB LOSSUsing a national sample of unemployed workers from a range of ages, this study investigated the experience of coping with the stressor of involuntary job loss from an aging perspective. Based on previous research, it was expected that the process of coping with involuntary job loss would differ across the life-span as older workers face unique additional stressors. This study tested:(1) whether older unemployed workers cognitively appraised the loss of their jobs more negatively than younger unemployed workers, (2) whether the use of action-oriented problemfocused job loss coping strategies was stable across age, while the use of distress-reducing emotion-focused job loss coping strategies increased with age, and (3) whether the higher use of emotion-focused job loss coping strategies was positively related to subjective well-being and life satisfaction for older adults. Results indicated that cognitive appraisal of involuntary job loss was perceived as more intense and less reversible as age increased, but age was not related to use of coping strategies and the outcomes of well-being and life satisfaction. This study reviewed and integrated job loss and aging literature. Findings are pertinent for the policies of downsizing organizations, the counseling provided by mental health professions, and the coping of unemployed workers of all ages.

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in terms of occupational injuries, illnesses, and deaths. Agricultural safety training, injury prevention programs, and safety regulations lag behind other comparable industries. The present study involved a macro-ergonomic approach to understand and improve safety climate on Colorado farms. Safety climate was defined as the perceptions of employees regarding the way safety was managed, and the subsequent safety behaviors that employees tend to engage in. Using a sample of Colorado corn farmers, the first two phases of this study utilized survey and interview data to establish that safety climate was important and valued, but required better safety training implementation. The study's final phase developed, implemented, and evaluated an educational safety seminar focusing on the application of safety climate. By integrating macro-ergonomic methods with the psychological construct of safety climate, this study cultivated safer work practices in agriculture.

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