Profiling the unemployed from selected communities in South Africa based on their experiences, commitment to employment, and job search behaviour

Abstract

Unemployment has negative consequences for individuals’ psychological well-being. Consequently, interventions should be designed and implemented to alleviate the psychological burden of unemployment. The design of these interventions should, however, be approached with care, as ‘the unemployed’ may not be a homogeneous group. The aim of the study was to determine whether the four already identified (the optimists, the desperate, the discouraged, and the adapted) South African unemployment profiles could be replicated in other unemployed communities in South Africa. The study also aimed to examine the associations between these profiles and negative emotions and basic psychological need frustration. To establish the replicability of the types, a multiphased sampling design was followed to recruit 867 unemployed people residing in Boipatong and Orange Farm in the Gauteng Province in South Africa. Through latent profile analysis, the study replicated the four profiles: the optimists, the desperate, the discouraged, and the adapted. The profiles were differentially associated with negative emotions and psychological need frustration, further attesting to the validity of the profiles. The results of the study can be applied towards creating tailored interventions for the different types of unemployed people from South African communities to enhance the efficacy of these interventions.

Motivational Profiles in Unemployment: A Self-Determination Perspective

“…The motivated, furthermore, reported (the most) positive affective experiences, whereas, the ambivalent reported the least positive experiences. Experiencing unemployment as both negative and positive may be unusual, but is not entirely uncommon [see (24,25)]. Again, our findings showed the detrimental effect of perceiving the environment as constraining while being motivated to find a job.…”

“…As the opposite of the ambivalent group, this finding confirmed that even in the absence of barriers (resulting in amotivation), some unemployed individuals might still not be motivated to search for a job. It might be that these individuals had adapted to unemployment (24,25) and/or had withdrawn from the labor market (67,68).…”

“…The unemployed may have many negative affective experiences such as little social contact with people outside their immediate family, loss of their social identity, having no shared purpose, and the absence of a daily time structure and participation in regular activities (23). However, some unemployed may also have positive experiences, such as enjoying the extra time they spend with significant others or feeling more relaxed (24,25). To fully understand how unemployed individuals with divergent motivational profiles differ in their experience of unemployment, we included both negative and positive experiences.…”

Employment Education and Psychological Work of Students in Lower Colleges and Universities Based on the Hierarchical Analysis Method

“…"Internet+" integrates the Internet with traditional industries in-depth and creates a new development ecology by utilizing various information and communication technologies as well as through a variety of Internet platforms, which has six characteristics, such as cross-border integration, innovation-driven, reshaping structure, respecting life, open ecology, and connecting everything [1][2][3]. The era of "Internet+" not only profoundly affects the development of national society and economy but also brings great challenges and opportunities to the employment of college students [4].…”

“…Nanhui Gong and Bosen Yang. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences, 9(1) (2024)[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] …”