Stigma and Mental Health in Japanese Unemployed Individuals

Abstract

An Internet-based survey was administered in Japan to compare mental health of and stigma toward unemployed individuals, workers with regular employment, and workers with irregular employment. Unemployed individuals showed higher scores for both anxiety/depression and disturbance of activities, as well as faced more stigma than did employed individuals. In addition, the factor structure of stigma that unemployed individuals have toward the unemployed was the same as that previously found for university students and employed individuals. Financial strain and stigma were the factors with the greatest influence on the mental health of unemployed individuals.

Implications of multimorbidity on healthcare utilisation and work productivity by socioeconomic groups: Cross-sectional analyses of Australia and Japan

“…Consistent with our results on multimorbidity and early retirement in Australia, a local study in Australia focused on civil servants found that older workers with chronic health conditions were less likely to work beyond 65 years of age [38]. The lack of associations between multimorbidity and early retirement in Japan may be attributed to culture and societal pressure on employers to provide employment until pension age, and stigma of early retirement and unemployment [39,40]. Another plausible explanation is that unlike Australia, subjects in Japan may delay retirement as they have an incentive scheme to work beyond retirement age and they do not have asset and income limits to pension payouts [41][42][43].…”

“…Self-reported number of sick leave days may be subject to recall error. Actual retirement age may be younger than what respondents self-report (respondents may self-report a higher age) due to social desirability bias and not accurately reporting being unemployed or having involuntary early retirement [39,40].…”

Self‐criticism and self‐reassurance as mediators between mental health attitudes and symptoms: Attitudes toward mental health problems in Japanese workers

“…Furthermore, in psychotherapy settings, shame in psychotherapists or clients can cause therapeutic rupture (Gilbert & Leahy, ); that is, deteriorations in the quality of the therapeutic relationship leading to client dissatisfaction. Among Japanese unemployed individuals, the shame of being unemployed was associated with mental health problems such as depression and anxiety (Takahashi, Morita, & Ishidu, ). Unsurprisingly, shame and shame‐based negative attitudes toward mental health problems also were predictors of mental health symptoms among U.K. students (Kotera, Green, & Sheffield, ).…”

Future Directions in the Research on Unemployment: Protean Career Orientation and Perceived Employability Against Social Disadvantage

“…(Creed and Evans, 2002 ) highlight the importance of individual differences when considering the psychological impact of unemployment. In fact, some researchers have found that jobless people hold a stronger prejudices and stigma on unemployed individuals than do employed individuals, especially regarding overall value, ability, motivation, and mental health (Takahashi et al, 2015 ).…”