Youth unemployment and job-seeking behaviour in Europe

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

“…Due to the kind of methodology used, less optimistic individuals could be thought to be so because of the lack of employment. However, in Spain, where structural problems play an important role in unemployment (Álvaro & Garrido, 2005;Felgueroso, 2012;Garrido, 2012;Moreno, 2012Moreno, , 2015, a four-month period for finding a job is not enough to modify a relatively stable variable like optimism. Although optimism could be dispositional or state, in this study we refer to it as the first, thus, as the positive expectation about life and events, and the generalized tendency to expect good things to happen (Scheier & Carver,1987).…”

“…The first one is the value attributed to the family and the constant support source it provides. As Álvaro and Garrido (2005) remark, one of the characteristics that distinguish the context of unemployment for young people in Spain is the social and economic welfare provided by family. Considering this, family support would alleviate the loss of resources under Hobfoll's (2002) COR theory.…”

“…In relation to the first question, young graduates most often live with their parents -the average emancipation age being 28.9, as reported by Eurostat (www.ec.europa.eu/eurostat). This group possesses social support for job searching and bears no economic pressure -as opposed to older unemployed individuals (Álvaro & Garrido, 2005). Therefore, a decrement in these resources would not be expected to take place (Hobfoll, 2002), although a loss of other resources (i.e., psychological resources) might be experienced.…”

“…Therefore, and albeit with a difficult scenario, a number of young graduates find jobs related to their training soon after graduating. Independently of variables such as macroeconomic situation, labor market, type of degree, networking, or family support, which obviously play an important role in youth unemployment (Álvaro & Garrido, 2005;Felgueroso, 2012;Garrido, 2012;Moreno, 2012Moreno, , 2015, we believe that individual differences, such as psychological resources of those recently graduated, could play a determining role in allowing these young graduates to find a job. Following the approach of the Conservation of Resources theory (COR theory) proposed by Hobfoll (1989), this type of resources would be positively influential in job search and appraisal.…”