Employment commitment and psychological well-being among unemployed men and women

This paper studies employment commitment and psychological cell-being among a random sample of 3,500 unemployed men and women in Sweden. The study obs erves which factors govern levels of employment commitment and if there are any significant differences between unemployed men and women in this respe ct. The article also discusses the importance of commitment to employment w hen analysing psychological well-being among the unemployed. As regards emp loyment commitment among both men and women, the results emphasize the psyc hosocial value of the former job, the activity level while unemployed and a ge. However, the results also indicate that age and family situation affect unemployed women's and men's levels of commitment to paid employment in di fferent ways. Further, both unemployed men and women who are strongly motiv ated to find employment for non-financial reasons have significantly higher risks of poor mental well-being than those with lower commitments to emplo yment. Finally, The results speak against the hypothesis that the high unem ployment rates among certain categories of people are mainly a result of lo w motivation to be employed.