The effects of unemployment on social and political attitudes
Description
In recent years, there have been many studies of the relationship between unemployment and psychological distress. Nevertheless, it is still true today, as Hyman pointed out in 1979, that there is little study of the social impacts of unemployment. This research is an attempt to remedy that deficiency by analyzing the impacts of unemployment on social and political attitudes. Past literature provides inconclusive evidence that experience with unemployment does (or does not) influence social and political attitudes. There is also inconclusive reason to believe that any effect will vary by status In this research, the expectation is that unemployment will influence social and political attitudes net of gender, education, race, prestige and age. A further expectation is that any change in attitudes will be in the direction of best interest of the unemployed. This research also examines the usefulness of expanding the dichotomy of employment status. Finally, this research considers whether the impacts of unemployment vary by status There are two sets of data analyzed in this study. First are data collected by Schlozman and Verba (1979). The reason for the use of this data set is that Schlozman and Verba maintain that unemployment does not affect certain kinds of social attitudes. A second data set used is the General Social Survey (1972-1991). This data set is analyzed because of the multitude of potential dependent variables available in it, as well as its greater representativeness The results support the idea that unemployment affects social and political attitudes net of gender, education, race, prestige and age. The unemployed, more than the employed, favor government activism in solving problems. Nevertheless, the unemployed show greater distrust of government, people who run societal institutions and people in general. As far as best interest can be ascertained, the unemployed respond in that direction. This research finds limited support for status by employment effect interactions. Finally, the analyses support the idea of considering employment status as a polytomous variable. The presently employed but previously unemployed, those who fear they will lose a job, and those with friends who are unemployed all show similar effects of unemployment