Employment deprivation and personal agency during unemployment: A critical discussion of Jahoda's explanation of the psychological effects of unemployment.

Abstract

Explains the deprivation theory developed by M. Jahoda (1979; see also PA, Vol 66:13698), which is based on the central notion that what produces the psychological distress of unemployment is the deprivation of certain consequences of being employed that normally sustain well-being. Merits and criticisms of the theory are explored. The present author sketches the beginnings of an alternative to the deprivation theory, after addressing the plans and structure of unemployed behavior, the agency theory of the psychological impact of unemployment, and meta-theoretical considerations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)