Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Emotional Timeline of Unemployment: Anticipation, Reaction, and Adaptation

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Unemployment continues to be one of the major challenges in industrialized societies. Aside from its economic and societal repercussions, questions concerning the subjective experience of unemployment have recently attracted increasing attention. Although existing studies have documented the detrimental effects of unemployment for cognitive (life satisfaction) and affective well-being, studies directly comparing these two dimensions of subjective well-being and their temporal dynamics in anticipation of and response to unemployment are absent from the literature. Using longitudinal data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and applying fixed effects regressions, we investigate changes in cognitive and affective well-being prior to and after job loss. Extending previous studies, we use discrete emotion measures instead of affect balance indicators to assess affective well-being. Our results support existing findings that unemployment leads to decreases in life satisfaction and that the unemployed do not adapt towards previous levels of life satisfaction. We also find that individuals more often experience sadness and anxiety, and less often happiness when transitioning into unemployment. Importantly, changes in affective well-being are less enduring compared to the changes in life satisfaction.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In addition to cognitive and affective components, some have highlighted the “eudaimonic” aspects as an alternative to the “hedonic approaches” of SWB that represent the functioning and realization of the individual’s potential (Deci and Ryan 2008; Ryan and Deci 2001; OECD 2013).

  2. Whereas Clark (2003) and Clark and Georgellis (2013) use the GHQ-12 measure, which mainly assesses the frequency of experiencing specific negative feelings, Krueger and Mueller (2011) investigate the impact of job loss on the frequency of positive (happy) and negative emotions (sad, stressed) separately.

  3. Set-point theory has been developed in a cumulated fashion from different theories (for an extended overview see Headey 2010). Therefore, set-point theory, as it is known today, has been labelled differently over time.

  4. It is worth mentioning, however, that this method has recently been introduced in the SOEP Innovation Sample, although the data are not yet available; for details, see http://www.europeansurveyresearch.org/conference/programme2015?sess=176#372.

  5. As a robustness check, we also ran our analyses including household income as an explanatory variable. Although the unemployment coefficients became smaller, the overall results did not change substantially.

References

  • Allison, P. D. (1994). Using panel data to estimate the effects of events. Sociological Methods & Research, 23, 174–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allison, P. D. (2009). Fixed effects regression models. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Andreß, H.-J., Golsch, K., & Schmidt, A. W. (2013). Applied panel data analysis for economic and social surveys. Berlin: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Boarini, R., Comola, M., Smith, C., Manchin, R., & De Keulenaer, F. (2012). What makes for a better life? The determinants of subjective well-being in OECD countries: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll. Ressource document. OECD Statistics Working Papers, 2012/03. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k9b9ltjm937-en. Accessed 21 May 2012.

  • Boyce, C. J., Wood, A. M., Daly, M., & Sedikides, C. (2015). Personality change following unemployment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(4), 991–1011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brand, J. E. (2015). The far-reaching impact of job loss and unemployment. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 1.1–1.17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brickman, P., & Campbell, D. T. (1971). Hedonic relativism and planning the good society. In M. H. Appley (Ed.), Adaptation level theory. A symposium (pp. 287–302). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brickman, P., Coates, D., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1978). Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(8), 917–927.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruni, L., & Porta, P. L. (2007). Introduction. In L. Bruni & P. L. Porta (Eds.), Handbook on the economics of happiness (pp. xi–xxxvii). Cheltenham, UK: Elgar.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Catalano, R. (1991). The health effects of economic insecurity. American Journal of Public Health, 81(9), 1148–1152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H.-T., Marks, M. R., & Bersani, C. A. (1994). Unemployment classifications and subjective well-being. The Sociological Review, 42(1), 62–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. E. (2003). Unemployment as a social norm: Psychological evidence from panel data. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2), 323–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. E., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y., & Lucas, R. E. (2008). Lags and leads in life satisfaction: A test of the baseline hypothesis. The Economic Journal, 118(529), F222–F243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. E., & Georgellis, Y. (2013). Back to baseline in Britain: Adaptation in the British household panel survey. Economica, 80, 496–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Sanfey, P. (2001). Scarring: The psychological impact of past unemployment. Economica, 68, 221–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1980). Influence of extraversion and neuroticism on subjective well-being: Happy and unhappy people. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38, 668–678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., & Delaney, L. (2013). The scarring effect of unemployment throughout adulthood on psychological distress at age of 50: Estimates controlling for early adulthood distress and childhood psychological factors. Social Science and Medicine, 80, 19–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davern, M. T., Cummins, R. A., & Stokes, M. A. (2007). Subjective wellbeing as an affective-cognitive construct. Journal of Happiness Studies, 8(4), 429–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Hedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being. An introduction. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 1–11.

  • DeFrank, R. S., & Ivancevich, J. M. (1986). Job loss: An individual level review and model. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 28(1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Destatis (2015). Arbeitsmarktstatistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Code 13211-0012). https://www-genesis.destatis.de. Accessed 11 November 2015.

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1994). Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 31, 103–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (2006). Guidelines for national indicators of subjective well-being and Ill-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7(4), 397–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Lucas, R. E., & Scollon, C. N. (2006). Beyond the hedonic treadmill: Revising the adaptation theory of well-being. American Psychologist, 61, 305–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Oishi, S., & Lucas, R. E. (2015). National accounts of subjective well-being. American Psychologist, 70(3), 234–242.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Scollon, C. N., & Lucas, R. E. (2004). The evolving concept of subjective well-being: The multifaceted nature of happiness. Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology, 15, 187–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dooley, D., Fielding, J., & Levi, L. (1996). Health and unemployment. Annual Review of Public Health, 17, 449–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. (2004). The economics of happiness. Daedalus, 133(2), 26–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., & Frijters, P. (2004). How important is methodology for the estimates of the determinants of happiness? The Economic Journal, 114(497), 641–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, J. (2009). Subjective well-being as welfare measure: Concepts and methodology. MPRA Paper: University Library of Munich. 16619.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S. (2008). Happiness: A revolution in economics. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Frijters, P., Johnston, D. W., & Shields, M. A. (2011). Life satisfaction dynamics with quarterly life event data. Journal of Economics, 113(1), 190–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fujita, F., & Diener, E. (2005). Life satisfaction set point: Stability and change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 158–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerlach, K., & Stephan, G. (1996). A paper on unhappiness and unemployment in Germany. Economics Letter, 52, 325–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goebel, J. (2015). SOEP 2013—Documentation on biography and life history data for SOEP v30. SOEP Survey Papers 266: Series D. Berlin: DIW/SOEP.

  • Headey, B. (2010). The set point theory of well-being has serious flaws: On the eve of a scientific revolution. Social Indicators Research, 97, 7–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., Muffels, R., & Wagner, G. G. (2010). Long-running German panel survey shows that personal and economic choices, not just genes, matter for happiness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(42), 17922–17926.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Headey, B., & Wearing, A. (1989). Personality, life events and subjective well-being: Towards a dynamic equilibrium model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 731–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Izard, C. E. (2007). Basic emotions, natural kinds, emotion schemas, and a new paradigm. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2, 260–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Diener, E., & Schwarz, N. (1999). Well-Being. The foundations of hedonic psychology. New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D. A., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306, 1776–1780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kassenboehmer, S. C., & Haisken-DeNew, J. P. (2009). You’re fired! the causal negative effect of entry unemployment on life satisfaction. Economic Journal, 119(536), 448–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D., Ellsworth, P. C., & Edwards, K. (1993). Beyond simple pessimism: Effects of sadness and anger on social perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 740–752.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knabe, A., & Rätzel, S. (2011). Scarring or scaring? The psychological impact of past unemployment and future unemployment risk. Economica, 78, 283–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knabe, A., Rätzel, S., Schöb, R., & Weimann, J. (2010). Dissatisfied with life but having a good day: Time-use and well-being of the unemployed. Economic Journal, 120(547), 867–889.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kroh, M. (2006). An experimental evaluation of popular well-being measures. Resource document. DIW Diskussionspapier Nr. 546. http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.43968.de/dp546.pdf. Accessed Jan 2006.

  • Krueger, A. B., & Mueller, A. I. (2011). Job search, emotional well-being, and job finding in a period of mass unemployment evidence from High-frequency longitudinal data. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 42, 1–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, A. B., & Mueller, A. I. (2012). Time use, emotional well-being, and unemployment: Evidence from longitudinal data. American Economic Review, 102(3), 594–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P., & Kassam, K. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66, 799–823.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lindenberg, S. (1996). Continuities in the theory of social production functions. In H. B. G. Ganzeboom & S. Lindenberg (Eds.), Verklarende sociologie (pp. 169–184). Amsterdam: Thesis Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E. (2007). Adaptation and the set-point model of subjective well-being. Does happiness change after major life events? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 75–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2003). Re-examining adaptation and the setpoint model of happiness: Reactions to changes in marital status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 527–539.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., Clark, A. E., Georgellis, Y., & Diener, E. (2004). Unemployment alters the set-point for life satisfaction. Psychological Science, 15, 8–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1996). Discriminant validity of well-being measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 616–628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGillivray, M. (2006). Human well-being: Issues, concepts and measures. In M. McGillivray & M. Clarke (Eds.), Understanding human well-being (pp. 1–22). Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKee-Ryan, F., Song, Z., Wanberg, C. R., & Kinicki, A. J. (2005). Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 53–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nordenmark, M., & Strandh, M. (1999). Towards a sociological understanding of mental well-being among the unemployed: The role of economic and psychosocial factors. Sociology, 33(3), 577–597.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2013). OECD guidelines on measuring subjective well-being. Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oesch, D., & Lipps, O. (2013). Does unemployment hurt less if there is more of it around? A panel analysis of life satisfaction in Germany and Switzerland. European Sociological Review, 29(5), 955–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ormel, J., Lindenberg, S., Steverink, N., & Verbrugge, L. M. (1999). Subjective well-being and social production function theroy. Social Indicators Research, 46, 61–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ormel, J., Lindenberg, S., Steverink, N., & Vonkorff, M. (1997). Quality of life and social production functions: A framework for understanding health effects. Social Science and Medicine, 45, 1051–1063.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rackow, K., Schupp, J., & von Scheve, C. (2012). Angst und Ärger: Zur Relevanz emotionaler Dimensionen sozialer Ungleichheit. Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 41(5), 392–409.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raghunathan, R., & Pham, M. T. (1999). All negative moods are not equal: Motivational influences of anxiety and sadness on decision making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 79, 56–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (1995). Does employment affect health? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 36, 230–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimmack, U. (2003). Affect measurement in experience sampling research. Journal of Happiness Studies, 4(1), 79–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimmack, U., Schupp, J., & Wagner, G. G. (2008). The influence of environment and personality on the affective and cognitive component on subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 89, 41–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, N., & Strack, F. (1999). Reports of subjective well-being: Judgemental processes and their methodological implications. In D. Kahnemann, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 61–84). New York: Russell Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, A. A., & Mackie, C. (Eds.). (2013). Subjective well-being: Measuring happiness, suffering, and other directions of experience. Washington, DC: National Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiedens, L. Z., & Linton, S. (2001). Judgment under emotional certainty and uncertainty: The effects of specific emotions on information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 973–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uglanova, E. A., & Staudinger, U. M. (2013). Zooming in on life events: Is hedonic adaptation sensitive to the temporal distance from the event? Social Indicators Research, 111, 265–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (2000). The four qualities of life: Ordering concepts and measures of the good life. Journal of Happiness Studies, 1, 1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, G. G., Frick, J. R., & Schupp, J. (2007). The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP)—Scope, evolution and enhancements. Schmollers Jahrbuch, 127, 161–191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wanberg, C. R. (2012). The individual experience of unemployment. Annual Review of Psychology, 63, 369–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winkelmann, R. (2008). Unemployment, social capital, and subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(4), 421–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winkelmann, L., & Winkelmann, R. (1998). Why are the unemployed so unhappy? Evidence from panel data. Economica, 65, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wooldridge, J. M. (2006). Introductory econometrics. A modern approach. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, C. (2012). Losing a job: The nonpecuniary cost of unemployment in the United States. Social Forces, 91(2), 609–634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Christian von Scheve, Frederike Esche & Jürgen Schupp

  2. SOEP, DIW Berlin, 10108, Berlin, Germany

    Christian von Scheve & Jürgen Schupp

Authors
  1. Christian von Scheve
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frederike Esche
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jürgen Schupp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christian von Scheve.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 3 Sample description.
Full size table
Table 4 Fixed effects regression: adaptation of affective and cognitive well-being to unemployment.
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

von Scheve, C., Esche, F. & Schupp, J. The Emotional Timeline of Unemployment: Anticipation, Reaction, and Adaptation. J Happiness Stud 18, 1231–1254 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9773-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9773-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation