Future outlook and financial strain: testing the personal agency and latent deprivation models of unemployment and well-being

Abstract

A sample (N=239) of unemployed adults completed scales measuring well-being, financial strain, future outlook, and the latent benefits of employment. The study tested (a) the relative contributions of the latent deprivation and agency restriction models in predicting well-being and (b) whether financial strain interacted with future outlook to predict well-being or whether financial strain was mediated by future outlook. The authors found support for agency restriction over the latent deprivation model and concluded that examining internal personal agency processes is required to explain the decline in well-being. No interaction effects were identified for financial strain and future outlook, but future outlook did mediate the influence of financial strain. Age and length of unemployment were also associated with well-being.