Unemployment, employability and COVID19 : How the global socioeconomic shock challenged negative perceptions toward the less fortunate in the Australian context
Journal article
Suomi, Aino, Schofield, Timothy P. and Butterworth, Peter. (2020). Unemployment, employability and COVID19 : How the global socioeconomic shock challenged negative perceptions toward the less fortunate in the Australian context. Frontiers in Psychology. 11, p. 594837. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.594837
Authors | Suomi, Aino, Schofield, Timothy P. and Butterworth, Peter |
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Abstract | Unemployed benefit recipients are stigmatized and generally perceived negatively in terms of their personality characteristics and employability. The COVID19 economic shock led to rapid public policy responses across the globe to lessen the impact of mass unemployment, potentially shifting community perceptions of individuals who are out of work and rely on government income support. We used a repeated cross-sections design to study change in stigma tied to unemployment and benefit receipt in a pre-existing pre-COVID19 sample (n = 260) and a sample collected during COVID19 pandemic (n = 670) by using a vignette-based experiment. Participants rated attributes of characters who were described as being employed, working poor, unemployed or receiving unemployment benefits. The results show that compared to employed characters, unemployed characters were rated substantially less favorably at both time points on their employability and personality traits. The difference in perceptions of the employed and unemployed was, however, attenuated during COVID19 with benefit recipients perceived as more employable and more Conscientious than pre-pandemic. These results add to knowledge about the determinants of welfare stigma highlighting the impact of the global economic and health crisis on perception of others. |
Keywords | COVID19; employability; personality; Big Five; public policy; unemployment |
Year | 2020 |
Journal | Frontiers in Psychology |
Journal citation | 11, p. 594837 |
Publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
ISSN | 1664-1078 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.594837 |
Scopus EID | 2-s2.0-85094642793 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 1-10 |
Funder | Australian Research Council (ARC) |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
Online | 15 Oct 2020 |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 22 Sep 2020 |
Deposited | 20 Aug 2021 |
ARC Funded Research | This output has been funded, wholly or partially, under the Australian Research Council Act 2001 |
Grant ID | ARC/DP16014178 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8w9zv/unemployment-employability-and-covid19-how-the-global-socioeconomic-shock-challenged-negative-perceptions-toward-the-less-fortunate-in-the-australian-context
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Publisher's version
OA_Suomi_2020_Unemployment_Employability_and_COVID19_How_the.pdf | |
License: CC BY 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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