The aim of this project is to address the individual level consequences of a societal event, namely the spreading of precarious and unstable form of work, with the aim to foster individual adjustment and to promote active job search strategies among those who have lost a job. Drawing upon a large psychological literature pointing to unemployment stress as the key individual-level consequence of job loss, we aim to clarify the psychophysiological mechanisms that, by fostering resistance to unemployment stress, may foster an active job search. More in detail, we will test a mediational model hypothesizing that the relationship between unemployment stress and active job search is mediated by the impact of self and identity certainty on individuals' self-regulative psychophysiological processes. To this aim, we will gather a sample of about 100 unemployed people, who "have lost the job in the last five months". These people will take part in a three-phase study aimed to: 1) assess self and identity certainty after a job loss, 2) explore individuals' emotional and physiological functioning, 3) evaluate the individuals' recurs to active job search strategies. Results of our study will show way to improve the life of people who have lost their jobs. Thus, a first expected impact of our results is on the societal and individual costs of pathologies related to unemployment stress that are significantly associated with higher recurs to public health assistance. A second key expected impact is on helping individuals to be proactive during taxing and frustrating phases such as those following a job loss. Finally, our data will offer a key contribution to the scientific literature on the relationship between the self-system and unemployment stress related processes, and will be used to inform the so called "politiche attive del lavoro" (work related active policies).
The results of the project will be published in leading scientific journals and are expected to have a major impact on the field. Results will be presented at international conferences. We will communicate the results to the general public through a dedicated website and regular press releases. This project will have a strong scientific impact by offering insight on the psychological processes resources and processes that can be bolstered, elicited and sustained in individuals who have lost their job. First, it represents a natural extension of previous theoretical perspective pointing to the self-system as the key psychological mediator of the impact of unemployment stress on psychophysiological adjustment. While this point has been made since long, this idea has been often corroborated more by theoretical speculation rather than by empirical data. We note that this is the first study aimed to gather data related to the link between unemployment stress related processes, and psychophysiological data. In doing so, our project contribute by: (1) Conducting an innovative study aimed at uncovering emotional, physiological micromechanisms explaining the pathways through which self and identity processes impact psychosocial functioning; (2) Focusing on an high risk group (people who lost their jobs) followed in the first, and most critical period, after the occurring of the loss event; (3) Employing and integrating cutting-edge study designs (intensive longitudinal design), research methods (experience sampling method; psychometrically robust standardized scales; physiological measures), and state-of-art analytic approaches (within and between-person, multilevel approaches). This project can have a relevant socioeconomic impact since it addresses societal priorities of the Italy and the European Union. The value of the active policies for the re-employment of unemployed people in a period of crisis like the one encountered by Europe in the last decade has been highlighted by the report "The labor market - Toward an integrated reading", December 2017, presented from MLPS together with ISTAT, INPS, INAIL and ANPAL. This report examines the relationship between the cyclical trend of the economy and that of the labor market, the impact of demographic factors, the active role of the individual in the creation of employment, the new types of work and the interaction with legislative changes, the complexity and evolution of the forms of independent work, the relationship between work loss and the individual health and other topics of great current relevance. Our study answer to the call raised by this report. Accordingly, a first expected impact of our projects is on the societal and individual costs of unemployment related pathologies such as depression, anxiety, and emotional/physiological dysregulation that are significantly associated with higher recurs to public health assistance (Schneidermann et al., 1989), higher medicines consumption (Antonucci & Jackson, 1983), and higher risk for Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI; Forrester et al., 2017). A second expected impact is on helping individuals to be proactive during taxing and frustrating phases such as those following a job loss. Literature documents that people with a self or a not identity problems select activities with the chances of success in mind, avoiding the things they do poorly or think they might fail at. Individuals with ability-validation goals tend to lose motivation, withdrawing effort and spending less time on achieving their goals (Grant & Dweck, 2003).