Losing a Job and Losing Social Connectedness

 

“The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”

Oscar Wilde

Did anybody read the U.S. Labor Department’s jobs report this week which showed the U.S. economy created only 18,000 jobs last month and unemployment is still about 9 percent?

This statistic is more important than most economists (and stock traders) would believe as it also is associated with our social engagement.

According to some interesting new research, after being laid off, employees are 35% less likely than before to become actively involved or participate in church, community groups, and charitable organizations.  And, not many returned to these social groups after they found a new position.

Investigators from UCLA and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor conducted the study based on 4,373 participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study ((Brand, Jennie E. and Sarah A. Burgard. Forthcoming: Social Forces (2007). Effects of Job Displacement on Social Participation: Findings over the Life Course of a Cohort of Joiners)).  The Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) has tracked a group of 1957 Wisconsin high school graduates for more than 45 years, gathering detailed information on their IQs, education, careers, psychological well-being, family and social lives.

Social connection and support, both work-related and home/family/friend plays a prominent role as protective factor for many physical and psychological health related variables.  It’s a very challenging variable to really study as it can involve many aspects such as the source of received support, type of support (emotional or instrumental), enacted or received, utility of the support system and overall satisfaction with support received.

In our own research on the importance of social support and health using our Social Support scale from our StressScan assessment, we have found that change in one’s support network can impact both physical health and psychological well-being including our immune system ((Schwartz, G.E., Schwartz, J.I., Nowack, K.M., & Eichling, P.S. (1992). Changes in perceived stress and social support over time are related to changes in immune function. University of Arizona and Canyon Ranch. Unpublished manuscript)).

We have tried to carefully construct a measure of social support within StressScan that measures 3 very unique aspects of this complicated concept:

• Availability of support from five different sources (boss/supervisor, others at work, spouse/partner, family members/relatives, friends)
• Use of the network system (either provided or received)
• Satisfaction with each in meeting your needs (informational, instrumental, emotional)

We also assess the source of support because use and satisfaction with each may be quite different:

• Immediate boss or supervisor
• Other colleagues or people at work
• Spouse, partner, lover or significant other
• Family members or relatives
• Friends

A high score on this scale suggests a global evaluation of having an adequate support network that you utilize and feel a sense of satisfaction with it.

Having a strong social support network and being satisfied appears to be associated with the level of stress and well-being.  In our own analysis of professional men and women (N= 1,650) using StressScan, those who report high levels of social support also report:

1. Lower Stress (correlation r= .35, p < .01)
2. Higher Resilience/Hardiness (correlation r= .47, p < .01)
3. Higher Happiness/Psychological Well-being (correlation r= .58, p < .01)

So, it would appear that losing a job can not only be a career set back but also impact involvement and social connectedness which, in turn, can impact our physical health and well-being.

Want to find out about your own social support network?  Contact us for a free trial of StressScan at ken@envisiaonline.com   Be well…..

Ken Nowack

Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)