Stress and Unemployment: A Comparative Review and Research ...

Introduction

In the past, middle and senior managers havetended to emerge unscathed from economic reces-sion, and those who did lose their jobs receivedsubstantial pay-offs and long notice periods. Untilthe late 1980s the number of unemployed managerswas relatively low, but job loss through economicpressures and structural changes is increasinglyaffecting this occupational group, especially middlemanagers. The 1990s have seen record levels oforganizational downsizing which has had a majorimpact on managers, who have borne the brunt of these cutbacks (Capell, 1992). Much of thework performed by middle management has beeneroded by information technology and the drivefor efficiency, which has placed many managersunder enormous pressure to perform ever in-creasing workloads (Malo, 1993). Increasing num-bers of managers are being discarded as surplus torequirement because they are unable to performat the required levels; those who have few or no

formal qualifications are particularly susceptibleto redundancy (White, 1991).

The number of unemployed managers, regis-tered with the Department for Education andEmployment (DfEE) in December 1995, exceeded100 000. Over 86 000 men and over 22 000 womenhad previously held managerial positions, most of whom (72%) were seeking jobs at a similaroccupation level (Department for Education andEmployment, 1996a). The majority of unemployedmanagers were registered with the DfEE for thefirst time in their careers, but 8% had registeredonce or twice previously and 3% had registered atleast three times (Employment Service, 1995a).

The DfEE have identified two important vari-ables which affect the levels of unemploymentexperienced by managers – location and age. The highest levels of managerial unemploymentare found in the south of England (56.7%),followed by the north of England (23.3%) and theMidlands (20%) (Department for Education andEmployment, 1996a). These figures do reflect

British Journal of Management, Vol. 10, 63–93 (1999)

Stress and Unemployment: A Comparative Review and ResearchModel of Female and Male Managers

Sandra L. Fielden and Marilyn J. Davidson Manchester School of Management, UMIST, PO Box 88, Manchester M60, UK

This paper presents a multifaceted approach to unemployment stress experienced bymale and female managers, in the form of a literature review and comparative researchmodel. In order to develop a working model which can be applied to both male andfemale managers, the paper covers a substantial range of the literature pertaining tothe processes and effects of unemployment for managers. Previous studies often pro-vide conflicting data which generally results from differential approaches taken to thestudy of unemployment. In addition, it is important to note that the majority of studiesfocus on blue-collar male workers and that the vast majority are based on a male modelof work. The proposed model highlights sources of stress, moderators of stress andstress outcomes that may affect unemployed managers, and distinguishes areas in whichgender differences are likely to be found. However, these differences are only hypothe-sized from the current literature and require in-depth research if they are to be fullyunderstood.

© 1999 British Academy of Management

the general levels of unemployment found in thesouth of England, where unemployment is threetimes higher than anywhere else in the country,but not for the north or the Midlands. Unem-ployment levels are higher in the north than in theMidlands but the number of unemployed man-agers is proportionally less in the north, with thelowest numbers of registered unemployed man-agers recorded in the DfEE Northern Region, anarea which includes Newcastle and Sunderland.

The second, and most important variation isrelated to the age of unemployed managers. A clearrelationship is found between the age of unem-ployed managers and the levels of unemploymentexperienced by managers, with the proportion ofunemployed managers increasing substantiallywith age (Department for Education and Employ-ment, 1996a). In addition, the duration of unem-ployment experienced by managers also increaseswith age, with older managers being much morelikely to experience periods of unemployment in excess of six months than their youngercounterparts.

The greatest social change over the last twodecades has been the increase of women in paidemployment. In 1996 women accounted for 49.5%of the UK workforce (Department for Educationand Employment, 1996b) and this figure willcontinue to rise until the year 2006 according to recent government projections (EmploymentService, 1995b). Although almost a third of allUK managers are now women (Equal Oppor-tunities Commission, 1996) the majority areemployed at the lowest levels of the managerialhierarchy and tend to be concentrated in market-ing, personnel, catering, retailing and education(Davidson, 1996).

Employment is important to women both as asource of income and as a defining factor in selfconceptions. Attitudes and social patterns whichdeny the legitimacy of women’s employmentpersist and ignore the importance that work hascome to occupy in lives of many women (Ratcliffand Brogden, 1988). It has often been proposedthat women will actually experience less stressthan men during unemployment because the work/family interface, which is a major source of stressfor working women, is removed (Newell, 1993).This approach has been used to further devaluethe worth of women’s employment, but researchdoes not support this view. Studies that haveincluded unemployed women show no significant

difference between unemployed men and womenin terms of self-esteem, hostility, and personal dis-tress. However, they have found that unemploy-ment is experienced differently by each sex (Leanaand Feldman, 1991; Stokes and Cochrane, 1984).In addition, further research has shown that womenare faced with additional sources of stress and thedenial of the importance of work in women’s livesoften results in unsupportive social ‘support’ and an undermining of self-worth (Ratcliff andBrogden, 1988).

Stress and unemployment model

Employment, and specifically managerial employ-ment, still appear to be intrinsically linked withmasculinity, resulting in few studies of women’sunemployment and only one previous study relat-ing to unemployed female managers, conductedby the authors (Fielden and Davidson, 1996). Thispaper aims to present a review and comparativeresearch model illustrating sources of stress, mod-erators of stress and stress outcomes that mayaffect the experiences of unemployed male andfemale managers. Figure 1 presents the proposedmodel of stress and unemployment in managers,specifically distinguishing areas in which genderdifferences are likely to be found. This multivari-able approach is the first comprehensive paradigmto consider all aspects of unemployment, person-ality factors and coping strategies cumulating in amodel of stress and unemployment in both maleand female managers, based upon the findings todate. However, it should be noted throughout thisreview that, as there is limited information avail-able as to the effects of unemployment on women,the findings quoted will, unless otherwise stated,refer to unemployed men. Moreover, one mustalso acknowledge that the majority of research to date, relates to blue-collar workers, with only a minimal number of studies concentrating onwhite-collar workers or managers.

Sources of stress

The first section of the paper will concentrate on reviewing the literature delineating sources of stress which have been specifically isolated ashaving specific relevance to managers with par-ticular emphasis on gender differences between

64 S. L. Fielden and M. J. Davidson

male and female managers. The following fivemajor sources of unemployment stress will bediscussed: job loss and unemployment status;financial effect; social support; activities; and jobsearch (see Figure 1).

Job loss and unemployment status

Job loss. For the purpose of this review, job lossis defined as an event that removes paid employ-ment from an individual, regardless of the motivesof the parties involved (Doran et al., 1991;

Wanberg and Marchese, 1994). Job loss leads tothe loss of both the psychological and practicalbenefits provided by paid employment, which cancreate a situation ‘replete with intra-psychic andinterpersonal turmoil’ (Estes, 1973). Researchsuggests that job loss causes reactions on severallevels: on the emotional level, anxiety, depression,and/or apathy (Eales, 1988; Melville et al., 1985);on the cognitive level, disturbed ability to concen-trate, perceive, make decisions, and/or be creative(Latack, Kinicki and Prussia, 1995); on the behav-ioural level, abuse of alcohol, tobacco, drugs,

Stress and Unemployment 65

Figure 1. Unemployment – a comparative research model for male and female managers

Sources of stress

Job loss andunemployment status

Emotional deprivationMaterial deprivationLoss of occupational identityLoss of confidence in managerial abilityStigmaDisciminationFuture uncertainty

Loss of breadwinner roleLoss of income statusDebtLoss of life-style

Type of support, e.g.emotional or instrumentalpartner/family reactions

Decrease in social contactsSocial isolation

Focus of activity, e.g. problem or emotionalActivity levelsLoss of daily structure

Occupational stereotypesDiscrimination and 'recruitment'Networking'Job skidding'Unsuccessful job search

Demographic factors

Job search

Activities

Social support

Financial effects

AgeEconomic resourcesLength of time unemployedGeographic locationDomestic statusEducational background

Personality–type factors

Self-conceptSelf-esteemSelf-efficacyPersonal controlCoping strategiesType A behaviour patternsSocial supportAttributional style

Personal–job factors

Skill base (variety and depth)TrainabilityEmployment commitmentSkill-market match

Psychological effects

Poorer mental healthIncreased distressIncreased anxietyLower self-esteemLower self-worthLower self-confidenceSelf-blame

Physical effects

Poorer physical well-beingIncreased risk of heart diseaseIncreased blood pressure

Behavioural effects

Increased smokingIncreased alcohol consumptionIncreased drug useIncreased visits to GPIncreased use of medical drugs

Note: Bold italics are used to indicate those areas in which Gender Differences are likely to be found.

Intervening variables Stress outcomes

and/or food (Hammarstrom and Janlert, 1994);and on the physiological level, neuroendocrine‘stress reactions’ (Arnetz et al., 1987; Fleming et al., 1984). Job loss is a key determinant ofphysical and emotional ill-being for the unem-ployed person and in some cases these reactionsmay even lead to increased morbidity andmortality.

The degree to which job loss is experienced asa negative event is dependent upon a number ofcontextual factors. Kelvin and Jarret (1985) forexample, suggest that in times of high unem-ployment, stigmatization of the unemployed isrelatively rare, as it is generally assumed that ex-ternal factors, such as recession, are responsiblefor unemployment and not individual character-istics. Thus, those who do not see unemploymentas a personal stigma are more likely to experiencebetter psychological well-being than those whoperceive the unemployed as a stigmatized group.

Those who feel that they have no personal con-trol over their job-loss experiences are also morelikely to experience distress, and are more likelyto suffer negative effects during their period ofunemployment, than those who feel that theyhave some degree of personal control over theirsituation (Swinburne, 1981). Individuals who seetheir job loss resulting from external factors aremore likely to perceive themselves as similar toothers without jobs, thereby deriving a sense ofself-worth from similarity in comparison withother unemployed people (Sheeran et al., 1995).In contrast, those who believe that they areresponsible for their own job loss are more likelyto perceive themselves as less similar to otherswithout jobs. They generally believe that societyalso views them as responsible for being unem-ployed (Breakwell, 1985), thereby stigmatizingthemselves by denying the legitimacy of their ownunemployment in both social and personal terms.Unemployed managers, who may be more proneto view their own positions as unique or excep-tional because of their relatively small numbers,may be more likely to experience self-blame thanother unemployed groups. This may be particu-larly prevalent in unemployed female managers,who are even less likely than their male counter-parts to have contact with others in similarpositions.

Job loss and managers. Most unemploymentresearch has been concerned with blue-collar

workers, but there are a number of studies whichhave looked at the impact of unemployment ofmale managers and these have produced mixedfindings. Fineman (1983) found that male man-agers showed a significant depreciation in self-esteem, yet Hartley (1980a) found that theself-esteem of male managers (n = 87) did notdecline during unemployment. Hartley proposedthat there was no evidence that unemployed man-agers are any more anxious, tense, or apprehen-sive than employed managers, though this studywas conducted during the late 1970s when man-agerial unemployment was much lower and itmight have been much less of a threat to self-esteem. She suggested that, because managershave greater experience in dealing with stressfuland pressurized situations, they cope with unem-ployment by responding in an assertive and re-sourceful manner. However, in a relatively smallstudy (n = 20), Swinburne (1981) reported thatmale managers did experience the same phasicreaction as blue-collar workers, i.e. shock, optimism,pessimism and fatalism, although they passedthrough these phases more slowly. The initialshock of unemployment was the most frequentlymentioned emotion experienced by participantsaccompanied by fear and uncertainty surroundingthe future. Feelings of shame, loss of status and loss of self-respect were reported, but lessfrequently than anticipated.

Hartley (1980b) proposed that some managersactually welcomed the challenge of job loss and thenew opportunities it may have provided, conclud-ing that the responses of unemployed managerswere much more complex and varied than thoseof other unemployed workers, who tend to respondin a more passive way. However, there is littlesupport for the idea that managers take such apositive approach to unemployment. Swinburne(1981) found that, although 55% of participantsrecognize some positive aspects of being out ofwork, all but a small minority felt that any pos-sible benefits were outweighed by the accompany-ing fear and uncertainty around the depressed job market. In addition, it is important to notethat few of the participants chose to discuss theirunemployment voluntarily and this fact wasattributed to poor levels of self-disclosure. Wherethese feelings were disclosed, their intensity variedconsiderably and, whilst causing distress for some,for some others they were strongly destructiveforces (Swinburne, 1981).


To date only one study has been conducted intothe effects of unemployment on female managers,and this has produced some interesting results.The qualitative study (n = 27), found that the im-pact of job loss on female managers is substantial,with unemployed female managers experiencingsignificant decreases in self-esteem, self-confidenceand self-worth (Fielden and Davidson, 1996). Themost significant sources of stress experienced byunemployed female managers were those facedduring job search, with discrimination being en-countered at all stages of the recruitment process.The effects of these stressors were minimized byseveral coping strategies, which included the main-tenance of high activity levels, social support andpersonal control (Fielden and Davidson, 1996).These coping strategies appeared to be extremelysuccessful, with unemployed female managersexperiencing similar levels of mental and physicalwell-being to the employed counterparts. Thiscontrasts with recent research into the personalityof unemployed male managers, which has foundthat unemployed male managers experience greateranxiety than their employed peers (Brindle, 1992).

The number of studies into the effects ofunemployment on managers is minimal, and thefindings of those studies have not been consistent.However, the weight of support favours the con-clusion that the psychological effects of unemploy-ment for managers are comparable with those forother workers, although the evidence suggests thatthe experience of unemployment may be qualita-tively different. A recent report produced by theInstitute of Management (Duffield, 1994) suggeststhat the loss of opportunity for skill use is a keyfactor in the impact of job loss experienced bymanagers. They believe that continuing unem-ployment frequently means that managers loseconfidence in their managerial abilities, inhibitingtheir job search and reducing their chances ofsuccess in obtaining suitable employment. Thus,the activity that is most likely to benefit themmost, i.e. job search, is the activity which is alsolikely to have the greatest negative effect on self-confidence and self-esteem.

Job loss and women. The majority of researchconducted into the effects of job loss are basedupon the male model of work. Thus, in order tocompare the effects of job loss on male andfemale managers, we must first look at the rolework has come to occupy in women’s lives and

how the removal of that role may impact uponfemale managers. It is only by gaining an appre-ciation of women’s attitudes towards work thatwe can evaluate the possible effects of the re-moval of the psychological and material benefitsof paid employment.

Although the myth that women only work for‘pin money’ has been repeatedly exposed, thisbelief that women only work for money still pre-vails (Dilnot and Kell, 1988). Yet, studies consist-ently show that women derive both satisfactionand status from work, and have an extraordinaryattachment to their paid employment, often ex-periencing an increased sense of self-control andempowerment (Coyle, 1984: Rosenfield, 1989).Peitromonaco, Manis and Markus (1987) foundthat full-time employment was of particular bene-fit to those who viewed themselves as career-oriented, reporting significantly higher levels ofself-esteem, life satisfaction and well-being thantheir non-career oriented counterparts (p , 0.0002).These findings indicate that employment provideswomen with much more than just a source ofincome. In addition, previous research has alsofound that women’s commitment to work, unliketheir male counterparts, is not directly derivedfrom their level of income, but from the degree ofsatisfaction and sense of belonging they experienceat work (Pittman and Orthner, 1988). However,as women enter positions that demand greaterinvestment of time and energy they can experi-ence increasing conflict between home and workrelationships. Thus, although working women,especially those in managerial or professionalpositions, report high levels of job satisfactionthey also report high levels of stress (Davidson,Cooper and Baldini, 1995; Travers and Cooper,1991).

Working women have many conflicting rolesand some observers of women’s multiple-roleinvolvement have speculated that trying to beworker, wife and mother contributes to greaterpsychological distress (Pleck, 1985). Thus, it hasbeen suggested that the removal of paid employ-ment from women’s lives would reduce this dis-tress. However, although multiple-role strain canhave an adverse effect on women’s mental andphysical health, studies have failed to substantiatea consistent relationship (Akabas, 1988). In analternative approach it has recently been arguedthat it is the quality of women’s experience withinand across roles, rather than the number of roles,


that influences mental health (Piechowski, 1992)with role quality accounting for significant in-creases in job satisfaction (p , 0.002) and self-esteem (p , 0.0004). Findings show that it is notthe time investment required to maintain multipleroles that leads to conflict and distress, but theidentity derived from those roles that predictswell-being (Carlson, Kacmar and Stepina, 1995).Further to this, it has been suggested that a greaternumber of roles can actually enhance psycho-logical well-being by providing access to resourcesand alternative sources of gratification as well as promoting greater social interaction (Thoits,1986). Thus, rather than having a negative effecton women’s health, it would appear that employ-ment actually improves the health of women,married or single, who have a positive attitudetowards work (Repetti, Matthews and Waldron,1989). This improvement is found to be greatestfor women in professional and managerial positionsfor whom employment is often the major identify-ing role in their lives (Arber, Gilbert and Dale,1985).

In general, women have learned to cope withthe demands of multiple roles by integrating their working and personal lives. However, thisapproach has often been interpreted as a lack of dedication and commitment to work, leadingmany to believe that employment is a low priorityfor women. It has been argued that working womenare not happier or more satisfied than women whostay at home, and that employment itself bearslittle relationship to women’s well-being (Warrand Parry, 1982). This belief is not supported byprevious research, which has clearly shown thatunemployed women experience greater stress thanworking women (Warren, 1980). However, thebelief that women’s employment is relatively un-important still persists and has resulted in womenexperiencing greater employment insecurity thanmen. In times of recession women are the first to be discarded, are most vulnerable to future lay-offs, and suffer more unemployment than men(Rogers, 1980; Snyder and Nowak, 1984).

Although recent research has addressed many ofthe myths about women’s attitude to work (Billingand Alvesson, 1993; Dex, 1988) the legitimacy ofwomen’s work is still denied by the lack of researchin their experiences of job loss and unemploy-ment. This denial is nowhere more evident thanin the male-dominated realms of management.Unemployed female managers, unlike employed

female managers, seem not only to be consideredless valuable than their male counterparts buthave continually been disregarded. Unemployedfemale managers have been treated as an invisiblegroup whose exclusion from previous researchhighlights how undervalued they and their experi-ences are.

Unemployment status. Unemployment can bedistinguished from job loss by the concept ofduration, i.e. if an individual does not obtain newemployment immediately, job loss will lead to aperiod of unemployment. Thus, job loss and un-employment form part of a continuum based upontime, with job loss as the precipitating event atone end of the continuum and long-term unem-ployment at the other. Therefore, in order tounderstand the full impact of unemployment weneed to consider not just the effects of job loss,but also the effects of ongoing unemployment onmental and physical well-being. In assessing theseeffects we need to consider the consequences ofthe removal of both latent and manifest benefits,i.e. financial and psychological deprivation, experi-enced by both men and women.

The financial effects of unemployment

Most unemployed people experience substantialreductions in their income. Warr and Jackson(1984) found that 66% of people had a totalhousehold income between 33% and 50% of theirprevious employed income. This considerable lossof income, coupled with the meagre level of stateunemployment benefits, ensures that the majorityof unemployed people live in relative, if notabsolute, poverty (Fryer, 1995). Even those whoare initially protected from the effects of reducedincome, by either redundancy payments or savings,experience increasing economic deprivation asthese resources diminish. Thus, economic depriva-tion is inevitably associated with increasing lengthof unemployment (Brief et al., 1995), leading todecreases in both physical and psychological well-being. It is therefore not surprising that findingsconsistently show that unemployed people ex-perience not only objective financial distress butalso significant subjective distress (Fryer, 1995).

Financial stress has been shown to increase the incidence of reported symptoms of illness(Aldwin and Revenson, 1986) and the incidenceof mental problems in unemployed populations


(Frese and Mohr, 1987) – a situation highlightedby a large-scale longitudinal Dutch study, whichshowed a direct relationship between the level of state benefits and mental well-being, with lowlevels of financial strain accounting for between50% and 76% of the psychological distress ex-perienced (Schaufeli and Van Yperen, 1992). Theeffects of job loss on income levels mean thateven the ‘affluent’ unemployed can experiencedistressing financial deprivation relative to theirprevious situation (Fryer, 1995). It is important to note that financial hardship is a relative experi-ence, and economic deprivation should not beviewed solely in terms of income change. Thedegree of deprivation experience by an individualis based upon their financial position in relation-ship to self-selected reference groups and thenormative expectancies of those groups (Seidmanand Rapkin, 1989). Personal identity is increasinglyexperienced and expressed through spending and consumption – it has been proposed that weare what we can afford to buy (Fryer, 1995). Aninability to spend money on non-essential items,such as entertainment, often leads to a withdrawalfrom social contact. Thus, economic deprivationcan result in social isolation, a situation whichsignificantly accentuates the effects of financialstress on mental well-being (p , 0.05) (Viinamakiet al., 1993).

The performance of many roles is eitherinhibited or prohibited by poverty, and it has beensuggested that men are likely to suffer most fromthe effects of financial stress because of their in-ability to fulfil their role as breadwinner. Georgeand Brief (1990) suggest that, whilst there havebeen dramatic changes in sex roles in the twen-tieth century, there appears to remain an attach-ment of males to the breadwinner role in manyfamilies. Although men are becoming financiallymore and more dependent upon women, whilstwomen are becoming increasingly less financiallydependent upon men, conceptions of masculinitystill retain the breadwinner role as a definingcharacteristic. The continuing existence of thisrole has been reflected in several studies whichhave found that men’s earnings have a direct andnegative effect on the level of depression theyexperience, accounting for 67% of the variance ofreported life-satisfaction, whilst no such link hasbeen found for women (George and Brief, 1990;Ross and Huber, 1985). Thus, whilst in real terms there may be no difference in the financial

responsibilities of unemployed male and femalemanagers, these findings would suggest that theeffect of economic deprivation experienced byunemployed male managers may be substantiallygreater than that experienced by unemployedfemale managers.

Research into the effects of financial hardshipexperienced during unemployment has beenalmost solely based upon the income levels ofblue-collar workers, with two notable exceptions.A comparative study by Payne, Warr and Hartley(1984), found that working-class respondentsreported significantly greater financial problemsthan middle-class workers (managerial and non-managerial white collar). However, this does notappear to be supported by the more in-depthwork of Fryer (1995), who found that higher pre-unemployment earnings were linked to greaterfinancial distress during unemployment. Managerspotentially earn significantly more than blue-collar workers, hence it may be anticipated thattheir reduction in income, as a result of job loss,would be much greater than that experienced by other workers. Thus, the effects of unemploy-ment in terms of financial strain may be moretraumatic for managers than for blue-collar ornon-managerial white-collar workers.

Social support

Employment is an important source of socialsupport, especially for women (Pittman andOrthner, 1988). The loss of this manifest conse-quence of work through unemployment can leadto feelings of loneliness and social isolation. It isduring this time that family and friends can be avaluable source of support, support which can helpreduce the general distress, depression and anxietyexperienced by unemployed people (Warr, Jacksonand Banks, 1988). In order to understand the effectfamily and friends can have on the experiences ofunemployed female managers, we must first lookat the forms social support can take and theirimpact on psychological health.

Type of support. A well-established social net-work is a structural prerequisite of feeling sociallyintegrated and emotionally accepted (Veiel andBaumann, 1992). The size of an individual’s net-work, i.e. the number of friends and family andthe frequency of contact with them, is referred to as social integration. Studies have found a


positive association between the time spent withothers and psychological well-being (Bolton andOatley, 1987; Warr, 1987). However, it is not onlythe number of active social ties which determinesthe degree of isolation experienced by an indi-vidual, but it is the quality of those ties. Socialsupport refers to the perceived quality of relation-ships, the function of those relationships and thebenefits provided by those relationships (Schwarzer,Hahn and Fuchs, 1994). It is important to notethat it is not the amount of social support anindividual actually receives that moderates theimpact of unemployment on well-being, but theperceived availability of that support (Wethingtonand Kessler, 1986).

The degree to which an individual experiencessocial integration is an important aspect of mostpeople’s lives, but it is close personal relation-ships, with either family or friends, that for themajority of people are what ‘makes life mean-ingful’ (Argyle, 1989). These relationships areoften the most salient forms of social support, pro-viding both emotional and instrumental supportfor unemployed individuals (Argyle, 1989). Emo-tional support is characterized by the actions of caring or listening sympathetically and instru-mental support is characterized by renderingtangible assistance, for example in the form ofadvice or knowledge (Fenlason and Beehr, 1994).It has often been assumed that emotional sup-port is more effective than instrumental support,but research would suggest that the most effectivesources of social support are those that provideboth types (Kaufmann and Beehr, 1986).

There is considerable evidence that the presenceof close relationships helps to stave off depression,certain clinical problems and certain physicalailments by reducing stress (Duck, 1988). Brughaet al. (1990) found that satisfaction with socialsupport accounted for up to 38% of the variancefound in patient’s recovery from depression. Thisis further supported by longitudinal evidence (n = 100) which suggests that unemployed individ-uals who are unsupported experience significantlyhigher elevations and more changes in measure of cholesterol (p , 0.005), illness symptoms (p , 0.001) and affective response (p , 0.001)than those who are supported (Gore, 1978). It has been suggested that, for women, social sup-port is the most important factor in determiningmental health during unemployment (Ratcliffand Brogden, 1988). A lack of intimacy has been

found to significantly increase the risk of majordepression in women and is particularly destruc-tive in those who are unemployed, substantiallyincreasing their risk of depression (p , 0.05)(Hallstrom, 1986). Research shows that unem-ployed women actively seek and successfullyreceive social support from relatives and friends(Retherford, Hildreth and Goldsmith, 1988).However, not all social support is supportive andthe type of support given appears to be quali-tatively different depending upon whether it isgiven by a partner, a family member or a friend.Research tends to concentrate on these specificsources of support, therefore the literature on eacharea will be reviewed separately.

Partner’s reactions. The support offered by apartner during unemployment can be the mostcrucial variable regarding the well-being of bothunemployed men and women. Living with apartner does appear to have beneficial effects, but it is the effective quality of that relationshipthat is important in determining psychologicalwell-being (Schwartzberg and Dytell, 1989). Sup-port from partners can help to bolster self-esteemand lessen feelings of helplessness and, whilst thelevels of received support appear to be the samefor men and women, the types of support giventends to be different (Caplan, 1982; Starrin andLarson, 1987). Unemployed men tend to receiveemotional support from their spouses rather thanany other form of support (Bolton and Oatley,1987). In contrast, unemployed women tend toreceive higher levels of instrumental support, i.e.financial or informational, than emotional sup-port, although it does appear to be a crucial formof social support (Starrin and Larson, 1987).

Being in a satisfactory relationship can providesignificant benefits, but being married per se doesnot guarantee better psychological well-being,and can lead to additional strain where there is alack of support and understanding. Marital rela-tionships not only act as moderators of the stressresponse but may also be a source of stress duringunemployment. This source of stress appears to be experienced differently by men and women.For example, high rates of unemployment are asso-ciated with marital instability and an increasedlikelihood of divorce for men but not for women(Sander, 1992). Marital breakdown has negativeeffects on health regardless of an individual’semployment situation, but in conjunction with


unemployment can have devastating results onphysical and psychological well-being (Taubmanand Rosen, 1982). It has been suggested that thisdifference arises because there is a direct link be-tween loss of male earnings and marital dissatis-faction, but not between loss of female earningsand marital dissatisfaction (Becker, 1981). Thisemphasis on male earnings is possibly related tothe inability of unemployed men to fulfil theirperceived societal role as ‘breadwinner’, and maybe a source of both spousal and self pressure.

In contrast, unemployed women often find that their partners are unsupportive towards theirsituation because they actually prefer them to beunemployed (Ratcliff and Brogden, 1988). Thiscan arise from a lack of enthusiasm for their wifeworking, with some partners deriving satisfactionfrom their being out of a job. These findings maylead to the conclusion that being married, or liv-ing with a partner, may be detrimental to the well-being of unemployed women. However, Starrinand Larson (1987) found that unemployed singlewomen experienced greater amounts of depres-sion and higher incidents of physical illness thanunemployed wives, suggesting that even thoughthe emotional support received from the partnersof unemployed females is often limited, the in-strumental support they receive is of substantialbenefit. This is of particular relevance taking intoaccount that female managers are less likely to be married compared to their male counterparts(Davidson and Cooper, 1992).

Family. The reactions of families to an indi-vidual’s job loss vary considerably, and the qualityof their experiences within the family can be acrucial moderator of their reaction to unemploy-ment. The social support provided by an individual’sfamily is again subject to gender differences. Un-employed women report that the family environ-ment is an especially potent source of support,but it does not appear to provide the same bene-fits for men (Holahan and Moos, 1982). Retherford,Hildreth and Goldsmith (1988) found, in theirrelatively large study (n = 216), that unemployedwomen were significantly more likely to receivesupport from their parents than from their partner,other relatives or friends (p , 0.0001). This sup-port tends to be emotional rather than financialor informational and an individual’s reliance ontheir family members does not usually diminishwhilst they remain unemployed (Jackson, 1988).

In contrast, Stokes and Levin (1986) reported thatunemployed men are more likely to seek supportfrom friends rather than from their close relations,as they prefer to keep family and work roles sep-arate (Greenglass, 1993a).

Whilst considering the effects of social supporton psychological well-being it must be recognizedthat it is possible for the family environment toexacerbate the effects of unemployment on mentaland physical health. Family obligations may carrytheir own stressors and these may be increasedduring unemployment, a situation exacerbated bythe inability to escape from the family environ-ment (Hibbard and Pope, 1993). The impact of jobloss may also be compounded by the negative feed-back that unemployed individuals often receivefrom families. This appears to be particularly rele-vant for unemployed women, especially those forwhom work is a defining factor in their self-concept. Ratcliff and Brogden (1988) suggest thatwomen often experience depressive symptomsbecause their families are insensitive to the im-portance the role paid employment has in women’slives. This lack of understanding can lead to feel-ings of rejection and of worthlessness.

Social contacts. Studies have shown that friend-ships are an important source of social support forboth men and women. However, gender differ-ences have been consistently found between thequality or nature of friendship sought by men andwomen (Greenglass, 1993a; Stokes and Levin,1986). Women have a strong interest in develop-ing close, dyadic relationships, whereas men tendto be more group oriented, including three or morepeople. In addition, employed men report havingmore friends and attending more ‘get togethers’with significantly greater numbers of friends in an average week than employed women (Stokesand Levin, 1986). Yet men frequently report higherlevels of loneliness than women, regardless oftheir employment status, with the lack of intimacythey experience in their relationships accountingfor twice as much variance as for women (Brughaet al., 1990; Stokes and Levin, 1986). This lack of intimacy is exacerbated by the fact that men do not tend to talk to one another as a means ofcoping, thereby failing to utilize the resourcesavailable to them in a constructive or positive way(Greenglass, 1993a).

Work is an important source of close relation-ships for both men and women, often producing


intimate and lasting friendships that individualsfrequently do not have access to outside of thework environment (Duck, 1988). The social sup-port available at work has a direct effect on psy-chological well-being, with both working men andwomen reporting greater levels of social supportthan those who were either unemployed or non-working (Bolton and Oatley, 1987; Pugliesi, 1988).These social contacts are extremely important towomen, with the ‘company of others’ being sightedas the main non-financial reason for working byboth employed and unemployed women (Dex,1988). In contrast, men frequently report financialreasons as their main motivation for working(Pittman and Orthner, 1988), although a large-scale study of Holahan and Moos (1982) suggeststhat the work environment is a more salient sourceof social support for men than it is for women, yetit accounts for three times as much variance inpsychological ill-health of women than men.

The amount of active social support given bynon-family members reduces significantly duringunemployment, leaving individuals with smallernetworks of social contacts (Jackson, 1988). Inaddition, the quality of social contact frequentlychanges after job loss, becoming less intimate andmore casual (Stokes and Cochrane, 1984). Thischange may be precipitated by the unemployedperson themselves by withdrawing from relation-ships in terms of their disclosure levels about theirsituation. Avoidance, often from embarrassment,guilt, shame or a lack of money, can rapidly lead toincreased social isolation (Stokes and Cochrane,1984). Thus, at a time when social support is mostneeded, some of the most beneficial sources ofsupport may be removed (Duck, 1988).

Activities

The loss of employment means a loss of externallyimposed structure and enforced activity whichgives shape to people’s daily lives (Jahoda andRush, 1980). Activity fulfils three important func-tions: it maintains mental alertness; it wards offfears and doubts; and provides an objective and asense of achievement (Swinburne, 1981). Keepingactive after job loss becomes increasingly moredifficult, and the inability to replace the structureand level of meaningful activity can lead to apathyand depression. Two types of inactivity have beenidentified: not knowing what to do, and feelingtoo depressed to do anything (Swinburne, 1981).

The two work together and once in a state of in-activity, individuals become trapped in a negativecircle which is almost impossible to break.

The activities imposed at work range from thoseof a vacuous nature to those which are highly self-directed and self-structured. Fryer (1986) suggeststhat unemployment may free people to structuretheir own time in line with the needs of valued,chosen tasks and their own personal requirements.If this is so, then those who were previously em-ployed in repetitive manual positions would beexpected to gain more from unemployment thanthose who had held more self-directed positions.However, structuring one’s time in a constructiveand fulfilling manner may be an ability that thesecond group are likely to be more proficient atthan the first. Those who are characterized by in-dependence, internally developed self-structuringand self-directedness, are more likely to be pro-active in unemployment and more able to achievevalued purpose (Fryer, 1986).

The importance of activity during unemploy-ment has been shown in a number of studies whichhave found that one of the best single predictorsof mental health during unemployment waswhether or not a man felt his time was occupied,accounting for twice as much variance as thelength of time unemployed or age (Hepworth,1980; Kilpatrick and Trew, 1985). Men initiallywere able to fill their time with home improvementsor gardening but, even though they reported sub-sequent difficulty filling their time, they did notengage in domestic or leisure activities (O’Brien,1986). Once they became locked into a routine of inactivity they reported that they ‘just couldnot be bothered’ with anything, even job search(Hepworth, 1980).

The majority of studies which have investigatedthe effects of activity levels on mental healthduring unemployment have only included men.The exclusion of women from such research mayarise from the view that women’s domestic rolesprovide meaningful and fulfilling activities for all women, and these roles take the place of workroles during unemployment (Warr and Parry,1982). It has been suggested that, whilst there is atendency for unemployed women to fill their timewith domestic activities, unemployed female man-agers frequently reject these roles as they do notprovide the self-esteem that women managersneed (Duffield, 1994). There is also no support forthe assumption that women will engage in higher


levels of activity during unemployment than men.Wanberg and Marchese (1994) found no genderdifference in the activity levels of unemployedmen and women, with equal numbers of men andwomen reporting high, moderate and low levelsof time structure. These levels of activity wereagain associated with mental and physical well-being, and the degree of stress experienced by eachgroup was directly linked to the degree of timestructure they maintained.

Although the levels of activity pursued by un-employed men and women appear to be similar,the type of activity they engaged in is genderoriented. Leana and Feldman (1991) have foundgender differences in the focus of activities pur-sued by men and women. Men are more likelythan women to rely on problem-focused activities,i.e. behaviours that attempt to directly eliminatethe source of stress, such as job search, retrainingand relocation. In contrast, women are more likelyto rely on symptom-focused activities, i.e. behav-iours that attempt to eliminate the symptoms ofunemployment, such as seeking social support.Symptom-focused activities may be more success-ful in reducing some of the effects of unemploy-ment on mental well-being, e.g. anxiety, loneliness,but because they do not address the source of theproblem (i.e. job loss) they may result in longerperiods of unemployment.

Job search

The job search activities of the unemployed havereceived little attention, with few studies consid-ering the difficulties faced by individuals duringtheir search for work. The absence of research isparticularly noticeable in regard to unemployedwomen and managers, with the majority of workthat has been conducted concentrating on unem-ployed men in search of non-managerial positions.Job search is an integral part of the unemploy-ment experience, and unemployed managers arestrongly encouraged to use all methods of jobsearch, e.g. networking, speculative approachesto employers and employment agencies (Allan,1989). However, the effectiveness of an indi-vidual’s job search is not only dependent upontheir own motivation to gain employment, butupon their approach to job search, their access to alternative methods of job search and the bar-riers they encounter during their search foremployment.

Approaches to job search. Women depend muchmore upon formal methods of job search than men,reporting more frequent use of public advertise-ments and private agencies. They are also morelikely to find work via the Job Centre, a findingreflected in their tendency to hold more favour-able views about the Employment Service thanunemployed men. In contrast, men tend to makemore speculative approaches to employers, andutilize their personal and business networks moreextensively (Daniel, 1990). It has frequently beenargued that many of the differences in the experi-ences of men and women during unemploymentarise from the fact that women are not as com-mitted to finding work as men (Sheridan, 1994;Stokes and Cochrane, 1984). This appears toreceive support from the finding that, on average,women will spend longer out of work than men.However, this generalization conceals major dif-ferences between single women, married womenwithout children and married women with chil-dren. Single women find jobs more quickly thansingle men and, whilst the average duration formarried women without dependent children isslightly longer, it is not dissimilar to that for allmen. The most striking difference in the durationof unemployment is found in married womenwith dependent children, who spend significantlylonger periods out of work than any other group.In contrast, the duration of unemployment ex-perienced by men appears to be similar for allgroups, regardless of marital status and domesticresponsibilities.

Barriers to re-employment. It has been sug-gested that the most significant barrier faced byunemployed managers in their search for work, istheir age (Allan, 1989). Previous research withmale managers over 40 years of age has shownthat, whilst age discrimination is not perceived animportant factor in job loss, it is believed to be themain barrier preventing re-employment (Allan,1990). Unemployment can be a particularly wrench-ing experience for older managers, especially thosewho have had many years service with one organ-ization (Pittman and Orthner, 1988). The secondmost important barrier faced by male managers intheir search for work appears to be being over-qualified (Allan, 1990). These findings have led tothe recommendation that unemployed managers,especially those over 40, should expect to be offeredjobs at lower levels of responsibility and lower


levels of pay than those they had previously held(Allan, 1989; Newman, 1988). Unemployed man-agers are encouraged to see these jobs as an op-portunity to demonstrate their skills and abilitieswithin an organization, enabling them to forgenew management careers (Kirkpatrick, 1988).However, the recommendation that even a medi-ocre job is better than no job at all is not sup-ported by previous research, which suggests thatindividuals employed in jobs perceived to beunsatisfying are just as distressed as those who areunemployed (Winefield, Winefield, Tiggemannand Goldney, 1991).

In addition to age and being overqualified,unemployed male managers have reported fiveother significant barriers to successful job search(Allan, 1990). These are: the lack of jobs in theirarea of expertise; the general economic conditions;lack of jobs requiring their type of experience;lack of jobs with comparable salaries to their lastposition; and being unemployed too long. It isanticipated that the barriers encountered by un-employed male managers will also be encounteredby unemployed female managers, but in additionthey are likely to face barriers that are solelybased upon gender discrimination, an issue whichwarrants separate consideration.

Occupational gender stereotypes. Unemployedfemale managers have not only to deal with thesame financial and psychological consequences as unemployed male managers, they also have tocontend with the extra difficulties that the ‘thinkmanager, think male’ stereotype poses for jobsearch (Sheridan, 1994). Davies and Esseveld(1989) suggest that women’s experiences of un-employment and job search are strongly con-nected to the gender discrimination that they facein the workplace. This discrimination is particularlyprevalent in positions that have been traditionallymale dominated, such as management, wherewomen are confronted with additional barriers.These barriers not only have the potential to pre-vent unemployed women managers from securingemployment, but also serve to prevent womenhaving access to those positions.

Female managers experience many barriers toadvancement when they are employed, and it ispredicted that they will experience even greaterbarriers when seeking new employment. The mainbarrier to unemployed women managers is theperception that ‘male = manager’ (Sheridan, 1994).

The successful manager is aggressive, competitive,independent and self-reliant – he is not feminine.In a survey of 40 organizations, Hirsh and Bevan(1988) found that the phrases most commonlyused in management selection, to describe theattributes considered necessary to management,referred to masculine personality traits. Character-istics such as non-aggression, artistic inclinationand concern for the welfare of others are asso-ciated with non-related management traits, andare seen as weakness that would interfere witheffective business processes (Orser, 1994).

Gender segregation in the workplace persistsand individual jobs (including management) con-tinue to be highly gender-segregated, with thevast majority of organizational job titles beingheld by one sex or the other (Davidson, 1996;Jacobs, 1989). Job segregation means that womenare frequently inhibited from moving from pre-dominantly female to predominantly male occu-pations, because of their lack of experience in‘male jobs’ (Rosenfeld and Spenner, 1992). How-ever, this lack of experience may not necessarilybe seen by unemployed female managers as abarrier to their job search activities (Fielden andDavidson, 1996). It is anticipated that, in order to avoid many of the barriers they would have toface applying for male-dominated occupations,their job search activities are more likely to berestricted to predominately female occupations.Consequently, this minimizes the risk of rejectionand maximizes their chances of successful jobsearch (Fielden and Davidson, 1996).

In addition to prejudice and sexual stereo-typing, unemployed female managers also have tocope with other specific sources of stress whichhave been isolated as unique to female managers.These include: overt and indirect discriminationfrom employers and organizational climates; feel-ings of isolation; and being placed in the role of‘token women’ (Davidson and Cooper, 1992). It ispossible that these barriers to re-employment notonly make job search more stressful for unem-ployed female managers, but may mean that theyare less successful in their job search activitiesthan their male counterparts.

Recruitment. Employers are under a legal obliga-tion to ensure that their recruitment proceduresconform with the Sex Discrimination Act (1975),which states that employers must not discriminateor indicate any hidden intention to discriminate


against a potential employee on the grounds oftheir sex. The very fact that many jobs are stillviewed as ‘male’ or ‘female’ is often sufficient toprevent the non-dominant group from applyingfor those positions (Ray, 1990). Recruitment litera-ture often conforms to the typical ‘male’ man-ager stereotype. Job search guides often refer tomanagers as ‘he’ or ‘businessmen’ (Dudeney, 1980;Heidrick & Struggles, 1983; Scott and Rochester,1984). Illustrations used in advertisements fre-quently portray only men in managerial roles, withwomen portrayed in supportive non-managerialroles, and job specifications are often worded interms of ‘he/his’ (Davidson and Burke, 1994; Ray,1990). This may not necessarily reflect an inten-tion on the part of the organization to openlydiscriminate but it is, by implication, indirect dis-crimination and illegal. Discrimination of thisnature may result in fewer women applying forpositions and can be very effective in filteringwomen out of the recruitment process.

Indirect discrimination may also prevent womenfrom reaching either the interview or shortlistingstages, and there is clear evidence that similarlyqualified and experienced women receive lowerevaluations than men in managerial selectionsituations (Glick, Zion and Nelson, 1988). Thereason for this has been explained in terms of sex-role stereotyping and role incongruence. Inter-viewers frequently hold an image of what theyconsider to be an ‘ideal candidate’ and this imageis based upon the male model (Stuart, 1992). Thus,interviewers often assume that the managerialqualities they are seeking are more likely to befound in a man rather than a woman, with qual-ities such as cooperation and team work not beinggiven the same credit as aggression and com-petitiveness. This means that unemployed femalemanagers are much less likely to be invited tointerviews for managerial jobs than their malecounterparts, especially for upper-middle andsenior management positions. As interviews arethe most common selection process used by organ-izations for management selection and unstruc-tured interviews shown to be the least valid andreliable selection procedure (Robertson and Illes,1988), this may pose a significant barrier forunemployed female managers in their search foremployment. Those women who are successful inreaching the interview stage face yet further dis-crimination based on the male model of manage-ment, further decreasing their chances of success.

Interviewers tend to make attributions aboutthe candidate based upon their own ‘self schema’,and generally choose a candidate with whom theycan feel comfortable and who they feel will fitinto organizational networks, both formal andinformal (Duck, 1988). This means that the suc-cessful candidate usually reflects the main charac-teristics of the interviewer, with gender congruenceexerting significant influence on decision-making(Yoder, Crumpton and Zipp, 1989). As the ma-jority of senior managers, and therefore mostinterviewers, are male, unemployed female man-agers are at an obvious disadvantage. Interviewers,as Stephanie Allen, President of The AthenaGroup, so aptly says, ‘tend to pick guys likethemselves. If you aren’t a guy, it’s kind of hard’(Stuart, 1992). Thus, even when women are in-vited to interviews, they are less likely to succeedthan the male counterparts.

The issue of sex discrimination during therecruitment process is widely recognized, yet theprotection the Sex Discrimination Act (1975)provides women, is only effective when vacanciesare officially advertised. It is estimated that over50% of all jobs in senior management are neverformally advertised, but are filled through per-sonal contacts (Davidson and Cooper, 1992). Thevacancies that are formally advertised tend to bewith organizations that are committed to equalopportunities, and therefore unlikely to engagein any form of discrimination. This means that,although the legislation is in place, in realityunemployed female managers have little pro-tection against indirect or direct discriminationduring job search.

Networking. As many vacancies are neverformally advertised, the utilization of networksduring unemployment is recognized as one of the most important and effective approaches tojob search available to managers (Allan, 1989;Moskoff, 1993). Personal contacts function throughinformal business networks and can provideknowledge, information, support, advice, influ-ence and sponsors (Burke, Rothstein and Bristor,1995). However, the effectiveness of this form of job search depends not only on an individual’snetworking skills, but upon the power andinfluence of those with whom an individual hascontact via their network.

The networks of male and female managers aresubstantially different, in both their composition


and their degree of influence. Men’s networksmainly consist of men, and afford access to thosewho have influence over critical human-resourcedecisions, such as promotion and recruitment. In contrast, women’s networks contain a largernumber of women, with less influential members(Burke, Rothstein and Bristor, 1995; Ibarra,1993). Previous research has consistently shownthat managerial women are excluded from thebusiness networks that are available to their malecounterparts. This means that, because womenmanagers do not have access to the same informalbusiness networks as their male colleagues, theyare denied the same information and assistance(Arroba and James, 1989). Consequently, unem-ployed women managers are likely to be missingout on important job opportunities, as they areexcluded from a substantial number of unad-vertised managerial positions that are reservedsolely for male candidates.

Job skidding. Several large-scale studies havefound that, because of financial pressures or lackof job availability, many unemployed individualstake jobs that are of a lower level, both in termsof status and remuneration (Mallinckrodt, 1990;Rosen and College, 1987). This ‘job skidding’ isexperienced by both men and women. However,there is considerable evidence that women aremore likely to take lower status jobs and are lesslikely to obtain a salary commensurate with theirprevious experience and education than their malecounterparts (Mallinckrodt, 1990; Stroh, Brettand Reilly, 1992). This difference in the degree of‘job skidding’ encountered by unemployed menand women may arise for a number of reasons.

First, men continue to believe that their ad-equacy as a provider is indicated by their incomelevel. Pittman and Orthner (1988), in a majorstudy of job commitment, found that a man’sperception of income adequacy rested primarilywith his own contribution to the family’s income,regardless of whether his partner worked full orpart-time. In contrast, women do not report incomeas their primary reason for entering a career,although salary level does play a significant rolein job satisfaction (Loscocco and Spitze, 1991).These findings suggest that men’s commitment tothe traditional role of provider may be the drivingforce during their job search, whereas womenmay be more influenced by a sense of perceivedfit between themselves, their family circumstances

and the prospective organization (Pittman andOrthner, 1988).

Second, the sense of fit experienced by anindividual is considerably affected by the percep-tion of adequate remuneration, or reward equity,for the position in question, and these perceptionsare affected by previous experience and marketforces (Loscocco and Spitze, 1991). It has beensuggested that women have lower pay expect-ations and are easily satisfied with lower salaries,explaining why salaries in female-dominatedoccupations tend to be poorer than those in male-dominated occupations (Rubery and Fagan, 1993;Stevens, Bavetta and Gist, 1993). However, the evi-dence does not consistently support the assump-tion that women do not value pay as strongly asmen. In their large scale study (n = 2706)Loscocco and Spitze (1991) found that organ-izational pay differentials accounted for twice asmuch of the variance in the pay satisfaction ofwomen as of men. This indicates that women notonly value pay levels, but are more likely to beadversely affected by pay differentials in organ-izations than their male counterparts.

It should also be noted that research indicatesthat one of the reasons women receive lowersalaries is because they have poorer negotiatingskills than their male counterparts (Stevens,Bavetta and Gist, 1993). Therefore, a combinationof all these factors may lead unemployed femalemanagers to feel undervalued and second-rate,affecting their self-image and self-worth. Thismay serve to further reduce their self-confidence,resulting in unemployed female managers becom-ing increasingly unable to pursue jobs at a similarlevel to those they had previously held.

Unsuccessful job search. A major determinantof well-being during unemployment is the experi-ence of job search, an individual’s need for a joband their expectations that job-seeking will leadto re-employment (Vinokur and Caplan, 1987).These expectations appear to be influenced bytwo main factors; an individual’s attributionalstyle in dealing with unsuccessful job search andthe affirmative support of job-seeking behavioursby significant others, both accounting for 10% ofthe variance in psychological well-being (Ostelland Divers, 1987; Vinokur and Caplan, 1987)(previously discussed in social support section).

Attribution research focuses on the nature andconsequences of causal attributions in terms of


the success and failure experienced by individuals,and how those attributions can lead to a state oflearned helplessness and depression (Petersonand Seligman, 1987; Weiner, 1986). An individual’sattributional style is defined by the way they attri-bute causality in order to interpret events, and sofar three styles have been identified (Peterson,Schwartz and Seligman, 1981). First, there is oneexternal style, where a person tends to attributethe causation of events to external or temporaryevents, such as social or economic circumstances.There are also two internal styles: a behaviouralstyle which is where an individual attributes anoutcome to their own behaviour, and a charac-terological style which is where an individualattributes outcome to their character rather thantheir actual actions.

Those who make external or behavioural attri-butions for negative events, such as unsuccessfuljob search, generally have better mental healththan those who make characterological attribu-tions (Peterson and Seligman, 1987). Femalemanagers tend to make characterological attribu-tions when they are unsuccessful, whereas malemanagers tend to make behavioural or externalattributions to explain their lack of success(Rosenthal, Guest and Peccei, 1996; Rothblumand Cole, 1988). This means that unemployed fe-male managers are likely to attribute unsuccessfuljob search to personality characteristics that are relatively durable and unchanging, whereasunemployed male managers are more likely toattribute unsuccessful job search to actions whichcould be changed or altered relatively easily tomeet the demands of the situation. Thus, it wouldbe anticipated that unemployed female managerswill suffer greater negative affect, in terms of poorermental health, from unsuccessful job search, thantheir male counterparts.

As the number of managers chasing the samepositions rises, it is inevitable that both unem-ployed male and female managers will have todeal with increasing levels of unsuccessful jobsearch. Although male and female managers areused to dealing with heavy competition for man-agerial positions, their reactions to unsuccessfuljob search in terms of attribution are likely to differconsiderably. The research suggests that unem-ployed female managers are more likely thantheir male counterparts to suffer poorer mentalhealth as a result of unsuccessful job search, andare less likely to receive effective support.

Intervening variables

Individuals differ in the way they perceive andreact to potential stressors. It is therefore import-ant to consider those aspects of an individual’senvironment or personality that change the likeli-hood that a stressor or set of stressors will increasethe strain they experience. These interveningvariables are referred to in the stress literature asmediators and moderators, with mediators pro-ducing additive effects and moderators producinginteractive effects (Parkes, 1994). Mediatorsrelate the stressor to dysfunctioning but, althoughthey are directly and simultaneously related tothe outcome measure, they contribute independ-ently to the overall variance. Thus, the direct rela-tionship between the stressor and stress outcomebreaks down when the mediator is removed. Incontrast, moderators change the empirical rela-tionship between independent and dependentvariables, altering the magnitude and direction ofthe effect of one variable on another (Frese andZapf, 1988). The most important moderators inunemployment stress research are demographicand personality-type factors, e.g. social support,coping and control. Social support may be viewedas a demographic variable because it relies on theactual availability of family/spousal support.However, the majority of research tends to viewsocial support as a personality-type factor, as theneed for support and the perception of its avail-ability are rooted in the individual rather thantheir environment (Ostell and Divers, 1987).People lacking social support tend to showgreater stress reactions to unemployment thanthose with a high degree of social support. By wayof a contrast, a mediator links directly sources ofstress with outcomes, e.g. stressors which decreasethe degree of social support available in turn influ-ence the level of depression experienced duringunemployment. The direct relationship betweenthe stressor and depression breaks down whenthe mediator is removed, or in this case when socialsupport is returned. Mediators include socialrelationships, age and employment commitment.

Demographic factors

Research into the psychological impact of unem-ployment has clearly indicated that unemploymenthas negative consequences for the psychological


and physical well-being of most individuals. How-ever, it is not a uniform experience and it shouldbe noted that not all individuals react negativelyto job loss. Some individuals actually view unem-ployment as a positive event which provides anopportunity to develop personal interests and to pursue better employment positions (O’Brien,1986). The effects of unemployment, and the wayin which people cope with the unemploymentexperience, are determined by a complex set ofvariables that can exacerbate or reduce its impact(Feather, 1992).

Several principal mediating factors have beenidentified which fall into two broad categories:demographic and personal variables, and environ-mental factors. Demographic and personal vari-ables include; age, gender, social relationships,length of time unemployed, employment commit-ment and individual coping strategies. Environ-mental factors include; local unemployment levels,availability of social support, opportunities forinterpersonal contact, opportunities for skill use,and the availability of money (Warr, Jackson andBanks, 1988). Some of these areas are of par-ticular importance and will be given separateconsideration.

Age

Numerous studies have linked the age of un-employed people to depressive effects and acurvilinear association between age and mentalhealth during unemployment has been found byseveral researchers (Hepworth, 1980; Warr andJackson, 1984), but the evidence is not conclusive.Rowley and Feather (1987) found that, apartfrom financial strain, there was little differencebetween age groups and the psychological effectsof unemployment. In contrast, Wooton, Sulzer andCornwell (1994) suggest that age is predictive ofa variety of career and employment expectancies,especially relating to re-employment for whichage accounts for 51% of the variance, which act asimportant moderators between age and stress-related effects of job loss. They concluded that theinability to fulfil these expectancies, because ofreducing job opportunities, means that increasingage constitutes a substantial risk in terms of men-tal health. This effect is compounded as reducedexpectancies also affect an individual’s willingnessto participate in the job-search process (Kanferand Hulin, 1985).

Employment commitment

In addition to vocational expectancies, employ-ment commitment has also been found to act as amoderating factor on psychological distress duringunemployment. The desire for work is inverselyrelated to psychological well-being, as the desirefor employment increases so affective well-beingand self-esteem decreases (Jackson and Warr, 1987;Winefield and Tiggemann, 1994). A strong per-sonal commitment to work in part reflects the needto earn money, but it also reflects non-financialreasons for wanting to work. Pittman and Orthner(1988) found that the employment commitmentof men, whilst influenced by non-financial con-siderations, was based upon their income needs.In contrast, women’s employment commitment isless influenced by financial considerations, butbased upon personal needs, accounting for 49%of the variance in employment commitment com-pared to 37% for men. It is this personal saliencewhich has repeatedly been associated with adverseeffects during unemployment, the greater the non-financial commitment the more greater the risks tomental health (Ullah, Banks and Warr, 1985).

Length of time unemployed

Employment commitment, like many otheraspects of unemployment, is frequently affectedby the length of time an individual has been un-employed. Previous research has shown that thedecline in mental and physical well-being experi-enced by individuals is substantial in the first sixmonths following job loss (Jackson and Warr, 1987;Rowley and Feather, 1987). In the early stages ofunemployment, uncertainty may lead to highlevels of stress, but it has been suggested that theresulting rate of decline reaches a plateau after six months. Unemployed individuals continue toremain less mentally healthy, but they experiencea much reduced rate of decline in terms of physicaland psychological well-being. This psychologicaladjustment is attained by individuals establishingnew routines at lower levels of activity, by themaintenance of lower levels of expenditure andby the avoidance of threatening situations. Thiscan result in unemployed managers becomingincreasingly passive and accepting of their situ-ation and, whilst this may provide some protectionagainst further decline in psychological well-being,it inhibits job search and their ‘rehabilitation’ into


a managerial position (Duffield, 1994). In con-trast, others have predicted that as the effects of unemployment do decline but are cumulative,and as stress increases, via financial strain and jobcommitment and so on, the impact on the mentaland physical well-being of individuals will begreater, rather than less, as the length of unem-ployment increases (Fleming et al., 1984).

The length of time an individual is unemployedis dependent upon many factors, but one of themain influences is the prevailing levels of localunemployment (Townsend, 1992). There is agreat deal of local and regional variation in levelsof unemployment and it has been suggested thathigh levels of local unemployment are likely tohave several beneficial effects (Jackson and Warr,1987). These levels have been found to moderatethe impact of unemployment via Festinger’s (1954)social comparison theory. Individuals who live inareas of high unemployment are more likely toperceive greater similarity between themselves andother unemployed people, thereby maintainingself-esteem and self-worth (Sheeran, Abrams and Orbell, 1995). Individuals also experience lessself-blame, as they perceive less personal controlover the circumstances surrounding their job loss.However, this can have adverse effects if indi-viduals do not feel a sense of control over theirfuture employment prospects.

Personal factorsSelf

The impact of job loss and an individual’ssubsequent experiences of unemployment aremoderated by a number of factors including; self-concept, self-esteem, self-efficacy, perceivedpersonal control, coping resources and copingstrategies. These components have an interactiveeffect, as well as each exerting a specific influence,on an individual’s psychological well-being (Shereret al., 1982). However, as the psychological ef-fects on unemployed male and female managersare likely to vary substantially depending uponthe above factors, the implications of each ofthese factors will be considered separately.

Self-concept and self-esteem

According to Burns (1980) ‘self-concept is acomposite image of what we think we are, what

we think others think of us and what we wouldlike to be’. An individual’s self-concept containstheir experiences of their own body, their posses-sions, their family, their motive structure, drivestatus, defences and the feelings of pride and shameassociated with these facets (Bala and Lakshmi,1992). Managers tend to view work as more cen-tral to their lives than do other workers and are likely to obtain a significant proportion oftheir self-image, or self-concept, from their work(Kaufman, 1982). The effect of job loss on somemanagers is ‘ego shattering’, leading to bitterness,loneliness, helplessness, despondency and a loss ofself respect (Fielden and Davidson, 1996; Mines,1979), although it has been suggested that thedegree of psychological devastation experienceddoes appear to be connected with the level ofprestige associated with an individual’s previousposition. Research has shown that unemployedmale managers, at middle and senior levels, fre-quently retain their professional identity duringunemployment, enabling them to maintain theirself-esteem and self-worth (Hartley, 1980a). Thiscontradicts the frequently accepted generalizationthat unemployment leads to lower self-esteem,but Hartley (1980a) claims that this assumptionmay be inaccurate because it fails to take accountof individual reactions to unemployment. Aswomen tend to hold less prestigious managementpositions than their male counterparts, it is morelikely that unemployed female managers willexperience greater negative affectivity duringunemployment than male managers.

The impact of unemployment on an individual’sself-concept not only results from a possible lossof social identity and social status, but also fromthe identity they gain from being an unemployedperson (Rosenberg and Kaplan, 1982). Althoughthe social stigma associated with unemploymenthas decreased as the number of unemployedwhite-collar workers has increased, it does stillexist. This affects how individuals view themselvesand how they feel others view them (Rosenbergand Kaplan, 1982). Research has shown that, com-pared with unemployed men, unemployed womenbelieve that other people’s views of them aresignificantly more negative (p , 0.001) and theseviews, in general, remain constant during unem-ployment (Sheeran and Abraham, 1994). As work-ing women held more positive reflected appraisalsthan working men, the effect of unemploymenton their self-concept appears to be substantial


(Bala and Lakshmi, 1992). There are several pos-sible reasons why this gender difference may arise:

1 work may be more central to women’s self-concept;

2 unemployed women do not have the samestatus as unemployed men;

3 society does not place the same importance onwomen’s careers thereby undermining theirneed to return to work;

4 women’s self-concept has or might have agreater degree of social determination linkedto pressures during socialization, where girlsseem to be required to conform to sociallyacceptable behaviours, norms, and so on, morethan boys.

Although self-esteem is intrinsically linked toself-concept, its influence on an individual’s psy-chological well-being is to some degree inde-pendent of self-concept, and therefore warrantsseparate consideration (Jex, Cvetanovski andAllen, 1994). Self-esteem is generally defined asthe degree to which we like to value ourselves andmay provide a buffer from the negative psycho-logical impact of unemployment. Moreover, a loss of self-esteem has frequently been associatedwith acute psychological distress experiencedduring unemployment (Kelvin and Jarrett, 1985).Previous research has shown that unemploymentfrequently results in lower self-esteem and increasedstress, which places individuals at considerablerisk – as unemployment progresses self-esteemtends to decrease, whilst self-dissatisfaction, self-rejection, and self-contempt tend to increase(Kates, Greiff and Hagan, 1990). However, whilstprevious studies have recognized the importanceof individual differences in people’s reaction tounemployment, only a few recent studies haveidentified important gender differences. Theevidence suggests that for men, self-esteem hasno moderating effect between unemploymentand anxiety, depression and life-satisfaction (Jex,Cvetanovski and Allen, 1994). In contrast, forwomen unemployment is more strongly asso-ciated with anxiety and depression amongst thosereporting low levels of self-esteem, accounting for22% and 21% of the variance respectively. Thisdifference may arise for a number of reasons:

1 women are more likely to blame themselvesfor being unemployed;

2 the general tendency of women to attributefailure to internal factors;

3 women value social relationships more thanmen but doubt their ability to replace thosesocial relationships that may have been lostdue to unemployment.

Thus, women are more likely to suffer lowerlevels of self-esteem during unemployment, re-sulting in increased levels of depression andanxiety, than their male counterparts.

The effect of unemployment on the self-esteemof managers may also be subject to these genderdifferences. Hartley (1980a) found that the self-esteem of male managers, unlike male blue-collarworkers, does not decline during unemployment,although it can be temporarily depressed by certainevents. This may be because the global self-esteemof male managers is strong enough to withstand adecrease of self-esteem in the domain-specific areaof employment. This approach appears to bufferthe impact of unemployment on male managerswho, in comparison with employed managers, donot report high levels of anxiety, tension or ap-prehension (Hartley, 1980a). In contrast, femalemanagers do experience a decline in self-esteemduring unemployment and the associated conse-quences, i.e. loss of confidence, loss of self-worthand feelings of inadequacy (Fielden andDavidson, 1996). This loss of self-esteem appearsto affect the global self-esteem of unemployedfemale managers, as opposed to just the domain-specific self-esteem associated with employment.Thus, it is anticipated that unemployed femalemanagers may experience substantially greaternegative psychological effects than unemployedmale managers, resulting from significantly lowerlevels of self-esteem.

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy has been defined as the belief inone’s ability to perform a task, or more specific-ally to execute a specified behaviour successfully(Bandura, 1982). According to this theory twotypes of expectancies exert powerful influenceson behaviour: outcome expectancy – the belief thatcertain behaviours will lead to certain outcomes,and self-efficacy expectancy – the belief that onecan successfully perform the behaviours in ques-tion (Maddux, Sherer and Rogers, 1982). Theseexpectancies influence the choice of activities


people will engage in, the amount of effort theywill expend and how long they will persist in theface of obstacles or aversive experiences. Thosewith a poor sense of self-efficacy will doubt their own capabilities, and as these doubts growthey are likely to reduce their efforts or give upaltogether, whereas those with a strong sense ofself-efficacy will exert the greatest effort to masterthe challenges, maintaining high levels of perform-ance (Bandura, 1982). Thus, unemployed managerswith low levels of self-efficacy are increasinglyless likely to engage in job-search behaviours, andconsequently more likely to experience higherlevels of depression and lower levels of self-esteem (Wells-Parker, Miller and Topping, 1990).

Wells-Parker, Miller and Topping (1990) foundthat for women, outcome expectancies were themain predictors of active or passive coping orienta-tions in relation to occupational roles, accountingfor 37% of the variance. This may mean that indi-viduals are reluctant to apply for positions whichthey feel they are unlikely to attain, a situationespecially relevant to unemployed female man-agers who may perceive many job advertisementsas male oriented. However, in a similar sizedstudy, Vianen and Keizer (1996) found that out-come expectancy was not predictive of an indi-vidual’s intention to pursue a managerial position,in which self-efficacy plays the central role. Theysuggest that the more experienced a person is inmanagement tasks the greater their self-efficacyand the greater the motivation to secure a man-agement position. In addition, psychological arousal(tension) reduces self-efficacy for managementtasks, which prevents an individual from assuminga managerial position. Compared to men, womentend to have less experience of managerial tasks,because their jobs are more task restricted, theyreceive less verbal support, and experiencegreater psychological tension (Vianen and Keizer,1996). As a consequence their self-efficacy andintention to assume a managerial job is lower thanthat of their male counterparts. This has significantimplications for unemployed female managerswho may be less likely to apply for managerialpositions that they do not feel fully comply withtheir previous experience.

Personal control

The way in which individuals perceive their situ-ation and attribute causes of events is dependent

upon the degree of personal control they experi-ence. According to Rotter (1966) people havegeneralized expectancies regarding whether ornot their actions will lead to internal or externalcontrol of reinforcements. The generalized expect-ancy of internal control refers to the perception ofevents, whether positive or negative, as being aconsequence of one’s own action and therebypotentially under personal control. In contrast,the generalized expectancy of external controlrefers to the perception of positive or negativeevents as being unrelated to one’s own behaviourand therefore beyond personal control (Lefcourt,1982). Although people tend to be classified as‘internals’ or ‘externals’, the concept is not dichot-omous but a continuum ranging from highlyinternal to highly external (Weiten, 1989).

In general, people with an internal locus of con-trol tend to develop fewer psychological disordersthan those with an external locus of control (Weiten,1989). Internals tend to perceive less stress,employ more task-centred coping behaviours andemploy fewer emotion-centred behaviours thanexternals (Anderson, 1977). Previous researchhas suggested that women are more likely toemploy emotion-centred behaviours and reportlower levels of internal control, whereas mentend to employ more task-centred behavioursand report higher levels of internal control (Rim,1987; Vingerhoets and Van Heck, 1990). This mayindicate that women will be more likely to sufferfrom poorer psychological well-being during un-employment. However, Peterson and Seligman(1987) suggest that there are some situationswhere an external orientation may be morebeneficial. Individuals who explain the occur-rence of negative events, such as unemployment,in terms of external, unstable and specific causesare less likely to suffer psychological distressthan those making internal, stable and globalattributions.

Unemployment is often seen as representing an uncontrollable state of affairs and, given thefact that most managers lose their jobs primarilybecause of factors beyond their control, an ex-ternal orientation following job loss may protectindividuals from the initial effects of unemploy-ment on well-being. However, the evidence doesnot appear to support this view. Swinburne (1981)found that those who perceived some degree ofcontrol in regard to their job loss experiencedfewer negative feelings than those who felt that


they had no control over what had happened to them. Those who felt least personal controlover their job loss experienced more distress and were particularly affected by rejection duringjob search – they tended to have lower self-confidence and a decreased receptivity to employ-ment (Baubion-Broye, Megemont and Sellinger,1989). In contrast, internal locus of control isassociated with lower levels of anxiety and de-pression, and higher levels of self-esteem and lifesatisfaction (Cvetanovski and Jex, 1994). Previousresearch has shown that, in general, individualsemployed in supervisory and managementpositions score higher on internal locus of controlthan those working in non-supervisory positions(Kapalka and Lachenmeyer, 1988; Mellinger andErdwins, 1985; St-Yves et al., 1989). Thus, it maybe anticipated that unemployed managers willperceive relatively higher degrees of personalcontrol and, as a result, will be more intrinsicallymotivated in their job search, although they mayverbalize external causes to explain or defendthemselves against actual or expected failuresduring job search (Rotter, 1966).

Coping strategies

Coping is generally defined as constantly chang-ing cognitive and behavioural efforts to managethe internal and external demands of transactionsthat tax or exceed a person’s resources (Latack,Kinicki and Prussia, 1995). Coping with job lossand unemployment, therefore, refers to cognitiveand behavioural efforts to manage the demandsfaced by an individual as a result of their situ-ation. The process of coping with stressful events,such as unemployment, is complex and highlydynamic and is directed toward moderating theimpact of such events on an individual’s physical,social and emotional functioning. The coping strat-egies adopted by an individual are determined bya number of factors including: personality vari-ables (e.g. personal control and type-A behaviourpatterns), demographic factors (e.g. age and gen-der), socio-demographic factors (e.g. educationand income) and availability of coping resources(e.g. self-esteem and experience) (Gist andMitchell, 1992; Holahan and Moos, 1987).

Vingerhoets and Van Heck (1990) found thatmen are more inclined to use active problem-focused coping strategies, accounting for 49% of the variance in reported stress levels; they

plan and rationalize their actions, they engage in positive thinking, perseverance, self-adaptationand personal growth. In contrast, women preferemotional-focused solutions, accounting for 44%of the variance in stress levels; they engage in self-blame and wishful thinking, they seek socialsupport and a forum for the expression of theiremotions. However, women are more likely toengage in active-behavioural coping than men, i.e. they attempt to deal directly with the problemand its effects by taking positive action (Astor-Dubin and Hammen, 1984). Thus, although unem-ployed female managers may suffer from increasedpsychological and psychosomatic symptoms, theyare more likely to deal with the problems ofunemployment and job search than their malecounterparts. Women are more likely to engage in behaviours that involve external recognition,allowing others to label and offer help with theirproblems, whereas men tend to deal with theirproblems internally (Astor-Dubin and Hammen,1984). Unemployed female managers, who aremost likely to employ emotional-focused copingstrategies, will have to deal with expectations and goals of significant others in conjunction withtheir own objectives. Conflict may arise wherethese approaches differ and significant others areperceived as unsupportive (Ratcliff and Brogden,1988). If unemployed female managers can notsuccessfully deal with this conflict they may beunable to find an effective means of coping withtheir situation, resulting in poorer psychologicalwell-being, lower self-confidence and lower self-esteem (Holahan and Moos, 1987; Oakland andOstell, 1996).

Type-A behaviour pattern

Unemployed female managers may not only befaced with different sources of stress from theirmale counterparts, because of their tendencytowards emotional-focused coping behaviours,but research suggests that their ability to copewith stress may also be adversely affected by theirtendency toward type-A behaviour patterns(Greenglass, 1993b). Type-A behaviour refers tothe overall style of behaviour that is observed inpeople who are excessively time-conscious, aggres-sive, competitive, ambitious and hard-driving, and has been found to be a significant predictor of stress-related illness (Edwards, Baglioni andCooper, 1990; Greenglass, 1993b). It has been


reported that type-A behaviour patterns are oftenelicited by environmental stressors or challenges.Type-A individuals are particularly challenged bysituations in which their control is threatened,and their primary response in such situations isto struggle to aggressively exert and maintaincontrol over their environment (Caplan, 1983).This struggle may be exacerbated by unsuccessfuljob search, which prevents the individual fromregaining control of their employment situation.Thus, individuals who display type-A behaviourpatterns may experience high levels of stress fol-lowing job loss, which continue to increase as thelength of time they are unemployed increases.

The effect of type-A behaviour patterns onpsychological and psychosomatic symptoms isstrongly influenced by the type of coping strategyemployed, accounting for over 10% of the vari-ance (Edwards, Baglioni and Cooper, 1990).Problem-focused coping in conjunction with type-A behaviour results in a decrease in symptoms,whereas emotional-focused coping in conjunctionwith type-A behaviour results in an increase insymptoms. Although not all studies have foundsignificant gender differences in type-A behaviour,a number of studies have revealed that womenmanagers tend to display higher levels of type-Abehaviour than their male counterparts (Davidsonand Cooper, 1987; Rees and Cooper, 1992). Thisbehavioural characteristic may mean that unem-ployed female managers will suffer poorer mentaland physical well-being than unemployed malemanagers, even if they both engage in problem-focused coping strategies.

Stress outcomes: gender similarities anddifferences in psychological, physicaland behavioural stress outcomes

It is widely recognized that the stress of unem-ployment results in impaired psychological andphysical well-being in both men and women,although there is a great deal of conflict in theliterature regarding the extent of this impairmentexperienced by women. This conflict arises fromoutdated stereotypical views and a lack of under-standing surrounding the importance of gender inexplaining differences in stress outcomes (Walters,1993). Jick and Mitz (1985) suggest that womenexperience psychological stress (e.g. depression,emotional discomfort) more frequently than men,

whereas men experience physiological stress (e.g.coronary heart disease) more frequently thanwomen. However, recent large-scale research hasindicated that this latter belief is unfounded, andthe evidence suggests that the links between stressand heart disease are now major concerns for bothmen and women (Elliott, 1995; Kritz-Silverstein,Wingard and Barrett-Connor, 1992).

One of the most consistent results in mental-health surveys is that women report significantlymore symptoms than men (Tousignant, Brosseauand Tremblay, 1987). The evidence suggests thatthis difference may arise for one or more of thefollowing reasons:

1 women are more willing to tell their symptomsto others, either because of greater social ac-ceptance of sickness among women or greaterconcern for health among women;

2 the ‘vocabulary of illness’ differs from menand women, women elaborate more abouttheir symptoms often discussing the psycho-logical effects of their symptoms not just thephysical outcomes;

3 women genuinely experience poorer mentalhealth than men (Tousignant, Brosseau andTremblay, 1987; Verbrugge, 1985).

Gender differences have frequently beenreported in relation to occupational stress, andprevious research has indicated that femalemanagers react differently to male managers interms of reported stress outcomes (Davidson,Cooper and Baldini, 1995). Stress-related illnesstends to manifest itself in terms of physical ill-health for male executives, whereas for femaleexecutives it is more likely to develop into mentalill-health (Cooper and Melhuish, 1984).

The deleterious behavioural consequences ofstress, in terms of smoking and drinking, also dif-fer between men and women. In general, womenare more likely to smoke than men regardless ofemployment status and, whilst unemployment isassociated with an overall increase in the smokinglevels of both men and women, the increase in the smoking levels of women is significantlyhigher than that of men during unemployment(Hammarstrom and Janlert, 1994). In contrast,health problems due to drink are more frequentlyreported amongst unemployed men than theiremployed counterparts, whereas unemployedwomen report fewer drinking problems than their


employed counterparts (Lahelma, Kangas andManderbacka, 1995).

Stress outcomes and unemployed men

Previous research has consistently identifiednegative mental and physical outcomes resultingfrom unemployment. Following job loss, indi-viduals frequently experience shame, anger, fearof the future, frustration and disillusionment.Viinamaki et al. (1994) found that continuingunemployment represents a significant risk tomental health, and unemployed people are fre-quently found to experience higher levels ofdepression, anxiety, and distress, in conjunctionwith lower self-esteem and confidence (DeFrankand Ivancevich, 1986; Warr, Jackson and Banks,1988). Several studies have found that the preva-lence of depressive illness is significantly higher inunemployed men than the general population(Eales, 1988; Melville et al., 1985). In some casesthis decline in mental well-being is substantial,and the rates of suicide and parasuicide have beenfound to be higher in unemployed men (Moser,Fox and Jones, 1984; Platt and Kreitman, 1984).

The effects of chronic stress experienced due tojob loss and continuing unemployment, along withsymptoms of somatization and minor psychiatricdisturbances, frequently lead to a decline in phys-ical well-being (Fleming et al., 1984). Unemployedmen have been found to make significantly morevisits to their doctor, increase their use of medicaldrugs and spend more days confined to bedthrough sickness than employed men (Layton,1986; Linn, Sandifer and Stein, 1985). The types ofproblem presented, e.g. colds, rashes, respiratoryproblems and gastrointestinal complaints sup-port the belief that the illnesses experienced areemotionally derived via the stress response, ratherthan having an identifiable physical basis (Linn,Sandifer and Stein, 1985).

The physical repercussions of unemploymentmay not necessarily be of significance during theperiod of unemployment, with individuals experi-encing merely feelings of being unwell rather thanexperiencing serious illness. Westcott (1984) foundthat although significantly more unemployed menreported illness than employed men, their symp-toms were not severe enough to warrant seekingmedical advice. However, this lack of apparentillness may be disturbingly deceptive as demon-strated by the findings of the extensive British

Regional Heart Study (Shaper and Cook, 1984).This study showed that, regardless of whether ornot an individual considered themselves well,unemployed males showed evidence of excessiverates of chronic respiratory disease and ischaemicheart disease. These findings are concurrent withother studies which have found elevated levels ofcatecholamines in unemployed men. These levels,which increase with the length of unemployment,are linked with interior blood vessel damage, cardio-vascular disorders, increased blood pressure anddecreases in immune functioning (Fleming et al.,1984).

Stress outcomes and unemployed women

Some studies have proposed that women will beless affected by the impact of unemployment thanmen, as women are better able to cope with beingwithout paid employment (Kasl and Cobb, 1979).However, the limited research that has beenconducted does not provide support for thesestereotypical views. Several studies have foundhousewives to experience higher levels of psycho-logical distress than employed women who areunable to maintain their mental well-being throughdomestic roles (Cleary and Mechanic, 1983;Elliott and Huppert, 1991). Schwartzberg andDytell (1989) found that although work overloaddid predict poorer psychological well-being forboth employed and non-employed women, theinteraction between work overload and the lackof challenge perceived by non-employed womenin their roles as housewife and/or mother, had asignificant impact on their well-being (p , 0.001).Without the challenges experienced by femalemanagers in their work roles they may be deprivedof ‘hardiness’, a syndrome of personal beliefs andqualities that influence behaviour, which mayprotect them from other sources of stress, such asrole overload (Kobasa, 1979). Thus, if employ-ment is removed, through job loss, women mayfind themselves exposed to additional sources ofstress at a time when their ability to cope withthose stressors is eroded. This could have a seri-ous effect on both women’s physical and psycho-logical well-being in addition to the effects ofunemployment experienced by men. In addition,the findings of a longitudinal study by Kirtz-Silverstein et al. (1992) suggest that unemployedwomen suffer poorer physical health and havemore unfavourable heart-disease risk factors


than employed women. Moreover, the impact ofunemployment on women appears to be so severethat even after re-employment the symptoms ofdepression do not disappear as they do in men(Dew, Bromet and Penkower, 1992; Warr andJackson, 1987). Job loss initiates a distress that isfuelled by uncertainty and insecurity that, forwomen, can not be relieved by simply obtaining anew job. Dew, Bromet and Penkower (1992)concluded that the experience of job loss not onlyleads to feelings of depression, apathy and with-drawal in women, it is also more devastating forwomen than for men. Thus, even though many ofthe assumptions made about the impact of unem-ployment on women have no factual basis, theycontinue to be used to devalue women’s experi-ences of unemployment and have successfullycontributed to the under-researching into theexperiences of unemployed women.

Comparative stress effects of unemployment on men and women

Few studies have compared the impact of unem-ployment upon males and females. Those thathave are mostly confined to the consequences ofunemployment, in terms of physical and psycho-logical well-being, rather than exploring the experi-ences of men and women during unemploymentin terms of the sources of stress they encounterand how they deal with those stressors. A fewrelatively small studies claim that unemploymenthas a significantly greater impact on the well-being of men, who experience higher levels of de-pressive affect and anxiety than women (Perrucciet al., 1985; Shamir, 1985). Overall findings areinconsistent, with many studies reporting nosignificant differences in the overall effects ofunemployment on the mental and physical well-being of men and women. However, in the pastdecade, a growing body of literature has acknow-ledged that certain aspects of unemployment areexperienced differently by each sex (Ensmingerand Celentano, 1990; Leana and Feldman, 1991;Stokes and Cochrane, 1984). For example, loneli-ness and disadvantageous consequences are im-portant mediators in the mental health of men,accounting for 25% of the explained variance,whereas network factors are more important forthe psychological well-being of women, accountingfor 24% of the explained variance (Ensmingerand Celentano, 1990; Leeflang, Klien-Hesselink

and Spruit, 1992; Winefeld and Tiggemann, 1985). In addition, men and women differ in the way inwhich they are affected by financial worries. Mentend to be more affected by the indirect conse-quences of financial deprivation, e.g. loss of in-come status, whereas women are most affected bythe direct consequences of financial deprivation,e.g. paying bills (Leeflang, Klien-Hesselink andSpruit, 1992).

The main difference found between men andwomen in their reactions to unemployment hasbeen linked to their domestic circumstances(Daniel, 1990). The greatest disparity found in the impact of unemployment on psychologicalwell-being is between single men and women,with single women suffering poorer mental healththan single men, although they find jobs morequickly. This contrast with the reaction of womenwho had dependent children who took longer tofind work, a situation often attributed to a lack of interest or commitment to work. However, asmany women take larger pay cuts in order toreturn to work, this time delay is more likely to bea product of poor child-care provision providedby employers, the cost and lack of external child-care and the lack of flexible working patternsoffered by employers (Daniel, 1990).

The evidence suggests that there may be somedifferences in the reaction of men and women tounemployment, which arise from differences intheir role configuration rather than from intrinsicgender differences (Ensminger and Celentano,1990). Further support for this belief comes fromresearch into the impact of job loss on self-concept. Stokes and Cochrane (1984) found thatthe adverse psychological effects of unemploy-ment were not restricted to a component of self-concept that was solely dependent uponemployment status for evaluation, but precipitatea generalized perception of the self. The impact ofunemployment on this generalization appears tobe much greater for women than it does for men.Employed women hold more positive reflectedappraisals than men, whereas unemployed womenhold significantly poorer reflected appraisals thanunemployed men, believing that other people’sviews of them are generally negative (Sheeranand Abraham, 1994). This disparity in reflectedappraisals may lead to the expectation that un-employed women would experience significantlypoorer mental well-being than employed women,whereas a lesser effect would be expected between


employed and unemployed men. However, find-ings contrary to these expectations have beenproduced by several studies (Perrucci et al., 1985;Snyder and Nowak, 1984). These studies haveshown that employed men have lower levels ofdistress than unemployed men, but there is nosignificant difference in the levels of distress ex-perienced by employed and unemployed women.These results show that, although the interactionbetween employment status and psychologicalwell-being may produce the same overall effect,the experience of unemployment is definitely notthe same for men and women. These experiencesare influenced by factors which have differentialeffects related to gender, and it is only by ex-ploring these factors and their effects that we canunderstand the true impact of unemployment onboth men and women.

Conclusions

This literature review has identified manypotential sources of stress that male and femalemanagers may face during unemployment andfrom these findings a research model has beenformulated, which will provide a basis for futurestudy (Figure 1). The research model illustratesthe main sources of stress, moderators of stressand stress outcomes identified by the literaturereview and indicates areas in which gender differ-ences may be anticipated.

Job loss deprives individuals of both the latentand manifest consequences of work, adverselyaffecting physical and mental health. This depriv-ation can lead to reactions on several levels:emotional, cognitive, behavioural and physio-logical, and unemployed people have consistentlybeen found to experience higher levels of depres-sion, anxiety and general distress, together withlower self-esteem and confidence. The degree towhich unemployment is experienced as a negativeevent is dependent on a number of factors, in-cluding previous experience of unemployment,the relationship between occupational identityand self-identity, perceived stigmatization result-ing from interpersonal and intrapersonal compari-sons and perceived responsibility for job loss. It isanticipated that unemployed female managerswill experience greater stigmatization and self-blame than their male counterparts, as they aremore likely to perceive themselves as unique or

exceptional because of their comparatively smallnumbers.

The financial deprivation experienced duringunemployment frequently affects many aspects ofan individual’s life-style, including future planningand the performance of roles. Women tend to be affected by the direct consequences of finan-cial deprivation, whereas men tend to be affectedby the indirect consequences such as loss of statusand their inability to fulfil their perceived role as‘breadwinner’. This inability is thought to have asubstantial effect on self-esteem and for some isthe aspect of unemployment which has the singlegreatest impact on well-being. Thus, economicdeprivation is likely to have a greater effect on thepsychological and physical health of unemployedmale managers than on their female counterparts.

Employment is an important source of socialsupport, especially for women, and the loss of thismanifest consequence of work through unem-ployment can lead to feelings of loneliness andisolation. During unemployment men tend toreceive emotional support from their partners,whereas women tend to find their partners are‘unsupportive’ or they provide only instrumentalsupport, i.e. financial or informational. Womentend to rely on their families for emotional sup-port during unemployment and their reliance onfamily members is maintained throughout theirperiod of unemployment. In contrast, men aremore likely to seek support from their friendsthan from close relations, as they prefer to keepfamily and work roles separate.

The loss of employment also means a loss of dailystructure and enforced activity, and the inabilityto replace that structure and level of meaningfulactivity can lead to apathy and depression. Activitymaintains mental alertness, wards off fears anddoubts and provides a sense of achievement, yetkeeping active after job loss becomes increasinglydifficult. Several studies have demonstrated theimportance of activity levels during unemploy-ment – those who feel their time is fully occupiedexperience better mental health and are morelikely to be successful in their search for work.Although the activity levels of men and womentend to be similar, the type of activity they engagein is gender oriented. Men are more likely topursue problem-focused activities, i.e. behavioursthat attempt to directly eliminate the source ofstress, whereas women are more likely to engagein emotional-focused activities, i.e. behaviours


that attempt to eliminate the symptoms ofunemployment.

It has been suggested that women will be lessaffected by unemployment than men becausethey are more influenced by personal rather thanfinancial needs (Warr and Parry, 1982). This viewhas led to the assumption that women are not ascommitted to work as men and it has been pro-posed that, because of the multiple roles womenhave to deal with, unemployment will actually leadto a reduction in the stress experienced by women.However, it appears to be the quality rather thanthe quantity of roles that is important in deter-mining psychological distress. Thus, compared totheir non-managerial counterparts, the removalof the work is likely to increase the psychologicaldistress experienced by unemployed female man-agers, for whom work may be one of their mostrewarding roles (Arber, Gilbert and Dale, 1985).

In addition, women potentially face discrim-ination at all stages of the recruitment process,and even though the number of women managersis rising, management is still seen as a male-dominated profession in which women are mar-ginalized by a masculine model of the successfulmanager. Occupational stereotypes, in conjunc-tion with limited access to formal and informalbusiness networks, mean that female managersare restricted in the number of positions availableto them. This also means that they are less likelyto obtain a salary commensurate with their pre-vious experience and education. As managerstend to view work as a major component of theirself-concept the impact of these barriers uponpsychological well-being may be devastating(Fielden and Davidson, 1996).

The effects of unemployment on physical andmental well-being are moderated by a number offactors, including social support, locus of control,demographics, activity levels, job search experi-ences and coping strategies. These interveningvariables are experienced differently by men andwomen and, although the majority of studies havefound no significant difference in the stress out-comes of unemployed men and women, the evi-dence does suggest that unemployed femalemanagers are more likely to encounter negativefactors than their male counterparts (Fielden andDavidson, 1996). For example, women are morelikely to receive social support from their parentsand their spouse or friends, but the importance of work in the lives of women is often denied

resulting in non-supportive social ‘support’. Wherework is central to an individual’s self-image, as it is for many female managers, the effects of this denial on psychological well-being can be traumatic, undermining self-confidence andself-worth.

The effect of unemployment on an individual’swell-being is strongly influenced by their reactionto job loss and continuing unemployment. Anumber of gender differences have been identi-fied in the reactions of men and women to theirsituation, and the strategies that they employ inorder to cope with the sources of stress theyencounter. The self-esteem of male managersdoes not appear to be affected by unemployment,whereas it is anticipated that unemployed femalemanagers will suffer a significant decrease in self-esteem and self-worth. This decrease arises partlyfrom a perceived loss of personal control, lowerself-efficacy and poorer outcome expectancy interms of job search, and from the tendency bywomen to use negative emotional-focused copingstrategies compared to the more positive problem-focused coping strategies generally used by men.

The predictors of mental and physical ill-healthare often dissimilar for men and women andunemployed female managers are likely to be at agreater risk from mental and physical ill-health as a result of the unique stressors they are facedwith (e.g. Billing and Alvesson, 1993; Pittmanand Orthner, 1988). Previous research has alsosuggested that male and female managers reactdifferently in terms of stress outcomes, withstress-related illness being manifest in terms ofphysical ill-health in men and in terms of mentalill-health in women. However, recent studies have suggested that the long-term physical effectsof unemployment on the physical well-being offemale managers may be greater than thoseexperienced by unemployed male managers.

Gender differences have also been identified in the behavioural consequences of stress, interms of smoking and drinking. Unemployment isassociated with a rise in smoking levels, but thisincrease is significantly higher for women than formen. In contrast, men are more likely to reportdrink-related problems during unemployment thantheir employed counterparts, whereas womentend to report fewer drinking problems than theiremployed counterparts.

However, the proposed research model islimited in its application to unemployed male and


female managers, as the current literature focusesmainly on the experiences of unemployed maleblue-collar workers. The relationship betweenstressors, intervening variables and stress outcomesis a complex one and the literature provides aconfusing picture, from which few concrete con-clusions can be drawn in relation to the possibleeffects of unemployment on male and femalemanagers. Unfortunately, there is little researchto date which explores the comparative effects ofunemployment upon male and female managers,thus the only conclusions which can be drawn are those which can be summarized from theliterature. Further investigation is needed if thisrelationship is to be fully understood, althoughwork currently being conducted by the authorswould suggest that the proposed model has somevalidity as a tentative analysis of managerialunemployment for both men and women.

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