A preliminary investigation of factors associated with job loss grief

Career Development Quarterly, Sept, 2004 by Janice O. Brewington, Sylvia C. Nassar-McMillan, Claudia P. Flowers, Susan R. Furr

This study investigated relationships among factors hypothesized as related to job loss grief. A summary grief score correlated positively with time since job loss and number of dependents, and negatively with length of notice. Perceived reemployment prospects and income loss related positively to some grief index subscales, as did the condition of living on one's own. Job duration correlated negatively with some grief responses. Implications for counseling and avenues for future research are discussed.

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Involuntary job loss has far-reaching effects on the well-being of individuals and families (Bejian & Salomone, 1995; Leana & Feldman, 1994; Turner, Kessler, & House, 1991; Vinokur, Price, & Caplan, 1996). Job loss can result in loss of identity, social contacts, and self-worth (Amundson & Borgen, 1992; Beehr, 1995). Coupled with economic loss, the emotional toll can be devastating. Life assumptions must be reevaluated and life stories revised (Balk, 1999; Neimeyer, 1998). Workers must adjust to changed roles as learners, family members, citizens, and leisure participants, and perhaps diminished roles as wage earners (Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 1998). Counselors can play an important part in helping clients integrate job loss and related events into their new reality.

A review of the limited empirical literature available suggests that diverse factors may be related to the variability in former workers' responses to involuntary job loss. Attachment to the former job (Archer & Rhodes, 1993), job congruence and duration (Holland, 1985), and length of time since the loss (Leana & Feldman, 1994) may affect responses to job loss. Other factors include age (Wooten, Sulzer, & Cornwell, 1994), gender (Eby & Buch, 1995), social support (Caplan, Vinokur, Price, & van Ryn, 1989; Leana & Feldman, 1994; Turner et al., 1991), dependents, financial resources (Leana & Feldman, 1994; Turner et al., 1991), length of notice (Kinicki, Bracker, Kreitner, Lockwood, & Lemak, 1987), skill level (Besl & Kale, 1996), and perceived employment prospects (Gottfredson & Holland, 1990).

In this exploratory study, we hoped to determine which factors might be worthy of future investigation for their effects on job loss grief. On the basis of previous research, we hypothesized positive relationships between grief and job-congruence, job duration, income loss, length of time since job loss, skill level of the former job, age group, male gender, living on one's own (without spouse or partner), and number of dependents; and negative relationships between grief and length of notice and perceived prospects for reemployment.

Method

We surveyed a convenience sample of 66 respondents unemployed after an involuntary job loss. Participant volunteers were recruited at Employment Security Commission offices in two southeastern cities. Thirty respondents submitted completed questionnaires. Of those 30 respondents, 22 were women. The ethnic groups represented were White (25), Black (2), Asian/Pacific Islander (2), and Hispanic (1). Two of the participants were between 20 and 29 years old, 12 were between 30 and 39 years, 8 were between 40 and 49 years, 6 were between 50 and 59 years, and 2 were over 60 years of age.

Participants completed the Self-Directed Search, Form R (SDS; Holland, 1996) and the Grief Experience Inventory, Loss Version (GEI-LV; Sanders, Mauger, & Strong, 1985a), which included subscales measuring Despair, Anger-Hostility, Guilt, Social Isolation, Loss of Control, Rumination, Depersonalization, Somatization, and Death Anxiety. Test-retest reliability coefficients of the GEI (Cronbach's alpha) ranged from .71 to .87 for the nine grief subscales (Sanders, Mauger, & Strong, 1985b). Information also was collected about age, marital status, dependents, and about income loss, job duration, length of time since job loss, length of notice, perceived job prospects, and a description of the lost job.

The SDS (Holland, 1996) identified occupational interest codes (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional; RIASEC). The occupational environments of lost jobs were identified by matching Dictionary of Occupational Titles (U.S. Department of Labor, 1991) and Dictionary of Holland Occupational Codes (Gottfredson & Holland, 1989) classifications. Congruence between the individual's RIASEC code and the work environment code was computed for each participant using the formula C = 3([X.sub.i]) + 2([X.sub.i]) + ([X.sub.i]), where [X.sub.i] represents the score assigned to the comparison of the first, second, and third letter of the person's RIASEC code with the corresponding letter in the code of the former job, based on their relative distance on the hexagonal model (Brown & Gore, 1994).

Results

Means on the grief scales for this job loss sample were compared with means provided by Sanders et al. (1985b) for a reference group of bereaved individuals. Subscale (GEI) comparisons are reported in Table 1. In general, it appeared that the type of grief reported by both groups of individuals was similar in magnitude. Both groups were very similar in the GEI subscales (effect sizes ranging from 0 to .26) except for the Depersonalization variable, in which a moderate difference was found (effect size of .75). The job loss group had a lower mean (M = 2.67) on that variable than the combined bereavement group (M = 4.39). A possible explanation for the difference is that the shock experienced because of a death may be more dramatic and final, leading to detachment from the overwhelming stress of the event (Sperry, 1996).