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This paper studies employment commitment and psychological well-being among a random sample of 3,500 unemployed men and women in Sweden. The study observes which factors govern levels of employment commitment and if there are any significant differences between unemployed men and women in this respect. The article also discusses the importance of commitment to employment when analysing psychological well-being among the unemployed. As regards employment commitment among both men and women, the results emphasize the psychosocial value of the former job, the activity level while unemployed and age. However, the results also indicate that age and family situation affect unemployed women's and men's levels of commitment to paid employment in different ways. Further, both unemployed men and women who are strongly motivated to find employment for non-financial reasons have significantly higher risks of poor mental well-being than those with lower commitments to employment. Finally, The results speak against the hypothesis that the high unemployment rates among certain categories of people are mainly a result of low motivation to be employed.

This article examines non-financial employment motivation and mental well-being among people in different labour market situations, such as unemployment, stimulating employment or instrumental employment, and controls for the possibility that variations in motivation and well-being are either caused by present labour market status or are the result of a selection process. The article is based on a panel study of 1,782 Swedes who were interviewed at the beginning of 1996, when all were unemployed, and then again at the end of 1997, when the labour market situation had changed for some of them. The results show that, in 1997, the unemployed had the same level of employment commitment as individuals with instrumental jobs, but as compared to people with stimulating jobs, their non-financial employment motivation was weaker. In general, the unemployed report poorer mental well-being than the employed. Results support the hypothesis that the substantial changes in employment commitment and mental health observed between 1996 and 1997 are primarily due to the labour market situation in 1997. The results refute the notion that the level of employment motivation is a major determinant of the likelihood of getting a paid job.

This article studies the concentration of unemployment within families and social networks in Sweden. The study, which is based on two random samples, one consisting of some 47,000 young people and their parents and one consisting of 3,500 unemployed people, raises the question of whether unemployment concentration is mainly caused by negative values towards employment or by structural factors. The results show that it is common for people who are unemployed and have experienced longer periods of unemployment to have unemployed family members and friends. The causes of the unemployment concentration can be traced to structural factors such as class, ethnicity, age, unemployment rate and population in the district, rather than to the attitudes of the members of the unemployed group.

Classic research on unemployment and mental health has focused on the functions of employment. These functions are considered to be of equal importance for all unemployed. A critique of this perspective has been that it views the unemployed as passive and homogeneous. Instead, an agency approach has been suggested, which focuses on the individual goals of the unemployed. This paper develops and tests a model for understanding the differentiated mental consequences of unemployment, which on a theoretical level integrates both the structural restrictions of the unemployment situation and the agency of the individual. The model is based on previous findings which indicate that mental well-being is dependent on the economic need for employment, on the one hand, and on the psychosocial need for employment, on the other hand. The model integrates both these aspects and the results show that the combined effect is of central importance for the differentiated mental well-being of the unemployed. The analysis is based on a longitudinal survey of 3,500 randomly selected, unemployed Swedes.