Brijesh Kumar Upadhayay
Departement of Psychology, Gurukul Kangri University, Hardwar, Uttranchal, India
C.P. Khokhar
Departement of Psychology, Gurukul Kangri University, Hardwar, Uttranchal, India
ABSTRACT
Unemployment has been a recurring social problem throughout the century and bringing a mental health problem. In addition to feelings of excitement and anticipation, there may also be the feelings of loneliness. Loneliness is an important personality variable. Aim of the present investigation is to know the effect of personality traits on the perception of perceived loneliness in unemployed youths. The sample consists of 200 subjects within the age group of 26-32 yrs of age drawn from district Haridwar, clear demarcations were observed in the groups of different levels of personality traits on perceived loneliness
Introduction
Unemployment is a reality for many young people. You may be skilled, qualified, willing to work, ready for work and desperately wanting a job, but for many young people this does not guarantee you will get work, because in many places there just are not enough jobs around for everyone. It can make you feel low, bored, frustrated, sick that effect your lifestyle. You might feel low or upset, example you might feel like a failure or there is something wrong with you. Unemployment doesn’t fit with your career dreams and ambitions. You are “knocked back” for the fiftieth job. You feel your life is wasting away. Your mates can go out and have a good time while you sit home and get bored out of your brain! You might start to wonder whether it is worth trying anymore.
Studies show a link between unemployment and feeling suicidal. This can include other forms of hurting yourself like self-punishment or abuse. Some studies show a link between unemployment and mental illness or diagnosed mental disorder. These can be things like insomnia (not being able to sleep), anxiety, clinical depression. Increased drug, tobacco and alcohol use – there is a link between unemployment and drug, tobacco and alcohol use. Especially smoking and alcohol. Several people use drugs, tobacco or alcohol as a way of coping. These can harm your health and hook you into a lifestyle that makes it harder to keep motivated about life.
According to Jahoda: ” employment makes the following categories of experience inevitable : it imposes a time structure on the waking day; it compels contacts and shared experiences with others outside the nuclear family; it demonstrates that there are goals and purposes which are beyond the scope of an individual but require a collectivity; it imposes status and social identity through the division of labour in modern employment; it enforces activity…”
Growth and change during unemployment produces a variety of feelings in youths. In addition to feelings of excitement and anticipation, there may also be feelings of loneliness. Loneliness is not necessarily being alone. We may be alone for long periods without feeling at all lonely. On the other hand we may feel lonely in a familiar setting without really understanding why.
Personality characteristic is to recognize that loneliness is something that can be changed. It is also important to know that loneliness is a common experience. According to a recent national survey, one quarter of all adults experience painful loneliness at least every few weeks, and the incidence among adolescents and unemployed youths is even higher. Loneliness is neither a permanent state nor “bad” in itself. Instead it should be viewed more accurately as a signal or indicator of important needs that are going unmet.
Some of the personality dispositions directly related to loneliness include shyness, introversion, and self-consciousness (e.g. Jones et al. 1985a), whereas attachment quality (Hecht & Baum 1984), likeability (Moore & Schultz 1983), communication competence (Spitzberg & Canary 1985), self-disclosure and interpersonal competence (Jones, 1985; Sarason, Sarason, Hacker, & Basham 1985) are inversely related. Researchers have also reported inverse correlations between loneliness and social risk-taking (Moore & Schultz 1983; Sermat 1978).
Another common concomitant of loneliness is low self-esteem with several studies indicating substantial co-variation between measures of these two constructs (Jones, Freemon & Goswick 1981; Russell et al. 1980). As would be expected, low self-esteem is more strongly related to chronic than to transitory or situational loneliness (Jones, et al. 1985a; Wilbert & Rupert 1986). Not surprisingly then, the personality dimensions most closely related to loneliness are those pertaining to confidence and skill in initiating and developing relationships with others (Jones, et al. 1985a). Also, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that the personality correlates of loneliness often precede feelings of loneliness (e.g., Jones & Moore 1987; Shaver et al. 1985). Given the variety of personality factors related to loneliness and the common finding that many of these variables are related to one another, the question arises as to which aspects of personality are most predictive of loneliness. Two independent studies (Jones et al. 1985a;
Wittenberg & Reis 1986) reported that deficits in two composite variables appear to account for the unique connections between personality and loneliness: (a) relational competence or initiation skills (e.g. low shyness); and (b) enhancement skills or communality (e.g. trust).
Loneliness refers to an individual’s subjective perception that he/she lacks close interpersonal relationships. An individual is lonely if he or she desires close interpersonal relationships but is unable to establish them. According to Peplau and Perlman(1982), “loneliness is the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person’s network of social relations is deficient in some way”. There are three approaches which describe loneliness. The first approach emphasizes inherent human needs for intimacy. The second emphasizes people’s perception and evaluation of their social relation and the third approach to loneliness identifies insufficient social reinforcement as the main deficiency experienced by lonely people. Several personality factors have been linked to loneliness. Lonely people tend to be more introverted and shy, more self conscious, and less assertive (Jones, Briggs and Smith, 1986).
The main objective of the present investigation is to find out the effect of five personality traits that is Activity and Passivity, Enthusiastic & Non enthusiastic, Assertive & Submissive, Suspicious and Trusting, Depressive & Non depressive, Emotional Instability and Emotional Instability on perceived loneliness of unemployed youths.
Methodology
Tools:
1 - Dimensional Personality Inventory (DPI), by Bhargava, M.(1981).
2 - Perceived Loneliness Scale (PLS), by Jha, P.K.(1971).
Sampling:
A sample of 200 unemployed youths within the age range 26 to 32 years, non-technical graduates belonging to middle socioeconomic status are selected from Haridwar districts. Subjects having the score +1 S.D. above the mean and -1 S.D. below the mean are selected as high or low respectively on personality dimensions. Their corresponding scores on loneliness are taken as dependent measures.
Results and Discussion
Table 1 - Indicate Significance of difference between two levels of personality traits on loneliness.
| Trait | Mean on Loneliness | SD | SED | T | P |
| Activity | 102.8 | 27.7 | 13.72 | .189 | N.S |
| Passivity | 100.2 | 12.8 | |||
| Enthusiastic | 93.4 | 6.5 | 5.61 | 3.46 | < .01 |
| Non enthusiastic | 112.8 | 10.73 | |||
| Assertive | 90 | 2.83 | 2.6 | 3.0 | < .01 |
| Submissive | 97.8 | 5.12 | |||
| Suspicious | 114.6 | 12.2 | 7.09 | 3.35 | < .01 |
| Trusting | 90.8 | 10.13 | |||
| Depressive | 111.6 | 15.47 | 7.0 | 2.63 | < .01 |
| Non depressive | 93.2 | 2.39 | |||
| Emotional Stability | 2.73 | 87.4 | 7.70 | 9.44 | < .01 |
| Emotional Instability | 113.2 | 12.2 |
Significant at .01(2.60, 199)
Significance of differences between means on loneliness of unemployed youths on the dimension of Enthusiasm, Assertiveness, Suspiciousness, Depression, Emotional stability are established. The Non-enthusiastic, submissive, suspicious, depressive personality and emotional unstable unemployed have scored significantly higher on the measures of loneliness.
Enthusiastic unemployed youths feel less lonely than the non enthusiastic unemployed youths. Enthusiastic are more hopeful than non enthusiastic about their future. Enthusiastic unemployed are more optimistic about the settlement of their job.
No doubt loneliness is related to situational aspect of unemployed but the personality traits like assertiveness/submissiveness governs the felling of loneliness in unemployed. Study of Hansson, Robert O. Briggs, Stephen R. Rule, Bonnie L., 1990 supports the results of present investigation.
Present inquiry also agrees with the above Hansson, et 1990 study that fully unemployed youths feel helplessness, hopelessness, worthlessness, depressed, unwanted, unloved, suicidal ideas, feeling of inferiority than the fully employed. Frictionally unemployed youths have more depressive feelings than seasonally unemployed youths that gradually inculcate the feelings of loneliness.
Present inquiry agrees with the Creed and Peter, 1999 study that unemployed youth have feeling of inferiority and lack of confidence. The loneliness is an indirect product of inferiority, lack of confidence, non-enthusiasm, submissive and suspiciousness. Unemployed youth with negative personality traits like submissiveness, suspiciousness, depression and emotional instability are more susptable to loneliness. It develops a cyclic stage weaker the trait higher the feeling of loneliness leading to unemployment.
Although one study by Joshi, Purushottam de Grace, Gaston Rene, 1985 that duration of unemployment would impact on an individual’s self esteem, depression, loneliness and affective communication found no significant difference. It is to be investigated further with a suitable design.
Unemployment leads to social and economic crises that hinder the self esteem and identify of self. Such individual has no further help form other to get out of the hell of unemployment. Finally it leads him to loneliness (Peplau and Perlman, 1982).
Earlier study by Jones, Carpenter and Quitana, 1985 is congruent with the present investigation that lonely people often have low self esteem and in some cases, have poor social skills. Loneliness is also associated with anxiety and depression. A lonely individual experiences a feeling of profound sadness and the whole world becomes joyless and gray. Nothing seems worthwhile any more; emptiness prevails, and only bad things are expected. Unemployed youths also having same feeling as they have pool self esteem, joylessness and emptiness in their life.
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