Unemployment and embitterment in contrast to general psychological distress

One reaction to injustice or humiliation is embitterment, a disabling emotion, which can hinder the pursuit of functional solutions for problems in life. Unemployment can be experienced differently, depending on the subjective appraisal of the cause, how a person came to being laid off, the consequences, and especially feelings of injustice.

The goal of this study is to explore the frequency and correlates of embitterment in unemployed persons in contrast to general psychological distress.

Self rating on the Posttraumatic Embitterment Scale (PTED scale), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and a survey on the unemployment status of 102 randomly selected persons who were waiting in a German unemployment agency office.

A score of ≥6 on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was found in 40.2% of the sample, indicating severe psychological distress. Unemployment was seen as a severe, or very severe burden by 56% of participants, and judged as unjust by 40% of participants. An elevated score above 2 on the Posttraumatic Embitterment Scale was found in 25.5% participants. Appraisal and duration of unemployment, feelings of injustice, and age were related to embitterment, but not psychological distress.

Embitterment is a destructive emotion in reaction to unemployment, which can impair functional coping.