The etiology of psychological differences among those who pursue distinct lines of work have long been of scholarly interest. A prevalent early and continuing assumption is that experiences on the job influence psychological development; contemporary analysts focus on dimensions indicative of mental health. Still, such work-related psychological differences may instead be attributable to selection processes to the extent that individuals can choose, or be selected to, different lines of work, based on their prior characteristics. Whereas much attention has been directed to employment per se as a key determinant of mental health, we consider work status (employed or not) and hours of work, as well as work quality, including both intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions among those who are employed. We also investigate differences in the effects of work experiences on mental health in distinct phases of the work career. Drawing on eleven waves of longitudinal data obtained from a cohort of ninth grade students followed prospectively to age 45–46 (54% female; 73% white), we examine whether key psychological dimensions indicative of mental health (mastery, depressive affect, and self-esteem) change in response to employment and to particular experiences on the job. The findings, based on a fixed-effects modeling strategy, indicate that observed psychological differences related to employment and work quality are not attributable to stable individual proclivities. Evidence suggests that mental health is responsive to changing experiences at work from mid-adolescence to mid-life.

中文翻译：

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从青春期到中年的工作经验和心理健康


长期以来，追求不同工作领域的人之间心理差异的病因一直引起学术界的兴趣。一个普遍的早期和持续的假设是，工作经历会影响心理发展;当代分析师关注表明心理健康的维度。尽管如此，这种与工作相关的心理差异反而可能归因于选择过程，因为个人可以根据他们先前的特征选择或被选择不同的工作。虽然人们普遍关注就业本身是心理健康的关键决定因素，但我们考虑的是工作状态（就业与否）和工作时间，以及工作质量，包括就业人员的内在和外在维度。我们还调查了工作经历对工作生涯不同阶段心理健康影响的差异。利用从前瞻性随访至 45-46 岁的九年级学生队列（54% 为女性;73% 为白人）获得的 11 波纵向数据，我们研究了表明心理健康的关键心理维度（掌握、抑郁情感和自尊）是否会随着就业和工作中的特定经历而变化。基于固定效应建模策略的结果表明，观察到的与就业和工作质量相关的心理差异不能归因于稳定的个体倾向。有证据表明，心理健康对从青春期中期到中年工作经历的变化有反应。