Objective and BackgroundThe need for control is a fundamental human motivation, that when deprived can lead to broad and substantial changes in human behavior. We aimed to assess the consequences of control deprivation in a real‐life situation that poses a severe threat to personal control: a prolonged unemployment.MethodUsing a sample N = 1055 of unemployed (n = 748) versus working (n = 307) individuals, we examined predictions derived from two models of reactions to control deprivation: control‐regaining and disengagement/withdrawal.Results and ConclusionsWe found that length unemployment is correlated with a psychological state strongly interfering with psychological as well as social functioning. While control‐regaining models of responding to lack of control have received virtually no support from our findings, our results provide evidence that long‐term unemployed individuals are more disengaged than working individuals. They are more apathetic, less likely to engage in control‐regaining efforts and in active forms of construing one's own future.

中文翻译：

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长期失业与失控以及个人和社会脱离有关


客观和背景控制需求是人类的基本动机，当被剥夺时，会导致人类行为发生广泛而实质性的变化。我们旨在评估在对个人控制构成严重威胁的现实生活中剥夺控制权的后果：长期失业。方法使用失业 （n = 748） 与在职 （n = 307） 个体的样本 N = 1055，我们检查了从两种控制剥夺反应模型得出的预测：控制-重新获得和脱离/退出。结果和结论我们发现，失业时间长短与强烈干扰心理和社会功能的心理状态相关。虽然我们的研究结果几乎没有支持对缺乏控制的控制恢复模型，但我们的结果提供了证据，表明长期失业者比在职人士更不敬业。他们更加冷漠，不太可能参与重新获得控制的努力，也不太可能以积极的形式解释自己的未来。