Profiles of Decent Work and Precarious Work: Exploring Macro-Level Predictors and Mental Health Outcomes

Abstract

Using a person-centered approach, this study explored the interrelationship between decent work and precarious work via a latent profile analysis (LPA). This investigation sought to replicate the latent profiles from Blustein and colleagues (2020) and extend the results by examining the role of individual lifetime experiences of macro-level factors (economic constraints and marginalization) as predictors and selected mental health indices (depression and anxiety) as outcomes of profile membership. Using a sample of 422 working adults in the U.S., the findings of the LPA yielded four profiles (indecent-precarious, low healthcare-low rights, highly decent, and vulnerability dominant), replicating four out of the five of the profiles identified in Blustein et al. Informed by psychology of working theory (PWT) and precarity theory, we assessed a structural model of the aforementioned predictors and outcomes in relation to profile membership. Consistent with theoretical expectations, economic constraints and marginalization positively predicted profiles that reflected greater instability and precarity. In addition, the profiles that reflected greater instability and precarity predicted both depression and anxiety. Implications for theory, counseling practice, public policy, and new directions in research are presented.

Diseases of despair in early adulthood: The complex role of social relationships.

“…These youth must negotiate early adulthood, a period of peak incidence and frequent onset for these diseases, with comparatively limited access to formal institutional supports through employment or education systems. Without a college degree, finding a stable, satisfying job with strong health benefits is challenging, and a lack of access to such jobs erodes mental health (Blustein et al, 2023; Kalleberg, 2020). Moreover, young adults not in education cannot rely on the services offered by primary providers of youth-oriented counseling services, that is, colleges and universities (Lipson et al, 2019).…”

Recommendations for Conceptualizing and Measuring Constructs Within Psychology of Working Theory

“…In this final section of the paper, we hone in on 10 concrete recommendations for researchers who plan to use PWT as a grounding framework for their scholarship. Although PWT has become a popular theory for qualitative research (e.g., Blustein et al, 2022; Cadaret & Speight, 2018; Kozan et al, 2019), in the current study, we tailor these recommendations primarily to assist those conducting quantitative research using PWT informed measures.…”

“…It was intended to be a framework to demonstrate predictors and outcomes of decent work, and the number of variables that exist that fit into this category is limitless. For example, Smith et al (2020) included psychological ownership as a predictor in the model versus career adaptability, Kim and Allan (2021) examined classism as a predictor of decent work, Blustein et al (2022) looked at the overlap between precarious work and decent work, Duffy et al (2022) added in decent education as another predictor variable, and Huang and Yuan (2022) focused on how decent work predicts performance versus satisfaction. We highly encourage researchers to keep using the model as a general framework for investigating specific questions or constructs that may have not be included in the original theory.…”

“…However, access to decent work likely has a broader range of impacts, especially with regards to mental and physical health. Some initial studies have begun to look at these links (e.g., Blustein et al, 2022; Duffy et al, 2021; Sönmez et al, 2022), but these outcomes can be greatly expanded to address the broad ways one’s work experiences impact the lives of those and those around them. We suspect that moving beyond work outcomes represents a fruitful area of future research, and long term could envision an expanded PWT model that better addresses the wide-ranging effects of attaining decent work.…”

Risking one’s life to save one’s livelihood: Precarious work, presenteeism, and worry about disease exposure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…Although these have in common the element of precarity (i.e., uncertainty and threat), these experiences are thought to be distinct. For example, one can be insecure about the future of one’s job (e.g., a high-level executive at the end of a contract) but not experience powerlessness or an inability to exercise rights (e.g., Blustein et al, 2023).…”