Causal Attributions for Unemployment, Perceived Consequences of Unemployment, and Perceptions of Employment Prospects for Youth among University Students in New Zealand

Abstract

The associations of sex, economic orientation, religious beliefs, and family financial position with university students' attributions for unemployment, perceived consequences of unemployment, and their perceptions of employment prospects for youth were investigated. Two hundred and twenty teenage university students (108 males and 112 females) were surveyed. Male students judged societal causes as more important determinants of unemployment than did female students. Males rated both psychological and familial consequences of unemployment as more important than did females. Compared with those students who indicated a preference for capitalism, those with a preference for socialism tended to judge internal or individualistic factors as less important and societal causes as more important determinants of unemployment. Those with socialist orientations also rated the social consequences of unemployment as less important. In terms of the employment prospects of youth, females rated their chance of obtaining a job significantly higher than did males.