The Economic Effects of Psychological Self-Sufficiency Among Low-Income Job Seekers in the Hpog Programs

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the rate of change in psychological self-sufficiency (PSS) and that of economic self-sufficiency (ESS) among participants of the Health Profession Opportunity Grant (HPOG) programs. In order to fill the gap in workforce development literature and practice, recent studies have investigated the composition of PSS and the extent to which it impacts ESS. PSS has been conceptualized as a process-driven measure that transforms the negative perceived employment barriers into a positive employment hope. Further, supported by the literature on mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII), non-cognitive skills, and positive psychological capital, PSS is emerging as the core element in the theory of change in workforce development. However, previous studies have been limited in using cross-sectional data with a structural equation modeling technique without controlling for various demographic variables. In order to fill the gap in the literature on PSS, this study examines a longitudinal data in a multivariate model to see if time variant PSS affects the difference in the ESS scores.

METHOD: Survey data were collected between September 2013 and January 2014 from 350 participants of two workforce development programs funded by the HPOG grant of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sample included individuals who had at least two time-point data on key variables of interest in this study, whose age ranged between 17 and 59 (M=31.06, SD=9.72). Most of the sample were female (93.1%) and about half were African-American (50.9%). In order to examine the improved rate of PSS, the employment hope scale (EHS; Hong, Polanin, & Pigott, 2012) and the perceived employment barriers scale (PEBS; Hong, Polanin, Key, & Choi, 2014) were used. Point-in-time PSS was operationalized as the difference score between EHS and PEBS; and the change in PSS was calculated by subtracting the PSS score at Time 2 from PSS at Time 1. Multiple regression was used to analyze the relationship between PSS and ESS after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic variables. In this study, the Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN; Gowdy & Pearlmutter, 1993) Economic Self-Sufficiency Scale was used to measure ESS.

RESULTS: A multiple regression analysis revealed that the effect of change in PSS on the change in ESS was positively significant (B = .127, p<.01) controlling for other demographic variables and EHS and PEBS scores at Time 1. As the change in PSS increases by 1 point, ESS increases by .127. The improved rate of PSS is a key determinant of increase in ESS.

IMPLICATIONS: Findings imply that, in order to promote ESS, workforce development agencies should collaborate with social services organizations to provide services that help low-income job seekers strengthen PSS—the ability to transform seemingly impossible barriers into the possible employment hope—overtime so that the level increase in ESS can be sustained over time.