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Title: The Bright Side of Bad Times: The Affective Advantages of Entering the Workforce in a Recession

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: This paper proposes that graduating in a recession can have long term positive implications for job satisfaction. In Studies 1 and 2, results from two large, nationally representative surveys showed that people who entered the workforce during economic downturns were more satisfied with their jobs even long after economic conditions had changed. A third cross-sectional study found that people who entered the workforce in bad economies were less likely to entertain upward counterfactuals about how they might have done better and more likely to feel grateful for their jobs, both of which mediated the relationship between workforce entry economic conditions and job satisfaction. While past research on job satisfaction has focused on dispositional and situational predictors, this paper suggests that early workforce environmental conditions can also have an enduring effect on job satisfaction.

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Authors: Bianchi, Emily C.

Publisher: Emory University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

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