Type of Employment as a Determinant of Subjective Well-Being: Problems of Comparability of Research Results
Research Article
How to Cite
Kuchenkova A.V. 2021. Type of Employment as a Determinant of Subjective Well-Being: Problems of Comparability of Research Results — Sociologicheskaja nauka i social’naja praktika. Vol. 9. No. 2. P. 66-81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/snsp.2021.9.2.8105
Abstract
The review of empirical studies of the relationship between subjective well-being and the employment type reveals: unlike workers under an open-ended contract, workers with temporary or informal employment show a lower or the same level of subjective well-being, self-employed ones – higher or the same. The results vary depending on the considered indicators of subjective well-being, the criteria for identifying groups of workers, the controlled variables, etc. The use of different models for studying the relationship between subjective well-being and the employment type gives rise to problems of results comparability. Possible sources of contradictions are highlighted in the article. Some of them relate to the measurement of subjective well-being: its indicators vary and are interconnected in different ways with the employment type, have different significance for workers, which may differ not only in the level of subjective well-being, but in the nature of interconnection of its indicators.
Another block of methodological difficulties is associated with the classification of workers and their differentiation. Even with the same contract type they are heterogeneous not only in terms of employment conditions, but also in motives and in the nature of subjective well-being. The study of the relationship between the employment type and the subjective well-being of workers requires the development of methodological solutions, including the selection of an informative indicators of subjective well-being, taking into account the structure of the relationship between them, as well as the study of the differentiation of workers and the reconstruction of social types among them.
Keywords:
subjective well-being, subjective well-being at work, worker, non-standard employment
References
1. Aistov A. V., Leonova L. A. (2011). Udovletvorennost’ zhizn’ju I rabotoj, svjaz’ s nezaregistrirovannoj zanjatost’ju. [Life and job satisfaction, relationship with the choice of unregistered employment]. Working paper WP15/2011/04. Moscow: Izd. Dom “Vysshej shkoly ekonomiki”. 36 p. (In Russ.).
2. Bessokirnaya G. P., Tatarova G. G. (2019). Chelovek i ego rabota: ot otnoshenija k trudu k sub’ektivnomu blagopoluchiju v sfere truda. [Person and his/her work: from attitude to work to subjective well-being in the work sphere]. Budushcheye sotsiologicheskogo znaniya i vyzovy sotsial’nykh transformatsiy (k 90-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya V. A. Yadova). Mezhdunarodnaya nauchnaya konferentsiya (Moskva, 28–30 noyabrya 2019 g.). Sbornik materialov. M.: FNISTS RAN publ. P. 708–712. (In Russ.).
3. Galeznik I. A., Chernenko I. M., Kel’chevskaya N. R. (2016). Neformal’nyye otnosheniya na rynke truda i ikh vliyaniye na doveriye rabotnikov i ikh udovletvorennost’ rabotoy. [Informal relations in the labor market and their impact on employee confidence and job satisfaction]. Ekonomika i upravleniye v XXI veke: tendentsii razvitiya. № 33-1. P. 165–176. (In Russ.).
4. Donova I. V. (2016). Sotsial’noye samochuvstviye rossiyskikh neformal’nykh rabotnikov na yevropeyskom fone. [Social well-being of Russian informal workers in the European background]. Vestnik Omskogo universiteta. Seriya «Ekonomika». № 4. P. 159–169. (In Russ.).
5. Yepikhina YU. B. (2019). Udovletvorennost’ rabotoy v zavisimosti ot tipa zanyatosti [Job satisfaction depending on the type of employment]. Budushcheye sfery truda: global’nyye vyzovy i regional’noye razvitiye: sbornik statey Mezhdunarodnogo foruma Budushcheye sfery truda: dostoynyy trud dlya vsekh (g. Ufa, 4–5 fevralya 2019 g.). Ufa: Mir Pechati publ. P. 86–90. (In Russ.).
6. Zudina A. A. (2013). Neformal’naya zanyatost’ i sub’yektivnyy sotsial’nyy status: primer Rossii. [Informal employment and subjective social status: the case of Russia]. Ekonomicheskiy zhurnal. Vol. 14. № 3. P. 27–63. (In Russ.).
7. Kozina I. M., Zangiyeva I. K. (2016). Zashchishchennost’ truda i udovletvorennost’ rabotoy v malom biznese. [Labor protection and job satisfaction in small business]. Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya. № 7. P. 19–29. (In Russ.).
8. Kuchenkova A. V., Kolosova E. A. (2018). Differentsiatsiya rabotnikov po kharakteru neustoychivosti ikh zanyatosti. [Differentiation of workers by features of precarious employment]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: Ekonomicheskiye i sotsial’nyye peremeny. № 3 P. 288–305. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2018.3.15.
9. Kuchenkova A. V. (2021). Prekarizatsiya zanyatosti kak faktor differentsiatsii zarabotnoy platy i sotsial’nogo samochuvstviya rabotnikov. [Employment precarization as a factor of wages differentiation and social well-being]. Vestnik RUDN. Seriya: Sotsiologiya. Vol. 21. Is. 1. P. 84–96. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.22363/2313-2272-2019-19-1-134-143.
10. Monusova G. A. (2019). Tip trudovogo kontrakta i sub»yektivnoye blagopoluchiye. [Type of Employment Contract and Subjective well-being]. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal. Vol. 25. No. 3. P. 46–66. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2019.25.3.6675.
11. Poplavskaya A. A., Soboleva N. E. (2017) Udovletvorennost’ razlichnymi aspektami raboty muzhchin i zhenshchin v Rossii. [Men’s and women’s satisfaction with various job aspects in Russia]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: Ekonomicheskiye i sotsial’nyye peremeny. № 5. P. 271–288. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2017.5.15.
12. Prekariat: stanovleniye novogo klassa: [monografiya] (2020). [Precariat: the emergence of a new class (collective monograph)]. Pod red. Zh. T. Toshchenko. M. : Tsentr sotsial’nogo prognozirovaniya i marketinga publ. 400 p. (In Russ.).
13. Soboleva I. V. (2019). Sotsial’noye samochuvstviye predprinimateley i nayemnykh rabotnikov v malom biznese. [Social Well-being of Entrepreneurs and Employees in Small Business]. Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya. № 4. P. 57–69. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.31857/S013216250004586-7.
14. Strebkov D., Shevchuk A. (2015). Trudovyye trayektorii samozanyatykh professionalov (frilanserov). [Work Trajectories of Self-Employed Professionals]. Mir Rossii. Vol. 24. № 1. P. 72–100 (In Russ.).
15. Tatarova G. G., Bessokirnaya G. P. (2019). Identifikatsiya rabochikh s predpriyatiyem v diagnostike proizvodstvennoy situatsii. [Identification of Workers with an Enterprise in the Diagnostics of Production Situation]. Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya. № 4. P. 43–56. (In Russ.).
16. Tatarova G. G., Bessokirnaya G. P. (2018). Ob ustoychivosti izmereniy v protsesse rekonstruktsii sotsial’nykh tipov rabochikh kak ob’yektov upravleniya. [On the Reliability of Measurements in the Process of Reconstructing Social Types of Workers as Objects of Management]. Sotsiologicheskaya nauka i sotsial’naya praktika. Vol. 6. № 2. P. 52–69. (In Russ.).
17. Bardasi E., Francesconi M. (2004). The impact of atypical employment on individual wellbeing: evidence from a panel of British workers. Social Science & Medicine. Vol. 58. Is. 9. P. 1671–1688. DOI: 10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00400-3
18. Bujacz A., Eib C., Toivanen S. (2020). Not all are equal: a latent profile analysis of well-being among the self-employed. Journal of Happiness Studies. Vol. 21. P. 1661–1680. DOI: 10.1007/s10902019-00147-1.
19. Benz M., Frey B. S. (2008). Being independent is a great thing: subjective evaluations of self-employment and hierarchy. Economica. Vol. 75. Is. 298. P. 362–383. DOI: 10.1111/j.14680335.2007.00594.x.
20. Brereton F., Clinch J. P., Ferreira S. (2008). Employment and life-satisfaction: insights from ireland. The Economic and Social Review. Vol. 39. № 3. P. 207–234.
21. Dawson C., Veliziotis M., Hopkins B. (2017). Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being. Economic and Industrial Democracy. Vol. 38. № 1. P. 69–98. DOI:10.1177/0143831X14559781.
22. De Cuyper N., De Witte H. (2006). The impact of job insecurity and contract type on attitudes, well-being and behavioral reports: A psychological contract perspective. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. Vol. 79. Is. 3. P. 395–409. DOI:10.1348/096317905X53660
23. De Cuyper N., De Jong J., De Witte H., Isaksson K., Rigotti Th., Schalk R. (2008). Literature review of theory and research on the psychological impact of temporary employment: Towards a conceptual model. International Journal of Management Reviews. Vol. 10 Is. 1. P.25–51. DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00221.x
24. Ellingson J. E., Gruys M. L., Sackett P. R. (1998). Factors related to the satisfaction and performance of temporary employees. Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol. 83. № 6. P. 913–921. DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.83.6.913.
25. Green C. P., Heywood J. S. (2011). Flexible contracts and subjective well-being. Economic Inquiry. Vol. 49. № 3. P. 716–729. DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2010.00291.x.
26. Imhof S., Andresen M. (2018). Unhappy with well-being research in the temporary work context: Mapping review and research agenda. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol. 29. № 1. P. 127–164. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2017.1384395
27. Karabchuk T., Soboleva N. (2020). Temporary employment, informal work and subjective well-being across Europe: Does labor legislation matter? Journal of Happiness Studies. Vol. 21. P. 1879–1901. DOI:10.1007/s10902-019-00152-4.
28. Kompier M., Ybema J. F., Janssen J., Taris T. (2009). Employment contracts: cross-sectional and longitudinal relations with quality of working life, health and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health. Vol. 51. № 3. P. 193–203. DOI: 10.1539/joh.l8150
29. Scherer S. (2009). The social consequences of insecure jobs. Social Indicators Research. Vol. 93. № 3. P. 527–547. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_3726.
2. Bessokirnaya G. P., Tatarova G. G. (2019). Chelovek i ego rabota: ot otnoshenija k trudu k sub’ektivnomu blagopoluchiju v sfere truda. [Person and his/her work: from attitude to work to subjective well-being in the work sphere]. Budushcheye sotsiologicheskogo znaniya i vyzovy sotsial’nykh transformatsiy (k 90-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya V. A. Yadova). Mezhdunarodnaya nauchnaya konferentsiya (Moskva, 28–30 noyabrya 2019 g.). Sbornik materialov. M.: FNISTS RAN publ. P. 708–712. (In Russ.).
3. Galeznik I. A., Chernenko I. M., Kel’chevskaya N. R. (2016). Neformal’nyye otnosheniya na rynke truda i ikh vliyaniye na doveriye rabotnikov i ikh udovletvorennost’ rabotoy. [Informal relations in the labor market and their impact on employee confidence and job satisfaction]. Ekonomika i upravleniye v XXI veke: tendentsii razvitiya. № 33-1. P. 165–176. (In Russ.).
4. Donova I. V. (2016). Sotsial’noye samochuvstviye rossiyskikh neformal’nykh rabotnikov na yevropeyskom fone. [Social well-being of Russian informal workers in the European background]. Vestnik Omskogo universiteta. Seriya «Ekonomika». № 4. P. 159–169. (In Russ.).
5. Yepikhina YU. B. (2019). Udovletvorennost’ rabotoy v zavisimosti ot tipa zanyatosti [Job satisfaction depending on the type of employment]. Budushcheye sfery truda: global’nyye vyzovy i regional’noye razvitiye: sbornik statey Mezhdunarodnogo foruma Budushcheye sfery truda: dostoynyy trud dlya vsekh (g. Ufa, 4–5 fevralya 2019 g.). Ufa: Mir Pechati publ. P. 86–90. (In Russ.).
6. Zudina A. A. (2013). Neformal’naya zanyatost’ i sub’yektivnyy sotsial’nyy status: primer Rossii. [Informal employment and subjective social status: the case of Russia]. Ekonomicheskiy zhurnal. Vol. 14. № 3. P. 27–63. (In Russ.).
7. Kozina I. M., Zangiyeva I. K. (2016). Zashchishchennost’ truda i udovletvorennost’ rabotoy v malom biznese. [Labor protection and job satisfaction in small business]. Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya. № 7. P. 19–29. (In Russ.).
8. Kuchenkova A. V., Kolosova E. A. (2018). Differentsiatsiya rabotnikov po kharakteru neustoychivosti ikh zanyatosti. [Differentiation of workers by features of precarious employment]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: Ekonomicheskiye i sotsial’nyye peremeny. № 3 P. 288–305. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2018.3.15.
9. Kuchenkova A. V. (2021). Prekarizatsiya zanyatosti kak faktor differentsiatsii zarabotnoy platy i sotsial’nogo samochuvstviya rabotnikov. [Employment precarization as a factor of wages differentiation and social well-being]. Vestnik RUDN. Seriya: Sotsiologiya. Vol. 21. Is. 1. P. 84–96. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.22363/2313-2272-2019-19-1-134-143.
10. Monusova G. A. (2019). Tip trudovogo kontrakta i sub»yektivnoye blagopoluchiye. [Type of Employment Contract and Subjective well-being]. Sotsiologicheskiy Zhurnal. Vol. 25. No. 3. P. 46–66. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/socjour.2019.25.3.6675.
11. Poplavskaya A. A., Soboleva N. E. (2017) Udovletvorennost’ razlichnymi aspektami raboty muzhchin i zhenshchin v Rossii. [Men’s and women’s satisfaction with various job aspects in Russia]. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya: Ekonomicheskiye i sotsial’nyye peremeny. № 5. P. 271–288. (In Russ.) DOI: https://doi.org/10.14515/monitoring.2017.5.15.
12. Prekariat: stanovleniye novogo klassa: [monografiya] (2020). [Precariat: the emergence of a new class (collective monograph)]. Pod red. Zh. T. Toshchenko. M. : Tsentr sotsial’nogo prognozirovaniya i marketinga publ. 400 p. (In Russ.).
13. Soboleva I. V. (2019). Sotsial’noye samochuvstviye predprinimateley i nayemnykh rabotnikov v malom biznese. [Social Well-being of Entrepreneurs and Employees in Small Business]. Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya. № 4. P. 57–69. (In Russ.) DOI: 10.31857/S013216250004586-7.
14. Strebkov D., Shevchuk A. (2015). Trudovyye trayektorii samozanyatykh professionalov (frilanserov). [Work Trajectories of Self-Employed Professionals]. Mir Rossii. Vol. 24. № 1. P. 72–100 (In Russ.).
15. Tatarova G. G., Bessokirnaya G. P. (2019). Identifikatsiya rabochikh s predpriyatiyem v diagnostike proizvodstvennoy situatsii. [Identification of Workers with an Enterprise in the Diagnostics of Production Situation]. Sotsiologicheskiye issledovaniya. № 4. P. 43–56. (In Russ.).
16. Tatarova G. G., Bessokirnaya G. P. (2018). Ob ustoychivosti izmereniy v protsesse rekonstruktsii sotsial’nykh tipov rabochikh kak ob’yektov upravleniya. [On the Reliability of Measurements in the Process of Reconstructing Social Types of Workers as Objects of Management]. Sotsiologicheskaya nauka i sotsial’naya praktika. Vol. 6. № 2. P. 52–69. (In Russ.).
17. Bardasi E., Francesconi M. (2004). The impact of atypical employment on individual wellbeing: evidence from a panel of British workers. Social Science & Medicine. Vol. 58. Is. 9. P. 1671–1688. DOI: 10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00400-3
18. Bujacz A., Eib C., Toivanen S. (2020). Not all are equal: a latent profile analysis of well-being among the self-employed. Journal of Happiness Studies. Vol. 21. P. 1661–1680. DOI: 10.1007/s10902019-00147-1.
19. Benz M., Frey B. S. (2008). Being independent is a great thing: subjective evaluations of self-employment and hierarchy. Economica. Vol. 75. Is. 298. P. 362–383. DOI: 10.1111/j.14680335.2007.00594.x.
20. Brereton F., Clinch J. P., Ferreira S. (2008). Employment and life-satisfaction: insights from ireland. The Economic and Social Review. Vol. 39. № 3. P. 207–234.
21. Dawson C., Veliziotis M., Hopkins B. (2017). Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being. Economic and Industrial Democracy. Vol. 38. № 1. P. 69–98. DOI:10.1177/0143831X14559781.
22. De Cuyper N., De Witte H. (2006). The impact of job insecurity and contract type on attitudes, well-being and behavioral reports: A psychological contract perspective. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. Vol. 79. Is. 3. P. 395–409. DOI:10.1348/096317905X53660
23. De Cuyper N., De Jong J., De Witte H., Isaksson K., Rigotti Th., Schalk R. (2008). Literature review of theory and research on the psychological impact of temporary employment: Towards a conceptual model. International Journal of Management Reviews. Vol. 10 Is. 1. P.25–51. DOI:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2007.00221.x
24. Ellingson J. E., Gruys M. L., Sackett P. R. (1998). Factors related to the satisfaction and performance of temporary employees. Journal of Applied Psychology. Vol. 83. № 6. P. 913–921. DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.83.6.913.
25. Green C. P., Heywood J. S. (2011). Flexible contracts and subjective well-being. Economic Inquiry. Vol. 49. № 3. P. 716–729. DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2010.00291.x.
26. Imhof S., Andresen M. (2018). Unhappy with well-being research in the temporary work context: Mapping review and research agenda. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. Vol. 29. № 1. P. 127–164. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2017.1384395
27. Karabchuk T., Soboleva N. (2020). Temporary employment, informal work and subjective well-being across Europe: Does labor legislation matter? Journal of Happiness Studies. Vol. 21. P. 1879–1901. DOI:10.1007/s10902-019-00152-4.
28. Kompier M., Ybema J. F., Janssen J., Taris T. (2009). Employment contracts: cross-sectional and longitudinal relations with quality of working life, health and well-being. Journal of Occupational Health. Vol. 51. № 3. P. 193–203. DOI: 10.1539/joh.l8150
29. Scherer S. (2009). The social consequences of insecure jobs. Social Indicators Research. Vol. 93. № 3. P. 527–547. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_3726.
Article
Received: 17.03.2021
Accepted: 07.06.2021
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
Harvard
Kuchenkova, A. V. (2021) ’Type of Employment as a Determinant of Subjective Well-Being: Problems of Comparability of Research Results’, Sociologicheskaja nauka i social’naja praktika, 9(2), pp. 66-81. doi: https://doi.org/10.19181/snsp.2021.9.2.8105.
Section
SOCIOLOGY OF LABOR
Publisher: Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FCTAS RAS)