ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a still fragmentary and largely exploratory research on psychological factors in unemployment. The unemployment rate given in labour statistics, as far as it is connected with non-handicapped males is actually brought about by work instability rather than by permanent unemployment. The chapter aims to discuss the elucidation of possible psychological factors that differentiate unstable from stable workers in the Belgian social and economic setting. The research consisted in a comparison of 25 matched pairs of stable and unstable employees. For each unstable subject a control subject was chosen, living in the same city-centre or in the same suburb, having the same age, the same type of work qualification, the same level of schooling and a comparable family situation. The control subjects were also in normal physical and mental health. The analysis of time expenditure shows that many unstable subjects spend fairly well organized leisurely days.
