Takis Venetoklis

Unemployment and Subjective Well-being An Empirical Test of Deprivation Theory, Incentive Paradigm and Financial Strain Approach

In this article we focus on the level of subjective well-being and its determinants among the unemployed as compared to those currently in paid labour. We subject three strongly contradictory theoretical approaches to an empirical test. The first is the traditional deprivation theory, which maintains that unemployment is a major psychological stressor. The second is the incentive theory, which claims that the level of well-being among the unemployed may be sufficiently high to discourage them from actively and effectively searching for a new job and re-entering the labour market. The third approach emphasizes the adverse effects of financial stress for subjective well-being during unemployment. We use the European Social Survey (ESS) data from 21 countries in our empirical analysis. We find no support for the incentive theory. The deprivation theory points in the right direction by stressing the psychological factors associated with unemployment but makes a notable omission by disregarding the financial strain which, according to our analysis, proves to be crucial for the well-being of the unemployed.

Workplace Bullying in the Finnish Public Sector Who, Me?

We examine incidents of workplace bullying by using an Internet-based survey. Our unique sample consists of 1,072 public-sector employees working in 12 Finnish ministries. Of those surveyed, 20.3% reported experiencing work task–related bullying multiple times per month, whereas 11.3% reported experiencing personal-level bullying. Supervisors were less likely to be bullied than subordinates, and women were more likely to experience bullying than men. Among victims who had experienced bullying during the past 12 months, nearly 60% reported that their problem had yet to be solved. To combat workplace bullying in public-sector organizations, we propose a proactive punitive strategy that includes stricter rules and severe administrative penalties to those who breach them.

Obesity, Underweight, and Smoking Are Associated with Worse Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Finnish Healthy Young Men: A Population-Based Study

Background Obesity and smoking are strongly associated with worse cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Most previous studies that have examined the association of body composition with CRF have neither assessed non-linearity nor separately examined the effects of underweight. Thus, very little is known on how underweight affects CRF. Possible joint effects of obesity and smoking on CRF have not been adequately explored. Aims We examined the association between body mass index (BMI) and smoking with CRF in 1,629 Finnish army conscripts. We focused on non-linear effects of BMI in order to assess the importance of underweight. We also examined whether the cooccurrence of obesity and smoking potentiates their deleterious effects on CRF. Methods We used the Cooper’s 12-minute run test (12MR) to measure CRF. The 12MR score was analyzed as continuous (linear, polynomial, and restricted cubic spline regression) and categorical. In categorical analyses, we used binary logistic regression with the 12MR score in two groups (low = lowest quintile vs. intermediate/high = quintiles 2–5) and multinomial logistic regression with the 12MR score in three groups (low = lowest quintile, intermediate = quintiles 2 and 3, and high = quintiles 4 and 5). Results Non-linearity in the spline model was statistically significant (p < 0.001). In addition, the non-linear models had a clearly better fit than the linear one in terms of Akaike Information Criterion and R-squared values. There was a statistically significant interaction between smoking and BMI (p < 0.01). In the categorical analysis, overweight/obese regular smokers were at a particularly high risk of not achieving high CRF. Conclusion In healthy young men, not only overweight/obesity but also underweight may be associated with worse CRF. This provides a potential mechanism for the previously reported association between underweight and increased mortality. The cooccurrence of overweight/obesity and regular smoking may have a deleterious effect on CRF.