Economic Stress, Employee Commitment, and Subjective Well-Being

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented health and economic crises across the world. Millions of businesses have been obliged to shut down, and millions of jobs have been lost. These effects have created a very severe economic-related stress level, which can have consequences on psychological well-being (PWB) and economic commitment (EC). This study examined the relationships between objective and subjective indicators of income-related stress and employment-related stress and PWB and EC. The 697 participants were contacted during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample includes private-sector employees, civil service employees, self-employed, furloughed employees, and unemployed. Results show that the economic stress produced by COVID-19, as estimated by a compound of objective and subjective income-and employment-related stress, produced a negative effect on PWB (r = .21, p .001) and EC (r = .29, p .001). Multiple regression showed that subjective income-related stress was the main predictor of PWB, positive affect, and negative affect and that economic deprivation and objective employment-related stress were the predictors of EC and its three components, affective, normative, and continuity. Finally, the contribution and some practical implications of the findings are discussed.