Personality, self-efficacy, and employment outcomes among individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disorders

Abstract

This study sought to investigate factors related to employment status and job tenure among individuals diagnosed with psychiatric disorders (IDPD). In particular, it focuses on individual differences in self-efficacy and personality. The International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) and the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) were administered to a Singaporean sample of IDPD who were receiving services from vocational rehabilitation centres. The results of this study showed that IDPD who sustain their jobs for more than six months were more conscientiousness and agreeableness than those who left before six months. This suggests that vocational rehabilitation service centres for IDPD can look into intervention programs to develop strategies to improve on personality dispositions such as conscientiousness and agreeableness. Surprisingly, no significant difference was found in the level of general self-efficacy between the participants who stayed in the job more than 6 months and those who left their job within 6 months.