Personal Control as a Mediator and Moderator Between Life Strains and Psychological Well‐Being in the Unemployed

This study surveyed 214 unemployed adults on well‐being, the latent (status, social support, activity, time structure, collective purpose) and manifest benefits (financial strain) of employment, and personal control. We tested whether personal control would predict well‐being over and above the effects of the latent and manifest benefits, and tested whether it moderated or mediated the relationship between the latent and manifest benefits and well‐being. Personal control explained additional variance over and above the latent and manifest benefits; it moderated the effect of both activity and financial strain on well‐being; and it mediated the relationship between financial strain, time structure, collective purpose, status, and well‐being. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.