This article explored the association between explanations of unemployment and values. 205 people - employed and unemployed - were part of the study. Furnham´s attribution scale on unemployment (1982) and a short version of Schwartz's. Portrait Value Questionnaire (PVQ 21) included in the European Social Survey (ESS), together with a social and demographic questionnaire were used. The conclusion was that employed and unemployed showed no differences in the attribution of causes for unemployment. In relation to values, unemployed showed differences in universalism and benevolence, linked to the domain of self-trascendence, whereas employed individuals had a greater attach to security values, linked to the domain of conservation. Finally, it was found a significant association between fatalistic attributions and security and tradition values, between tradition and social attributions and between stimulation and individualistic reasons for unemployment.
unemployment; employment; attribution; personal values
