Unemployment Anxiety and its Relation with Psychological Compatibility Among Al-Quds Open University Students

Abstract

The aim of this study is to figure out the reality of unemployment and its correlation with psychological compatibility among a sample of Al-Quds Open University students and the effect of some demographic variables on unemployment anxiety and psychological compatibility, as well as verifying the existence of a correlation between unemployment anxiety and psychological compatibility among Al-Quds Open University students. The study sample consisted of 381students from Al-Quds Open University selected from the branches of Ramallah & Al-Bireh, Nablus and Gaza. They were chosen through a cluster sample method during the academic year 2020/2021, and the sample constituted 2.5% of the study population. The study came up with various findings: the overall rate of the unemployment anxiety among university students was medium, with an average of 66.2%, meanwhile the psychological compatibility was high, with an average of 81.0%. Furthermore, there is a statistically significant negative correlation between the degree of unemployment anxiety and the degree of psychological compatibility at the level of (α≤.05), as the value of the Pearson correlation coefficient for those two variables was 189.-, while the value of the significance level reached (α≤.01), and It is less than the value of the significance level specified for the study. The study also showed that there are statistical differences in unemployment anxiety and psychological compatibility due to the variable of gender, in favor of females. There are differences in unemployment anxiety attributed to the variable of faculty in favor of the faculty of administrative and economic sciences, technology and applied sciences, and there are differences in unemployment anxiety and psychological compatibility attributed to the variable of educational level. The differences in unemployment anxiety were in favor of the first and fourth year students, while the differences in psychological compatibility were in favor of the second and third years. There are differences in unemployment anxiety and psychological compatibility attributed to the university branch variable; the differences in unemployment anxiety were in favor of the Gaza branch, while the differences in Psychological compatibility were in favor of Nablus branch The study suggests several recommendations including: creating harmony among the college disciplines, reducing the number of students attending disciplines with high unemployment rate, developing counseling programs helping students reduce unemployment anxiety, and getting involved in the labor market positively and high morales.