An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country

Given the limited literature on the association between trade unions and mental health, this study aims to analyse differences between unionised and non-unionised workers in terms of psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and overall life satisfaction. These differences were analysed based on a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ulacia Aramendi, Imanol, Smith Echeberria, Clara Angela, Beldarrain Durandegui, ÁngeL
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/78390
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/78390
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:trade union membership
psychological well-being
job satisfaction
life satisfaction
Basque Country
id ES_741c413bad50f2f42b5ad1fd5bc8744e
oai_identifier_str oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/78390
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque CountryUlacia Aramendi, ImanolSmith Echeberria, Clara AngelaBeldarrain Durandegui, ÁngeLtrade union membershippsychological well-beingjob satisfactionlife satisfactionBasque CountryGiven the limited literature on the association between trade unions and mental health, this study aims to analyse differences between unionised and non-unionised workers in terms of psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and overall life satisfaction. These differences were analysed based on a sample of 260 workers from organisations located in the Basque Country, of whom 144 were members of a trade union and 116 were not. Our results suggest significant differences between unionised and non-unionised workers in terms of autonomy (t = 3.10; p < 0.01), environmental mastery (t = 2.20; p < 0.05), and personal growth (t = 2.10; p < 0.05), with trade union members demonstrating higher mean scores in all three metrics than their non-unionised counterparts. The results also revealed significant differences in job satisfaction (t = −0.31; p < 0.01), although non-unionised workers scored higher than their unionised counterparts. Contrary to expectations, no differences were found between the groups in relation to overall life satisfaction. After discussing the results, the main limitations of the study are described, and some proposals are made for future research.This research project was funded by the Guipúzcoa Provincial Council within the ‘Partaidetza’ Programme. Project number: OF-341/2020 (ES).MDPI202620262025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10810/78390reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigacióninstname:Universidad del País VascoIngléshttps://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14120723info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/783902026-06-18T09:23:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
title An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
spellingShingle An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
Ulacia Aramendi, Imanol
trade union membership
psychological well-being
job satisfaction
life satisfaction
Basque Country
title_short An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
title_full An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
title_fullStr An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
title_full_unstemmed An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
title_sort An Analysis of the Differences Between Unionised and Non-Unionised Workers in Psychological Well-Being, Job Satisfaction, and Life Satisfaction: A Study in Organisations Located in the Basque Country
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Ulacia Aramendi, Imanol
Smith Echeberria, Clara Angela
Beldarrain Durandegui, ÁngeL
author Ulacia Aramendi, Imanol
author_facet Ulacia Aramendi, Imanol
Smith Echeberria, Clara Angela
Beldarrain Durandegui, ÁngeL
author_role author
author2 Smith Echeberria, Clara Angela
Beldarrain Durandegui, ÁngeL
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv trade union membership
psychological well-being
job satisfaction
life satisfaction
Basque Country
topic trade union membership
psychological well-being
job satisfaction
life satisfaction
Basque Country
description Given the limited literature on the association between trade unions and mental health, this study aims to analyse differences between unionised and non-unionised workers in terms of psychological well-being, job satisfaction, and overall life satisfaction. These differences were analysed based on a sample of 260 workers from organisations located in the Basque Country, of whom 144 were members of a trade union and 116 were not. Our results suggest significant differences between unionised and non-unionised workers in terms of autonomy (t = 3.10; p < 0.01), environmental mastery (t = 2.20; p < 0.05), and personal growth (t = 2.10; p < 0.05), with trade union members demonstrating higher mean scores in all three metrics than their non-unionised counterparts. The results also revealed significant differences in job satisfaction (t = −0.31; p < 0.01), although non-unionised workers scored higher than their unionised counterparts. Contrary to expectations, no differences were found between the groups in relation to overall life satisfaction. After discussing the results, the main limitations of the study are described, and some proposals are made for future research.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2026
2026
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10810/78390
url http://hdl.handle.net/10810/78390
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci14120723
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
publisher.none.fl_str_mv MDPI
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
instname:Universidad del País Vasco
instname_str Universidad del País Vasco
reponame_str Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
collection Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869410858227990529
score 15,198674

Similares en LA Referencia