Unemployment can be usefully examined from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Economists and sociologists generally focus on levels of unemployment, either in the society as a whole or in particular regions, industries, or population segments. Unemployment rates are viewed as the result of macrosocietal forces, such as technological changes, migratory patterns, monetary policies, economic cycles, or the operations of the world economy. According to this perspective, individual attributes, especially those that reflect human capital investment (e.g., education and experience), will influence the degree of success in obtaining employment, given their impact on a job seeker's placement in the employment queue. Moreover, stable “tastes for employment” will influence the propensity to seek work.

Psychologists tend to focus on other characteristics that people bring to the employment market, especially values, self-concepts, motivations, and psychological well-being, that could predispose them to become unemployed. These characteristics are usually viewed as quite stable and as sources of variability in both work-related behaviors and the ability to maintain employment over a period of time. Still, experiences of unemployment and work are acknowledged by many sociologists and psychologists as sources of personal change. Operating under the assumption that unemployment is largely dependent on external forces, but maintaining the psychological focus on the individual, social psychologists have studied its personal consequences, as unemployment is seen as a source of economic and social strain with manifold psychological and behavioral implications.