Abstract
The main objective of this research is to study and explore the identity and capacity dynamics of long-term job seekers. The literature on unemployment is relatively large and undoubtedly constitutes a painful and devastating test for the individual, from the standpoint of identity, self-esteem or self-efficacy (Koen, Klehe & Van Vianen, 2013; Herman, 2007). Our study is interested in understanding the identity strategies that are played during this period of inactivity and the influence that the project can have in this dynamic according to two types of public: accompanied and unaccompanied. The project "as a figure of anticipation is a specifically human characteristic" (Boutinet, 2014) and happens to be with action, at the heart of the functioning of the individual associated with two moments, that of conception and The realization. In this perspective, we have carried out a qualitative study using the ego-ecological approach and its methodology, the IMIS, Multistatistic Investigator of Social Identity (Zavalloni, 2007; Zavalloni & Louis-Guérin, 1984). The population is composed of eight job seekers benefiting from one part of an accompaniment in one case and the other not. A series of interviews was conducted allowing us to raise the complexity that plays within the dynamics of identity and capability. The exploitation of the results has led to the emergence of differentiated identity processes. Individuals, benefiting from support, develop a professional project and the means to achieve it. In comparison, those who did not benefit seem to be in a phase of inaction, demotivation in their job search.