Blake A. Allan

Professor of Counseling Psychology, University of Houston

Areas of Expertise:

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About Blake

Blake's area of expertise is factors that restrict people's access to "good jobs" and the psychological consequences of different work conditions. For example, unemployment, underemployment, and precarious work consistently predict poorer mental health and well-being. These broad areas include things like poverty wage employment and contract work. Blake also studies what makes a job rewarding and fulfilling, especially what makes a job meaningful.

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Contributions

Why Good Jobs are Important for the Economy and the Mental Health and Well-Being of American Workers

Key Findings Brief, October 2018

Publications

"The Development and Initial Validation of the Decent Work Scale" (with Ryan D. Duffy, Jessica W. England, David L. Blustein, Kelsey L. Autin, Richard P. Douglass, Joaquim Ferreira, and Eduardo J. R. Santos). Journal of Counseling Psychology 64, no. 2 (2017): 206-221.

Describes into five components of decent work (physically and interpersonally safe working conditions, access to health care, adequate compensation, hours that allow for free time and rest, and organizational values that complement family and social values) that relate to mental health and well-being outcomes.

"Construction and Validation of the Subjective Underemployment Scales" (with Ryan D. Duffy, Jessica W. England, David L. Blustein, Kelsey L. Autin, Richard P. Douglass, Joaquim Ferreira, and Eduardo J. R. Santos). Journal of Counseling Psychology 64, no. 2 (2017): 206-221.

Breaks down underemployment into seven dimensions (pay, status, field, hours, involuntary temporary work, poverty wage employment, and overqualification), which relate to mental health and well-being outcomes.