PRECONDITIONS OF ALIENATION AMONG YOUNG MANAGERS AND PROFESSIONALS.
Item
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Title
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PRECONDITIONS OF ALIENATION AMONG YOUNG MANAGERS AND PROFESSIONALS.
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Identifier
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AAI8203297
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identifier
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8203297
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Creator
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LANG, DOROTHY.
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Contributor
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Prof. Abraham K. Korman
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Industrial
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Abstract
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A number of recent studies have shown problems of life dissatisfaction, alienation, and cynicism among many occupationally successful young managers and professionals. This dissertation study attempted to explain why some occupationally successful young men and women become alienated and dissatisfied with their lives while many others do not. Earlier research projects by Korman (1977) and by Sarason (1977) indicated that a crucial factor may be disconfirmed expectancies, that is, a gap between the benefits an individual at the start of a career expects to receive and the lower level of rewards actually realized.;Specifically, this study attempted to define some of the preconditions to disconfirmed expectancies and explain how disconfirmed expectancies may predispose some individuals to alienation. A four-stage model was developed integrating the Korman and Sarason theories about life dissatisfaction among occupationally successful people. Several background factors including having an upper class family background, graduation from an elite college, and graduation during 1965 through 1970 were believed to lead to high expectations for life, work, and societal change. These high expectations were pedicted to lead to high disconfirmed expectancies because of limited opportunities caused by stagflation economic conditions as well as the curtailment of many liberal programs. Finally, disconfirmed expectancies were believed to result in alienation and major life changes, including occupational change, divorce, and entry into therapy or counseling.;A questionnaire measuring these variables was completed by 434 young managers and professionals, most of whom were current evening M.B.A. students contacted in the classroom. A number of correlational techniques were applied to determine the relationships among the variables at different stages of the model.;Little support was found for the four-stage sequential model as originally stated. However, elite family background and graduation from a prestigious college were found to influence alienation by moderating the relationship between disconfirmed expectancies and alienation. Generally, individuals experiencing high status college and family backgrounds showed a significantly stronger relationship between disconfirmed expectancies and alienation than did respondents without high status backgrounds. Specifically, prestige level of the undergraduate college moderated the relationships between personal alienation (self-estrangement) and disconfirmed expectancies about both life and work. Also, socio-economic class background moderated the relationship between disconfirmed expectancies about life with both personal alienation and alienation from one's occupation or profession.;These results give support to Sarason's hypothesis that disconfirmed expectancies are particularly likely to result in alienation among individuals from privileged backgrounds. Also, these findings seem to show that high status college and family backgrounds affect alienation not by raising early expectations to unrealistic levels, but by increasing the likelihood that disconfirmed expectancies, once they occur, will result in alienation.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Business
