Alienation and Knowledge-Seeking: A Note on Attitude and Action

Abstract

A two-step survey procedure was used to obtain an unobtrusive measure of knowledge-seeking behavior on the part of workers whose prior alienation had been determined. Two forms of alienation (the sense of powerlessness, and engagement in intrinsically unrewarding work) were at issue as potential instigators of “search” behavior. The prediction was that these alienations operate independently—high work alienation being an index of “need” for information, and powerlessness an index of low “expectancy” concerning its likely utility. Respondents were provided with a controlled occasion for seeking information about improved work opportunities. The evidence indicates that: (1) the two forms of alienation relate to “search” behavior in different ways (most especially, high work alienation goes with greater search); (2) the effort to show an interaction effect for the two alienations (greatest search where need is high and expectancy for control is also high) was only modestly successful; and (3) seeking information about work, and being low in powerlessness, both correlate as expected with high scores on objective political knowledge. The data are interpreted in the light of prevalent notions concerning the unity of various urban alienations and prevalent concerns about the relation between alienated attitudes and individual behavior.