Success and Anomie: A Study of the Effect of Goals on Anomie

Abstract

Most studies of subjective anomie assume that all individuals have the same goals, and they explain anomie in terms of differences in the means to achieve goals. This paper examines the effect of variations in the goal of success on anomie. Data are from a Harris survey of 3,001 adults in the continental United States. A multiple regression of anomie on success orientation, plus six social status variables, revealed that success orientation has a significant positive effect on anomie and that, next to education, it is the best predictor of anomie. This finding helps explain both intra-class variations in anomie and the increase in anomie from the 1950s to 1971 found by Fischer(1974). The social status variables did not explain much of the variation in success orientation, and the effect of success orientation on anomie was not mediated by education and income. The relevance of these findings to Durkheim's theory of anomie is discussed.