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Discrimination, alienation, and job satisfaction among Coloured and White employees in South Africa
Author(s) -
Orpen Christopher
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1080/00207597808246614
Subject(s) - alienation , psychology , social psychology , disadvantaged , feeling , job satisfaction , perception , white (mutation) , political science , biochemistry , chemistry , law , gene , neuroscience
To investigate the Mertonian model, which maintains that alienation is the result of exposure to conflicting social norms, a comparison was made between the degree to perceived discrimination, alienation and job satisfaction among 55 Coloured and 60 White clerks in South Africa. It is argued that the disadvantaged Coloureds face greater “conflict” than the privileged Whites in present‐day South Africa. Hence, the fact that the Coloureds were significantly more alienated, less satisfied, and perceived themselves to be significantly more discriminated against than did the Whites, was taken as support for the Mertonian model. Negative correlations were also found between alienation and satisfaction and between perceptions of discrimination and alienation, in both samples. These results are regarded as suggestive evidence that reactions to society‐in‐general can influence job feelings.