A confirmatory factor analysis based study of Seeman's model of alienation

This dissertation develops a longitudinal second-order confirmatory factor-analytic model of alienation in employed American men, to determine if Seeman's five dimensions of alienation have a common domain. Alienation appears in this model as a second-order factor that is significantly related to all five of these facets. Powerlessness and self-estrangement are shown to be the two central facets. Meaninglessness, normlessness and cultural estrangement show progressively smaller relationships to the underlying alienation construct. Thus a single factor accounts for a common domain of alienation which underlies the dimensions Seeman developed. Cross-national comparisons using data from Poland and Japan confirm the generalizability of this model. The single second order alienation factor is shown to be associated with a number of variables as expected from theoretical considerations or previous research including class, stratification, and various aspects of work.