Applying Merton's theory of anomia to career disruptions

Purpose – Taking an innovative theoretical approach, the purpose of this paper is to apply Merton's theory of anomia as personal reactions to social disruptions to white‐collar worker reactions to being unemployed or under‐employed.Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory, quantitative, secondary data analysis using data collected from convenience samples of career‐disrupted, white‐collar workers in four community and church based outplacement support groups. Recognizing career‐disruption as a potentially anomic state, factor analysis was used to develop scales suggestive of Merton's categories of reactions to anomia, and cluster analysis was used to classify respondents into Merton's categories.Findings – Exploratory scales developed and resulting cluster analyses suggest Merton's theory may be helpful in recognizing different white‐collar work reactions to career displacement.Research limitations/implications – Secondary analysis and convenience sample data are major limitations, but results justify a ...