Anomie and Interest in Education

Results from 571 respondents in more than 600 households, selected randomly and interviewed over telephone, supported the hypotheses that feelings of anomie are related negatively to interest in continuing education and to the belief that formal education is important in becoming successful. Respondents who were both not engaged in continuing education and not interested in undertaking further education scored higher on anomie than those who were either engaged or interested in continuing education. Respondents who believed that job experience was more important than formal education for becoming successful scored higher on anomie than those favoring education. Additional findings strengthened the contention that feelings of anomie, internalized during childhood, create an orientation which discounts the importance of education during adult years.