Alienation is reconceptualized in terms of low position on three dimensions of occupational self-direction (autonomy of the worker, complexity of the work, and variety of the tasks performed) isolated by Kohn and Schooler. Factor analysis of survey data confirms the existence of these three dimensions, and their impact on job satisfaction and class consciousness within the working class is explored. Specific hypotheses are abstracted from the work of several writers on the new working class, whose explanations, we argue, focus on occupational rather than class factors as independent variables. Regression analyses show that one of the occupational dimensions (complexity) has a positive effect upon both class consciousness and job satisfaction. In general terms, the approach adopted here provides a way of organizing and presenting in a testable form a wide range of hypotheses relating work experience to job satisfaction and class consciousness.
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