BACKGROUND: Although it also portrays a loss of function in psychology, in this context the term anomia
(from the Greek, an-: absence, and -nomos: law) is used to describe a
sociological phenomenon that can lead individuals to misbehave due to
feelings of valuelessness and cynicism resulting from a lack of
integration in social life (Srole, 1956).
OBJECTIVE: Previous research has neglected anomia as part of the
origin of employee work absence. This study tests the association between
anomia and absence - operationalized as propensity to abusive absence due to
illness. A large variety of job attitudes grouped in terms of
organizational climate are controlled for.
METHODS: Data were
collected from 84 of the 198 (42.4%) employees of a provincial Spanish
Social Security Service. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test
the associations.
RESULTS: With the climate factors controlled for
by entering them together with anomia in a SEM model as causes of absence,
the results show a significant relationship between anomia and absence.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings explain the origin of absence at work and
management strategies. The very nature of anomia suggests that strategies
can be designed to provide employees with an organizational `micro-cosmos'
that promotes support, predictability, and bonds of trust to create an
effective bulwark against absenteeism.
