An exploration of anomia as origin of work absence.

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.