Alienation from Work Scale (AWS)
Measures the degree to which individuals ascribe meaning to their work or view it as meaningless.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Alienation from Work Scale (AWS) was developed by Fischer & Kohr (1980). It is designed to measure Work Alienation. The scale is intended for use with Working adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 10 items.
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 1 = Untrue, 2 = Somewhat untrue, 3 = Neither true nor untrue, 4 = Somewhat true, 5 = True.
The scale includes 4 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are summed to produce a total score.
Total scores range from 10 to 50. Interpretation guidelines:
- Very Low Alienation: 10 – 14
- Low Alienation: 15 – 18
- Moderate Alienation: 19 – 23
- High Alienation: 24 – 50
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Cronbach's alpha = 0.77.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 3 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.