The mediating role of alienation in self-reported health among Swedish adolescents

School Alienation: A Construct Validation Study

“…Research on well-being suggested that social support, positive interactions, and integration into the classroom maintained by teachers and classmates might stimulate student well-being (Hascher, 2010), thus diminishing their alienation from school and increasing their probability of becoming productive citizens. Applying a longitudinal design, further research could explore the transition from childhood to adulthood, when young people replace childish behavior with more mature behavior and which in turn may affect adolescent's psychological well-being (as cited in Safipour et al, 2011). Although the hypothesized model and research hypotheses were supported, we identified several limitations of the present study.…”

“…For example, when students appreciate activities and settings as well as value people in these settings, their alienation decreases and their psychological well-being increases (Ifeagwazi et al, 2015). In contrast, social discrimination in the classroom was found to lessen student wellbeing and intensify social problems in school (Hascher, 2010), because it is especially in adolescence that students experience a keen desire for peer interactions and want to be accepted by peers (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 1998;Safipour et al, 2011). Social alienation, in turn, was found to be one of the possible risk factors for health (Safipour et al, 2011).…”

“…In contrast, social discrimination in the classroom was found to lessen student wellbeing and intensify social problems in school (Hascher, 2010), because it is especially in adolescence that students experience a keen desire for peer interactions and want to be accepted by peers (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 1998;Safipour et al, 2011). Social alienation, in turn, was found to be one of the possible risk factors for health (Safipour et al, 2011). Research on well-being suggested that social support, positive interactions, and integration into the classroom maintained by teachers and classmates might stimulate student well-being (Hascher, 2010), thus diminishing their alienation from school and increasing their probability of becoming productive citizens.…”

“…Different students, whether they study in elite private or inner-city schools, undoubtedly experience the same problem (Sidorkin, 2004). Moreover, it is especially in adolescence that youth often deal with numerous stressful situations at school (Safipour et al, 2011). For example, students who see little practical value in learning and its relevance outside of school, who experience poor relationships with teachers, or who suffer because of classmates may feel like outsiders.…”

“…Moreover, subsequent alienation research has shown that the problem of alienation also arises in highly centralized and formalized organizations (Blauner, 1964;Aiken & Hage, 1966), family life (Kelly & Johnston, 2001), work settings (Hirschfeld & Feild, 2000;Shantz, Alfes, & Truss, 2014) as well as religious (Exline, Yali, Sanderson, 2000), political (Finifter, 1970;Seeman, 1975;Pantoja & Segura, 2003), and medical contexts (Young, 1984). Although alienation appears to be a strictly contextual construct (Safipour, Schopflocher, Higginbottom, & Emami, 2011), at a general level it may be characterized as a kind of estrangement, distancing, or separateness from a former or a normal state, leading to some sort of loss (Railton, 2013).…”