A Study of Cynicism, Personality, and Work Values

Kanter and Mirvis (1989) reported that 43% of Americans are cynical and that confidence in business and leadership has fallen from approximately 76% in the late 1960s to about 15% today. The purpose of the present study was to investigate interrelationships among cynicism, depersonalization, estrangement, work values, and basic personality traits. College students (N = 106) completed the 16PF (Cattell, Eber, & Tatsuoka, 1970), Gordon's (1978) Personal Profile-Inventory, Coopersmith's (1967) Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), and a Life Attitudes Questionnaire containing the Kanter and Mirvis cynicism scales, four measures of work values (Buchholz, 1977), and some new items. Cynical students believed that workers are exploited and alienated from productive activity (Marxist exploitive belief system, r = .40; Buchholz). Unexpectedly, cynicism was positively correlated with the Buchholz Protestant Work Ethic Scale (r = .44), negatively correlated with selfesteem (r = −.39), and not correlated with the basic personality traits. Depersonalization and estrangement were related to personality characteristics such as neuroticism, high anxiety, and low leadership potential.