A condition formed when there is a disjunction between social goals and the legitimate means people have to attain those goals is called:

A condition formed when there is a disjunction between social goals and the legitimate means people have to attain those goals is called:

• A. Anomie
• B. Alienation
• C. Anxiety
• D. Strain

Answer: (A)

Discrepancy between the goals a society says people should strive for and the legitimate ways to achieve those goals creates a destabilizing pressure. When the cultural push toward success rests on unequal access to accepted means, people feel strain as they try to meet expectations through limited avenues. This strain, over time, undermines shared norms and leaves people without clear rules for how to behave, producing a state of normlessness. That condition—where norms loosen and social order breaks down because goals outpace means—is what anomie describes. It captures not just individual frustration but a broader social instability that emerges from the misalignment. While alienation focuses on detachment from social ties, anxiety is a broader psychological concern, and strain is the pressure itself; the term that best names the resulting social condition in this framing is anomie.

Discrepancy between the goals a society says people should strive for and the legitimate ways to achieve those goals creates a destabilizing pressure. When the cultural push toward success rests on unequal access to accepted means, people feel strain as they try to meet expectations through limited avenues. This strain, over time, undermines shared norms and leaves people without clear rules for how to behave, producing a state of normlessness. That condition—where norms loosen and social order breaks down because goals outpace means—is what anomie describes. It captures not just individual frustration but a broader social instability that emerges from the misalignment. While alienation focuses on detachment from social ties, anxiety is a broader psychological concern, and strain is the pressure itself; the term that best names the resulting social condition in this framing is anomie.