The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that anomia as defined by the Srole scale (a measurement of despair, hopelessness, and retreatism) is inversely related to socio-economic status (as measured by occupation, income, and education) and the amount of informal and formal group participation. Data were collected via random sample surveys (personal interviews with head of household or their substitutes) in 3 rural black parishes of Louisiana. The 594 respondents were asked to respond to the following Srole items: In spite of what people say, the lot of the average man is getting worse; It's hardly fair to bring children into the world with the way things look for the future; Nowadays a person has to live pretty much for today and let tomorrow take care of itself; These days a person doesn't really know who can count on; There's little use writing to public officials because often they aren't interested in the problems of the average man. Nearly two thirds of the respondents were classified in the high anomia scale category and significant inverse relationships were found in feelings of anomia as related to education, income, voter registration, and number of organizational affilations (pessimism was lower among those who participated in secondary associations and/or the political process). (JC)