Sex, education, income and locus of control for Poverty and Wealth

This study analyzes the attributions of causality for poverty and wealth in order to better understand different views and to plan specific tailored policies. The questions we tried to answer concerned factors to which such phenomena are attributed, the way people imagine these phenomena, and the way people living in low social status conditions are considered. According to the literature, we can detect three main attributions depending on the return of the condition of poverty (or wealth) to: 1) individual factors ("the individual is only responsible for the conditions he lives in"); 2) structural factors ("responsibilities have to be detected in the context externally to the individual); 3) "Mixed factors" (more factors are present and interact with one another). The data refers to a 2008-2009 ISTC-NRC poverty and debt research which has been carried out on families in Italy (2000 partecipants). A principal component analysis has grouped all used items into a few components relating to external, internal and fatalistic attributions of the phenomena of poverty and wealth. The following steps consist of analyzing how preferences for particular attributions are shaped by a series of factors like economic status (real or perceived), sex, education level, political orientation and media use. Analysis of variance has shown that relationships seem to exist in each case considered and it offers interesting inputs for further elaborations as well as for planning programs.

Publication type: 
Contributo in atti di convegno
Author or Creator: 
Maurizio Norcia
Antonella Rissotto
Angelita Castellani
Source: 
International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD) - "XVII International conference: Good Governance: Building Knowledge for Social Development Worldwide", pp. 22, Dhaka (BANGLADESH), 3-7/01/2011
Date: 
2011
Resource Identifier: 
http://www.cnr.it/prodotto/i/310481
Language: 
Eng
ISTC Author: 
Maurizio Norcia's picture
Real name: