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Conservative Ideology, Economic Conservatism, and Causal Attributions for Poverty and Wealth

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Abstract

The purpose of the study is to analyze the effects of different features of Conservative Ideology, measured via the Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Economic Conservatism (EC) scales, on Internal and External casual attributions for poverty and wealth. Participants were a group of 181 university students. Results of multiple regression analyses suggested that EC influenced Internal causal attributions for poverty and wealth positively but influenced the External ones negatively. Of the other measures, only SDO showed a negative effect on External causal attributions. Theoretical and practical implications of results are discussed.

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Notes

  1. Item selection procedure was supported by the advice of two experts in the economic field, in order to obtain the most suitable items for the Italian socio-economic context. Factor analysis supported a one-dimension solution. Reliability was satisfactory (α = .81). The EC score turned out to be positive correlated with SDO (r = .47, p < .01), RWA Aggression and Submission (r = .42, p < .01). The correlation with RWA Conservatism was lower (r = .22, p < .01), t(419) = 4.23, p < .001 (Bobbio et al. 2009).

  2. In a preliminary analysis we also considered the two-level between factor “order of presentation”. Neither the main effect nor the interactions involving this factor were significant and consequently it was not used in subsequent analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Psychology, University of Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova PD, Italy

    Andrea Bobbio, Luigina Canova & Anna Maria Manganelli

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  1. Andrea Bobbio
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  2. Luigina Canova
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  3. Anna Maria Manganelli
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Correspondence to Andrea Bobbio.

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Bobbio, A., Canova, L. & Manganelli, A.M. Conservative Ideology, Economic Conservatism, and Causal Attributions for Poverty and Wealth. Curr Psychol 29, 222–234 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-010-9086-6

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