Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 50, Issue 11, Pages 2512-2525Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/a0037934
Keywords
economic inequality; attributions; adolescents' lay theories; societal cognition
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Open-ended responses of an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of 593 12- to 19-year-olds (M = 16 years old, SD = 1.59) were analyzed to explain why some people in the United States are poor and others are rich. Adolescents had more knowledge and a more complex understanding of wealth than of poverty and older adolescents had more knowledge and a more complex understanding of both. Controlling for age and demographics, adolescents had a deeper understanding of inequality if they were female, from better educated families, discussed current events in their families, and attended schools with classmates who discussed current events in their families. Higher parental education and attending schools with classmates who discussed current events with their families increased the likelihood of structural attributions for poverty.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available