Abstract

COSTA, Leonor Pereira da; RODRIGUES, Ricardo Borges  and  WALDZUS, Sven. Development of causal attributions of child poverty and perceived solutions to poverty in childhood. Psicologia [online]. 2020, vol.34, n.2, pp.39-56. ISSN 0874-2049.  https://doi.org/10.17575/psicologia.v34i2.1382.

This study investigates the development of causal attributions of child poverty in childhood, the role of socio-economic status in these attributions, and the solutions that children identify for poverty. Children aged 6 to 12 years were interviewed (N = 107). The results show the prevalence of external attributions of causes of poverty, namely through fatalistic (e.g., luck) and social (e.g., unemployment) explanations. This study also identifies two types of children’s suggestions of solutions to poverty, which vary in the degree of agency attributed to poor children. Mediation analyzes show that indicating solutions that require the action of the poor child increases with age via an increase in the belief that poverty is caused by social factors. The results are discussed in terms of socio-cognitive development and in terms of the consequences of causal attributions of child poverty in the perpetuation of social inequalities.

Keywords : Children; causal attributions of poverty; child poverty; solutions to poverty.

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