Sex, media, income and economic inequalities beliefs: preliminary results of a survey in Italy

This study examines how people attribute causes to poverty and wealth, aiming to understand their perspectives better. The literature identifies three primary types of attributions: individual, structural, and mixed, depending on whether the condition of poverty or wealth is ascribed to personal effort, societal factors, or a combination of both. We analyzed data from a 2008 study involving 2,000 Italian participants. Through Principal Component Analysis, we identified three attribution categories: external, internal, and fatalistic, concerning poverty and wealth. Subsequent analyses revealed significant correlations between these attributions and variables such as economic status (both actual and perceived), gender, education level, political orientation, and media usage.