HOW DOES POVERTY WORK? REPRESENTATIONS AND CAUSALATTRIBUTIONS FOR POVERTY AND WEALTH

This study analyses the attributions of causality and the representations aboutpoverty and wealth in order to better understand people's perception and tosuggest adequate and shared interventions.The data we analyzed refer to a research which hasbeen carried out on 2000participants in Italy. A Principal Component Analysis has allowed theidentification of three components relating to internal, external and metaphysicalattributions for the phenomena of poverty and wealth. Following analysis haveshowed significant relations between attributions and factors like income, age,education level and working condition. We have alsocompared respondent’sperception of the phenomenon (his representation ofimpoverishing factors,related to himself or to others) and his attributional style, focusing on possiblerelations between the outcomes of this comparison and other socio-economiccategories