Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Feldhaus, Claudia G

Titel

What's in a Word: The Opposition to Welfare

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Wealth inequality in the United States is currently more pronounced than in previous years and most Americans prefer a more reasonable distribution wealth. However, Americans seem to be particular about resolutions to narrowing the wealth gap. Previous research suggests a longstanding opposition to welfare and its recipients, especially when the recipients are African American. The current study examined the degree to which the target race (i.e., African American or Caucasian) and the program label (i.e., welfare or assistance to the poor) account for support of and attitudes toward welfare and its recipients. Undergraduate students enrolled at a private, Jesuit university (N = 222; Mage = 20.10 years, SD = 1.86) read an article that described an anti-poverty program, along with characteristics of a current recipient and then completed questionnaires measuring support and attitudes. The majority of results did not reach statistical significance with response patterns indicating a tendency to neutrally respond. Statistically significant results revealed when the recipient was African American, support was indicated at a greater extent; and, when the program was labeled assistance to the poor, support for increased spending on the program was indicated at a greater extent, and it was less likely viewed as a burden for the average taxpayer. Exploratory analysis revealed an association between welfare and African Americans. Future research should continue to examine the opposition to welfare and its association with African Americans to determine if there is structural change occurring with associative evaluations or if the current study's results are more temporal.