Lay Explanations for Poverty in Turkey and Their Determinants

The external and internal causal attributions for poverty in Turkey were examined in an exploratory survey. Factor analysis results confirmed Feagin's 3 conceptual categories (1975) of explanations for poverty: structural, fatalistic, and individualistic. Income, gender, age, and education were important determinants of explanations for poverty. All income groups favored structural (external) explanations. Poor persons preferred more tangible structural explanations, and nonpoor persons gave more abstract structural explanations. Poor persons also favored fatalistic (external) explanations more than higher income groups did. Women and older people offered individualistic and fatalistic explanations more than others. Men and people with higher levels of education preferred abstract structural explanations more than others.