AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to millions of articles
from top publications available through your library. Objective.
Lay explanations for "wealth" have been neglected in research on
beliefs about social stratification. This study compares the
nature and determinants of beliefs about the causes of both
wealth and poverty, with special focus on race/ ethnic
differences. Methods. Using survey data collected from Los
Angeles County residents in 2000, descriptive and multivariate
procedures are used to analyze "individualistic" and
"structuralist" beliefs about wealth and poverty. In addition,
one "fatalistic" belief, asking about the role of "God's will"
in shaping wealth and poverty, is examined. Analyses test (1)
whether race/ethnicity and other social and political
characteristics variables shape these stratification beliefs,
and (2) whether African Americans, Latinos, and whites differ in
the determinants of beliefs about wealth and poverty. Results.
Respondents favor individualistic over structurali