Believing in the American Dream Sustains Negative Attitudes toward Those in Poverty

Abstract

A critical lever in the fight against poverty is to improve attitudes toward those living in poverty. Attempting to understand the factors that impact these attitudes, we ask: Does believing that meritocracy exists (descriptive meritocracy) sustain negative attitudes? Using cross-sectional (N = 301) and experimental (N = 439) methods, we found that belief in the United States as a meritocracy is associated with blaming people living in poverty and predicts negative attitudes toward them. Replicating and extending these findings, we experimentally manipulated beliefs in meritocracy and blame. Weakening American Dream beliefs predicted improved attitudes toward those in poverty. Understanding the nuanced role of belief systems in attitudes toward those in poverty provides strategies for promoting more positive thoughts and feelings.

Roles of socioeconomic status, ethnicity and teacher beliefs in academic grading

“…Future work should focus on BSM as a moderator of the level of blame attributed to poor performance as a function of students' backgrounds. This would add to an existing body of research that suggests strong beliefs in meritocracy predict greater victim blaming (Hoyt et al, 2021;Kuppens et al, 2018).…”

“…Research suggests that the adoption of meritocratic ideals in education may paradoxically serve to maintain inequality by rewarding the privileged, whilst justifying a culture of blame towards less advantaged students, even for realities far beyond their control (Hoyt et al, 2021; Kuppens et al, 2018; Mijs, 2016; Milner, 2010; Reay, 2020; Ullucci, 2007). Moreover, greater belief in meritocratic worldviews is linked to more racist attitudes (Glover, 1994; Katz & Hass, 1988), denial of racial inequity (Knowles & Lowery, 2012), greater stigmatization of minoritized groups (Begue & Bastounis, 2003), more internal attributions for poverty (Godfrey & Wolf, 2016), reduced support for affirmative action (Augoustinos et al, 2005) and lower engagement in methods that promote educational equality (Darnon et al, 2018).…”

Do Experiences of Success and Failure Influence Beliefs about Inequality? Evidence from Selective University Admission

“…Contrary to self-serving beliefs theory, system justification theory (Jost and Banaji 1994) claims that in certain situations, people tend to uphold beliefs that justify and legitimate the existing system and differences in status, even if these beliefs contradict self- or group interest. Trying to justify the social order, people develop negative stereotypes about disadvantaged groups, like the working class or ethnic minorities, to explain their lower likelihood of success in society, notions that persist among majority-group members as well as among the discriminated groups themselves (Hoyt et al 2021; Jost and Banaji 1994).…”

“…People attribute success and failure to different meritocratic and nonmeritocratic factors-explanations that shape their justice perceptions (Hoyt et al 2021;Mijs 2016;Solga 2015). Meritocratic beliefs entail all beliefs that attribute success or failure to individual differences in merit: effort and talent are the main predictors for success (Mijs 2016;Shane and Heckhausen 2013).…”

“…One reason for the persistence and growth of income disparities in Western societies could be that most people interpret those inequalities as the result of individual differences in merit. These meritocratic beliefs lead to negative attitudes toward the poor and the perception of different outcomes as just and thereby a reduction in support for redistributive policies (García-Sánchez et al 2020; Hoyt et al 2021; Lübker 2007). Examination of the reasons behind people’s beliefs about inequality (hereafter, inequality beliefs) would help improve the understanding of the persistence of social stratification in advanced societies.…”