On the lowest rung of the ladder: How social exclusion, perceived economic inequality and stigma increase homeless people's resignation

Abstract

Despite the relevance of social exclusion and economic inequality for homelessness, empirical studies investigating how these issues relate to homeless people's psychological well‐being are scarce. We aimed to fill this gap by conducting two quasi‐experimental studies on homeless and non‐homeless groups. The first study (N = 200) showed that homeless (vs. non‐homeless) people presented higher levels of resignation, characterized by depression, alienation, helplessness, and unworthiness (Williams, 2009). The second study (N = 183) replicated the findings from Study 1 and showed that perceived economic inequality could increase homeless people's resignation by emphasizing perceptions of social exclusion. Additional analyses found that identification with the stigmatized homeless group could mediate the relationship between perceived inequality and social exclusion, increasing the resignation. Overall, the results showed that chronic social exclusion of homeless people is associated with higher levels of resignation. Moreover, they showed the role of perceived economic inequality and homeless group stigmatized identification as group‐specific mechanisms favouring social exclusion and ultimately worsening psychological well‐being.

Unvaccinated and left out: The mismatch of vaccine supply and demand during COVID‐19 as a source of interpersonal and societal exclusion

“…Another source of social exclusion tied to societal variables is individuals' social and economic status. For instance, research suggests that particularly younger, unemployed individuals are at higher risk to feel socially excluded (Albath et al, 2023) and that homeless individuals feel socially excluded as a result of perceived economic inequality (Marinucci et al, 2022).…”