Measuring Support for Welfare Policies

Implications for the Effects of Race and Deservingness Stereotypes

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6435263
AutoresK Zhirkov (0000-0002-9535-3866, University of Virginia, autor de correspondencia), Kristin Lunz-Trujillo (0000-0001-5240-518X, University of South Carolina), C Daniel Myers (0000-0001-9695-1414, University of Minnesota)
Año2023
Volumen12
Número1
Páginas126-133
Fecha de publicación2023-09-05
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Experimental Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2052-2630 • E-ISSN: 2052-2649
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/xps.2023.31
OpenAlexW4386413245
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas10

What are the relative contributions of stereotypes about the race and deservingness of welfare recipients to Americans’ opinions on welfare? A recent study employing a conjoint-experimental method finds that Americans’ stereotypes of welfare recipients as undeserving drive negative attitudes toward welfare, while stereotypes of welfare recipients as Black have little effect. However, this finding may be produced by the measure of welfare attitudes that includes questions implicating deservingness. We implement a conceptual replication of that study using different measures of welfare policy opinions that directly ask respondents about spending, both on welfare generally and on specific welfare programs. We show that when support for welfare is measured using the spending questions, stereotypes about race are significantly associated with opposition to welfare. These results have important implications for the debate on Americans’ opposition to welfare programs, as well as for the measurement of policy opinions in surveys

Demographic economics · Economics · Opposition (politics · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Race (biology · Sociology · Welfare · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Gender Studies · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Law · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology