Stereotypes and welfare attitudes
A panel survey of how 'poor Carina' and 'lazy Robert' affected attitudes towards social assistance in Denmark
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3057503 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Troels Fage Hedegaard (0000-0003-3639-2715, Aalborg University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 139-160 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Nordic Journal of Social Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1892-2783 • E-ISSN: 1892-2783 |
| Publisher | Scandinavian University Press (PUBLISHER • NO) |
| DOI | 10.7577/njsr.2078 |
| OpenAlex | W2158067770 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
| References cited | 36 |
What is the impact of a predominantly negative debate about social assistance on public and individual support for the social benefit? Over the course of a year the public debate about social assistance flared up twice in Denmark. The debates drew on classic stereotypes of the social assistance recipients lacking both the financial incentives and the will to work. According to theories of the impact of media on welfare attitudes, this had the potential to undermine public support. A two-wave panel survey, however, showed only a small drop in public support for spending on social assistance, in a comparison of attitudes before and after the debates. The small overall impact on public opinion, however, hid a polarization of attitudes on the individual level. This shows that there was not a uniform reaction to welfare debates, but that people tend to seek out a version of reality that is consistent with their values and self-interest. The article thus shows that people when faced with public debates on welfare policies will seek to confirm their personal biases and this limits the possibility for overall changes in public support
Economics · Incentive · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Public opinion · Public relations · Public support · Social Welfare · Sociology · Welfare · World Values Survey · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
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Of ‘Welfare Queens’ and ‘Poor Carinas
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"Who are the transnationals? Institutional categories beyond "migrants
The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion
The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology
The Rational Public
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The Welfare State
The New Politics of the Welfare State
Just Institutions Matter
The Political Sociology of the Welfare State
Policy Makes Mass Politics
The Nature of Belief Systems in Mass Publics
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Longitudinal Research
Public Opinion and Evolved Heuristics
The institutional logic of images of the poor and welfare recipients
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Mass Political Attitudes and the Survey Response
The three worlds of welfare capitalism
Why Americans hate welfare
Deservingness versus values in public opinion on welfare
When Effect Becomes Cause
The New Politics of the Welfare State
The Policy Design Effect
Who should get what, and why? On deservingness criteria and the conditionality of solidarity among the public
Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs (2006)
Social Welfare as Small‐Scale Help
Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs
Biased assimilation and attitude polarization
Framing Theory
A Public Transformed? Welfare Reform as Policy Feedback
The Political Sociology of the Welfare State
From Poverty to Perversity
"Race Coding" and White Opposition to Welfare
An Asset Theory of Social Policy Preferences
| Unique citing works | 12 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1.6 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2024 (9) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |