Causal Attributions for Poverty in Developing Countries

This paper analyzes attributional differences about causes of poverty in the less developed countries, among Nicaraguan ("actors") and Spanish ("observers") undergraduates. A self-applied questionnaire was used. It included socio-demographic questions and an adaptation of the "Causes of Third World Poverty Questionnaire" (CTWPQ). Results show agreement between Spanish and Nicaraguan in attributions about the main causes of poverty in the less developed countries, although there are differences about the perception of the incidence of the different causes in that situation. Nicaraguan students consider, as causes of poverty, more dispositional attributes about the population in those countries.