Ethnicity, Poverty, and Selected Attitudes: A Test of the "Culture Of Poverty" Hypothesis

Abstract

It was hypothesized, to test an assumption implicit in the “culture of poverty” concept, that poor respondents of three separate ethnic groups (Anglo, Negro, and Spanish-speaking Americans) would not differ significantly from each other in their responses to <it>8</it> attitude areas related to the concept. Each ethnic group was divided on the basis of receipt or non-receipt of public assistance, providing two separate tests of the significance of ethnic determinants for each attitude area measured. It was found that in <it>14</it> out of <it>16</it> instances ethnic groups differed significantly from each other. The hypothesis was rejected. In addition, the data suggest that (1) the Spanish-speaking poor are more likely to express the values commonly assigned to the culture of poverty, and that (2) extreme economic deprivation affects their scores on these values less than it does the comparable scores of Negro- and Anglo-Americans.