Psychosocial variables involved in the construction of lay thinking about the economy: Results of a cross-national survey

This study explores the relations between psychosocial variables and lay economic thought. A number of studies have described cultural variations of individual differences variables, such as locus of control (LOC) and belief in a just world. The aim of this project is to test the strength of the relationships between these variables and economic beliefs and attitudes across a wide cross-national sample. Data were collected from eight countries (Austria, France, Greece, Israel, New Zealand, Slovenia, Singapore and Turkey) and nearly 2000 respondents. Lay economic thinking appears to be organised around economic phenomena (such as inflation and unemployment) rather than economic integrative theories (such as whether consumption or business activities drive the economy). Overall, the results verify the relationship between internal LOC, belief in a just world, a free-enterprise view of the economy and higher satisfaction with private and public economy.