ECONOMIC ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS OF POVERTY IN INDIGENOUS COLLEGE STUDENTS IN MEXICO FROM THE INTERCULTURAL APPROACH

Abstract

Behavioral economics has tried to explain the economic and financial decisions of the individuals. It has been used to understand the economic perceptions and attitudes of vulnerable groups; however, for indigenous peoples, especially in Latin America, there are unresolved issues. Thus, from an intercultural perspective, this research examines the association between the economic attitude and the perception of poverty through the comparison of a sample of intercultural college students from different ethnic groups in Mexico. For this reason, a quantitative, descriptive and correlational research was carried out with a non-experimental design from a sample of 207 intercultural college students. Two research questions were raised, the questions were tested by Pearson correlation and linear regression. Attribution theory was analyzed to assess the association between the economic attitude and the perception of poverty in intercultural students. It was found that the economic attitude is related to the perception of poverty, because the students presented attitudes of financial optimism oriented towards the structural causes of poverty. Consequently, the model of an intercultural university could benefit the development of indigenous communities, through a pedagogy oriented towards the creation of significant economic attitudes. Keywords: behavioral economics, intercultural college students, financial optimism, perceptions of poverty.