Lay Explanations for the Causes of Unemployment in Britain: Economic, Individualistic, Societal, or Fatalistic?

Abstract

This paper examines explanations for unemployment provided by 900 adults in a large market survey conducted in the United Kingdom. The data are examined in two ways: The first categorizes responses according to economic explanations and the second uses social explanations. These social explanations include individualistic ones where people attribute causes to personal laziness and unwillingness to work, for example, societal causes and inevitable or 'fatalistic explanations. The study contributes to a growing literature on lay explanations for economic events and the structure of these explanations, and discusses implications for future research and the possible role of these lay explanations in legitimizing current government policy.