The determinants of attitudes towards social security recipients

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between demographic variables (age, sex, education, vote and income), psychological beliefs (alienation, Protestant work ethic and Conservatism) and social security attitudes. Over 250 people from a variety of different backgrounds completed a number of standardized questionnaires. A factor analysis of the attitudes to social security scale revealed four clearly interpretable factors, which were later computed in four subscale scores. Analysis of variance showed that vote, Protestant work ethic, and Conservative beliefs most differentiated subjects' attitudes to social welfare. A canonical correlational analysis revealed three significant variates which showed age, alienation and the Protestant work ethic most closely related to social security attitudes. These results were discussed in terms of previous literature in this area and various social policy implications are considered.