The Psychology of Poverty, Wealth, and Economic Inequality

This textbooks provides a comprehensive examination of poverty, wealth, and economic inequality from a psychological perspective.

Deborah Belle (Author), Heather E. Bullock (Author)

9781108731829, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 5 January 2023

391 pages
24.7 x 18.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.8 kg

'As a social justice educator, I have long awaited a comprehensive textbook on poverty, wealth, and economic inequality. This text is not only truly comprehensive, it is also contemporary, inclusive, and intersectional. Beyond its utility as a resource for courses on social class, it also contains useful examples, measures, discussion questions, activities, and further resources for the classroom and beyond.' Ryan M. Pickering, Allegheny College

Economic inequality is a defining issue of our time, with a handful of individuals in the United States today owning more wealth than half the population in the country. What are the psychological consequences of living in a profoundly unequal society? This comprehensive textbook is among the first to examine poverty, wealth, and economic inequality from a psychological perspective. Written by two leading scholars in the field, it provides an intersectional analysis of the impact of economic inequality on cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, intergroup, physiological, and health outcomes. Students are introduced to the diverse methods used to study poverty, wealth, and economic inequality and the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, while the text focuses on solutions at the individual, community, and national levels to restore optimism and encourage action. Chapter features include exercises and reflection questions that help students think critically about the implications of research findings for their own lives.

1. Contemporary Economic Inequalities
2. Beliefs about social class, poverty, and wealth
3. Classist stigma, exclusion, and disrespect
4. Poverty and its Costs
5. Working Class: The Essential Workers
6. Wealth and its Costs
7. Societal Economic Inequality
8. Race and Racism
9. Gender and poverty
10. Housing Precarity and Homelessness
11. Parenting While Poor
12. Social Networks and Social Supports
13. Poverty, Psychology, and Mental Health Services
14. Working Toward Equality and Economic Justice.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Sociology: work & labour [JHBL], Social classes [JFSC], Social mobility [JFFM], Social discrimination & inequality [JFFJ], Housing & homelessness [JFFB], Poverty & unemployment [JFFA]