Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparison

IntroductionMalaysia as an ethnically diverse country has a history of interethnic inequality and poverty which led to the development of different views about the existence of poverty. Among these ethnic groups, some sympathize with the poor and help them through different charity organizations. Ho...

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Main Authors: Abidullah Khan, Muhammad Hakimi Mohd Shafiai, Ghulam Abbas, Syeda Beena Zaidi, Mehboob Ul Hassan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1526352/full
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author Abidullah Khan
Muhammad Hakimi Mohd Shafiai
Ghulam Abbas
Syeda Beena Zaidi
Mehboob Ul Hassan
author_facet Abidullah Khan
Muhammad Hakimi Mohd Shafiai
Ghulam Abbas
Syeda Beena Zaidi
Mehboob Ul Hassan
author_sort Abidullah Khan
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionMalaysia as an ethnically diverse country has a history of interethnic inequality and poverty which led to the development of different views about the existence of poverty. Among these ethnic groups, some sympathize with the poor and help them through different charity organizations. However, these charity organizations are mostly unaware of the target donors that can aid their charity funds. Therefore, this study explores the attitudinal differences regarding poverty among Malays, Chinese, and Indians and the demographic groups that can be targeted for donation and social policy development purposes.MethodologyA survey is conducted in Selangor, where the data through a questionnaire is extracted from the three ethnic groups. Through the quota sampling technique, a sample of 700 is derived. The results are analyzed through ANOVA, regression, and mediation analysis.ResultsThe results show that attitudinal differences between Malays and Chinese regarding structuralist beliefs could be observed. Moreover, among Malays, it is found that the relationship between gender, income, education, wealth, and structuralist beliefs is significantly mediated by beliefs about charity. On the other hand, mediation analysis for Chinese identifies gender, education, and income while among Indians gender, education, and wealth are identified as key demographic groups.DiscussionThis study highlights the role of attribution theory to identify the charity donors among the different ethnic groups which was overshadowed by the previous research in Malaysia. The results also hold significance for charity institutions to target the specified groups through their marketing campaigns. Also, based on these results government can reduce the misconception about the existence of poverty and to develop policies that encourage high income groups to support the poor.
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spelling doaj-art-ce41047817b74dddadf6c27156548c5b2025-01-15T06:10:42ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-01-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.15263521526352Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparisonAbidullah Khan0Muhammad Hakimi Mohd Shafiai1Ghulam Abbas2Syeda Beena Zaidi3Mehboob Ul Hassan4Department of Islamic Economics and Finance, Faculty of Political Sciences, Sakarya University, Sakarya, TürkiyeFaculty of Economics and Management, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, MalaysiaDepartment of Business Administration, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur, Sindh, PakistanDepartment of Business Administration, Sukkur IBA University, Sukkur, Sindh, PakistanDepartment of Economics, College of Business Administration, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaIntroductionMalaysia as an ethnically diverse country has a history of interethnic inequality and poverty which led to the development of different views about the existence of poverty. Among these ethnic groups, some sympathize with the poor and help them through different charity organizations. However, these charity organizations are mostly unaware of the target donors that can aid their charity funds. Therefore, this study explores the attitudinal differences regarding poverty among Malays, Chinese, and Indians and the demographic groups that can be targeted for donation and social policy development purposes.MethodologyA survey is conducted in Selangor, where the data through a questionnaire is extracted from the three ethnic groups. Through the quota sampling technique, a sample of 700 is derived. The results are analyzed through ANOVA, regression, and mediation analysis.ResultsThe results show that attitudinal differences between Malays and Chinese regarding structuralist beliefs could be observed. Moreover, among Malays, it is found that the relationship between gender, income, education, wealth, and structuralist beliefs is significantly mediated by beliefs about charity. On the other hand, mediation analysis for Chinese identifies gender, education, and income while among Indians gender, education, and wealth are identified as key demographic groups.DiscussionThis study highlights the role of attribution theory to identify the charity donors among the different ethnic groups which was overshadowed by the previous research in Malaysia. The results also hold significance for charity institutions to target the specified groups through their marketing campaigns. Also, based on these results government can reduce the misconception about the existence of poverty and to develop policies that encourage high income groups to support the poor.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1526352/fullattribution theorycharitypovertystructuralist beliefscash waqfMalaysia
spellingShingle Abidullah Khan
Muhammad Hakimi Mohd Shafiai
Ghulam Abbas
Syeda Beena Zaidi
Mehboob Ul Hassan
Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparison
Frontiers in Psychology
attribution theory
charity
poverty
structuralist beliefs
cash waqf
Malaysia
title Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparison
title_full Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparison
title_fullStr Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparison
title_full_unstemmed Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparison
title_short Attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in Malaysia: an inter-ethnic comparison
title_sort attribution theory of poverty and beliefs about charity in malaysia an inter ethnic comparison
topic attribution theory
charity
poverty
structuralist beliefs
cash waqf
Malaysia
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1526352/full
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