Belief in Supernatural Agents and Lay Explanations About the Causes of Poverty

Sociologists have long been interested in the connection between religion and stratification beliefs. The present study extends this line of inquiry by examining how belief in supernatural agents—belief in divine support and belief in supernatural evil—shapes public opinion about the causes of poverty. In addition, it investigates how the effects of these beliefs are conditional upon political orientation. An analysis of data from a nationwide survey of Korean adults (n = 1632) shows that belief in supernatural agents is not associated with individualistic explanations for poverty. However, belief in divine support is negatively associated with structural explanations for poverty, whereas belief in supernatural evil is positively associated with them. In addition, the positive association between belief in supernatural evil and structural explanations for poverty is amplified among political conservatives. Collectively, the findings sharpen our theoretical knowledge about the ways that religion influences lay explanations about stratification.