Perceived causes of poverty in developing nations: Causes of Third World Poverty Questionnaire in Spanish-speaking samples

The aim of this paper was to analyze the factorial structure of the Causes of Third World Poverty Questionnaire (CTWPQ; Harper, 2002) in Spanish-speaking samples from two countries at different levels of development: Spain (developed nation) and Nicaragua (developing nation). In the English-speaking samples, the instrument displayed a factorial structure composed of four factors: “Blame the poor,” “Blame Third World governments,” “Blame nature,” and “Blame exploitation” (Harper, Wagstaff, Newton, & Harrison, 1990). Bolitho, Carr, and Fletcher (2007) have since added a fifth factor: “Blame conflict”. In the Spanish-speaking samples, a factorial structure composed of five factors can be observed. The factors are very similar to those obtained from the English-speaking samples.