Affirmative Action:

This research perspective does not oppose other views that suggest different variables as the cause of changing public opinion, in regard to affirmative action, rather, it suggests that multiple causal factors should be considered as components of a larger structure. .
             II: Literature Review.
             Research has been done to suggest that the lower on the socioeconomic ladder a respondent finds themselves, regardless of one's race, the more highly one's support will be for affirmative action as a whole (Krysan et al 1994). The economic component of a person's life and the relation to the negative effect it plays on one's support for affirmative action must be a consideration. This theory holds particular relevance in reference the current decline in support for such programs. Wilson states that " when national economy is in a period of little growth, or decline. Under such economic condition, the more the public programs are perceived by members of the wider society as benefiting any certain groups, the less support those programs receive (1987)." Part of the rational associated with the economic correlation is the frustration identified by Skocpol of the middle class regarding paying taxes to support programs that do nothing to improve their lot (1991). The logic of the economic hardship view speaks for itself. If there is a greater lack of employment opportunity it seems logical that individuals would be less apt to support programs which give employment preference to members of a group other than their own. This perspective is supported by the self interest theory that states that one is solely interested in proposals that will improve an aspect that is immediate to their own lives (Jacobson 1985). There have been few studies done to track the view that self interest has changed the track of public opinion but it has been supported as a viable scenario (Jacobson 1985; Kluegel and Smith 1986).