The farm crisis: stress, alienation, and the political orientation of Iowa farm operators

Abstract

<p>Sociological discussions of the social-psychological impacts of economic hardship have focused primarily on the industrial sector. This study extends this focus by testing some social-psychological impacts on Iowa farm operators of the contemporary financial crisis in agriculture. A two-stage research design was used in the analysis;The first stage of the analysis involved a detailed examination of the relationship between economic hardship and stress. The effects of several moderator variables upon this relationship were explored using a multiple regression framework;The second stage of the analysis tested a structural model of the impacts of economic hardship on stress, alienation, and political orientation. Several competing causal hypotheses were integrated in the development of the model. The structural parameter estimates were calculated using a maximum likelihood technique (LISREL);The findings suggest that static characteristics of both operators and farm operations are ineffective in significantly affecting the relationship between economic hardship and stress. Additionally, the second stage of the analysis provides significant support for the structural model developed.</p>