Or, perhaps, it's much easier to come a conclusion there's nothing one can do to improve one's position, if one attributes successes and failures to external ca

Or, perhaps, it's much easier to come a conclusion there's nothing one can do to improve one's position, if one attributes successes and failures to external causes rather than attributing successes and failures to themselves; Since it's generally perceived that it's possible to change oneself but much more difficult to change others and the surrounding environment. Therefore, if you assume poor people do attribute the causes of their situation to their surrounding environment, and that rich people attribute causes of their situation to themselves, it can be hypothesised rich people got to be rich because of their perception that they can change themselves to achieve their financial wealth, whereas poor people gave up because of the perceived difficulty changing their surrounding environment.