The rich are different…
… and less ethical, too! 
But sometimes, scientists like to prove things that you instinctively “knew…”
The L.A. Times article notes that, “People of higher status are more prone to cheating, taking candy from children and failing to wait their turn at four-way stops, a UC Berkeley experiment finds.” Somehow, those of us who have published in the prestigious journal, “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (PNAS) would rather read the abstract of the original scientific paper, “Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior” THERE!
“Abstract
Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.”
People who drove expensive cars were more likely to cut off other motorists and pedestrians at a four-way stop intersection in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to Bay Area researchers. The observations led to a series of experiments “…that revealed that people of higher socioeconomic status were also more likely to cheat to win a prize, take candy from children and say they would pocket extra change handed to them in error rather than give it back.”
“There is a strong notion that when people don’t have much, they’re really looking out for themselves and they might act unethically,” said Scott Wiltermuth, who researches social status at USC‘s Marshall School of Business and wasn’t involved in the study. “But actually, it’s the upper-class people that are less likely to see that people around them need help — and therefore act unethically.”
The UC Berkeley researchers reported in PNAS that, because rich people have greater financial resources, they are less dependent upon social bonds for survival and that, as a result, their self-interest reigns, and they have less of a problem with breaking the rules.
“If you occupy a more insular world, you’re less likely to be sensitive to the needs of others,” said study lead author Paul Piff, who is studying for a doctorate in psychology.
Piff documented, in earlier studies, that the rich were less likely to act generously than were people who were relatively impoverished. In the current research, he hoped to learn whether the wealthy would also prioritize their own self-interest if it meant breaking the rules. People behind the wheels of the most expensive cars were FOUR TIMES as likely as drivers of the least expensive cars to enter the intersection when they did not have the right-of-way. The discrepancy was even greater when it came to pedestrians. (Less damage to the auto body…? THAT is why I ride a HEAVY motorcycle! )
Back in the lab, the team constructed five more tests to measure unethical behavior and to connect it to greed.
In a questionnaire, college students were asked whether they would keep the change for a $20 bill when they had actually paid with a $10 bill. Would they ask for a grade change if a professor mistakenly gave them an “A” instead of the “B” that they deserved? Those students who were most willing to engage in unethical behavior were those with the highest social status. Interestingly, when test subjects of ANY social status were asked to imagine themselves at a high social rank, they helped themselves to more candy that they were told was meant for children in another lab.
In another experiment, people were recruited from Craigslist to play a game of chance. Those who reported higher social classes were more likely to cheat at the game and to report more favorable attitudes toward greed.
So much for “Greed is good…!”
-Bill at
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