Experiments show uncharitable behavior.
Across multiple studies, researchers at Berkeley have discovered that wealth makes you feel more entitled and act less ethically.
Experiments included analyzing the behavior of drivers as they approached a crosswalk where California law requires them to stop for a pedestrian about to cross. Those in luxury cars like BMWs and Mercedes stopped less than others.
Another experiment allowed respondents to take candy from a bowl which they had been told was reserved for children. The wealthier took more.
In a rigged game of monopoly, in which one player knows that he has been given a huge advantage, “wealthier” participants believed they deserved to win the game, attributing their success to individual skills and talents rather than on highly favorable circumstances.
My own experience supports the findings.
From my own experience I have to agree with the Berkeley findings. Like all of us, I’ve had my fair share of economic ups and downs. When I’m doing well I tend to attribute my success to my own powers. When doing poorly, I ascribe blame to others.
But there’s another effect as well, also confirmed by the experimenters. “If I take someone who is rich and make them feel psychologically a little less well-off, they become way more generous, way more charitable, way more likely to offer help to another person,” notes researcher Paul Piff.
Here too, the study jives with my own experience. When feeling poorer in terms of money, and less secure overall, I tend to be more empathetic and generous to others. I’ll more likely give some change to a homeless person, or simply listen to someone’s tale of woe.
Does this suggest that the only way for us to act ethically and compassionately is to be poor?
I certainly hope not not.
But it does imply that wealth, at least in contemporary America, comes with a high price for us all.