Poor People Inherently Kinder Than Wealthy People, Study Finds
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA- You may not agree with the shots across the culture war bow emanating from Occupy camps across the US, but it seems that some of their rallying cries- mainly about careless wealth hoarders- could have some basis in fact.
A new study suggests that the economically disadvantaged may belong to a wider “culture of compassion and cooperation” that is thought to “be born out of threats to their well-being,” a circumstance endured less frequently by upper-class- or rich- individuals. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley published their findings in the December 12th issue of the journal Emotion, and the research encompassed more than 300 young adults who participated in three experiments engineered to measure essential human traits like empathy and compassion.
It may be unsurprising that the study’s authors found a real divide in the levels of interest in the plight of their fellow humans and the participants’ class levels. Cooperative settings really highlighted the contrast between ability to care in those of a lower socio-economic class and their wealthier peers, the study found.
However, it is worth noting that the compassion impediment found in “the rich” is not a conscious decision to stick it to their fellow man- rather a case of limited experience with suffering, either individually or among peers. Study author and social psychologist Jennifer Stellar explains:
“It’s not that the upper classes are cold-hearted. They may just not be as adept at recognizing the cues and signals of suffering because they haven’t had to deal with as many obstacles in their lives… Upper-class individuals appear to be more self-focused, they’ve grown up with more freedom and autonomy. They may do better in an individualist, competitive environment.”
You know, kind of like our economy right now. Have you found rich people to be less compassionate than poor people?
[Image: Shutterstock]
Tags : compassion, culture war, Occupy, poor people, rich people, rich people less compassionate, studies, university of california berkeley
Posted: December 28, 2011
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Dec 28, 2011
While I agree that those with money aren't as kind as those less fortunate, I have found that many who don't have a lot do act as if the world owes them a living because our government has given them too many "free" things.
Dec 28, 2011
So, Scrooge was not to blame for saying, "Are there no poor houses?" Dickens realized that the rich were detached from the plight of the poor long ago and he made the ghost of Christmas present open his robe to reveal the worst creature of the two…Ignorance.
Dec 28, 2011
I am so sick of this "designed" and repeated ad nauseum argument to detach us even further from the plight of other people and it's a nice safety blanket to retreat to when you don't want to acknowledge that statistically, not everyone can do well. The helping hand isn't the problem. The problem is the abuse of said programs by people who truly DON'T need them. Stop attacking the helping hand and focus on the real problem. There are people who truly need assistance and this argument ignores the real suffering. In variably, I find that the people who argue the most against social programs, welfare, workers comp etc. are the ones who are abusing it.
Dec 28, 2011
Poor people have to be kind to others.Rich people don't, they get what they want and get treated nice even when it's fake because of the money.
Dec 28, 2011
They are just oblivious to the fact that poor folks might not have dependable transportation to visit the food pantry once a month for their benefit or that there might be no refrigeration at home to preserve it.
Dec 28, 2011
There are tons of lower income people in Oakland who live in the projects and in shadier parts of town. There is a reason why people avoid those areas. Asking college students is a poor way to evaluate "poor" people as a whole. College students a distinct "group" of people I might add.
Dec 28, 2011
As a self employed cleaning woman for many years, I've had the privilege of knowing many "disadvantaged" (spent most of my life in the "lower, socio-economic strata" of society, and worked for many very wealthy. To say that rich people aren't as nice as poor people is simply stupid, born out of income envy, I think. People are prone to the same good and bad characteristics in all income levels. And I've know some really decent wealthy people who probably aren't paying as much taxes as the other mythical 95% the OWS want, but they do a lot of good charitable work. Besides, anyone with common sense to think about it can look around and see that our country is not made up of 95% poor people with just 1% who are obscenely wealthy. It's a stupid statement to make. The whole movement is irrational. They should be aiming their energies toward the corruptions and irresponsibilities in our governing bodies.