Does Money Make You Mean?
If the rich would share their wealth with the poor,/inequality might be solved. But this does not seem to be happening. Paul Piff,/an American social psychologist,/wanted to find out why.
Do rich people think and act differently from poor people? Paul Piff has explored this question/in dozens of experiments. His findings suggest/that as people’s wealth increases,/so do their feelings of entitlement and their self-interest,/but their empathy and compassion decrease. Piff worries/that as economic inequality increases,/the idea that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and prosper/will suffer.
A Rigged Game
In one interesting experiment,/people played a board game/in which two players compete/in buying and selling land, buildings, and houses. The goal is to see/who ends up with the most money and property. Each player begins with the same amount of money/(of course,/it is play money)/and each must follow the same rules.
Piff decided to change the game. He wanted to see/what would happen if the game were rigged/so that one player got twice as much money as the other player/and the rules also worked in favor of the “rich” player. More than 100 pairs of strangers/were asked to be either a “rich” player or a “poor” player/in a rigged game. Through hidden cameras,/Piff watched what happened.
As the game went on,/dramatic differences appeared between the two players. The rich players/began to show signs of power and celebration. They became loud/and slapped their pieces down on the board. They took more than their share of the pretzels/which the researchers had provided. The rich players became more boastful. They were less and less sensitive/to the plight of the poor players. In some cases,/they were actually rude.
According to Piff,/the rigged game can be used/as a metaphor for understanding a society/in which a few people have a lot more wealth and status/than the rest of the people.
In dozens of studies involving thousands of participants,/Piff is finding/that as people get richer,/they lose their sense of compassion/and they feel an increased sense of entitlement. Wealthier individuals are actually more likely to feel/that greed is good/and that the pursuit of self-interest is good and moral.
If the rich would share their wealth with the poor,/inequality might be solved. But this does not seem to be happening. Paul Piff,/an American social psychologist,/wanted to find out why.
Do rich people think and act differently from poor people? Paul Piff has explored this question/in dozens of experiments. His findings suggest/that as people’s wealth increases,/so do their feelings of entitlement and their self-interest,/but their empathy and compassion decrease. Piff worries/that as economic inequality increases,/the idea that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and prosper/will suffer.
A Rigged Game
In one interesting experiment,/people played a board game/in which two players compete/in buying and selling land, buildings, and houses. The goal is to see/who ends up with the most money and property. Each player begins with the same amount of money/(of course,/it is play money)/and each must follow the same rules.
Piff decided to change the game. He wanted to see/what would happen if the game were rigged/so that one player got twice as much money as the other player/and the rules also worked in favor of the “rich” player. More than 100 pairs of strangers/were asked to be either a “rich” player or a “poor” player/in a rigged game. Through hidden cameras,/Piff watched what happened.
As the game went on,/dramatic differences appeared between the two players. The rich players/began to show signs of power and celebration. They became loud/and slapped their pieces down on the board. They took more than their share of the pretzels/which the researchers had provided. The rich players became more boastful. They were less and less sensitive/to the plight of the poor players. In some cases,/they were actually rude.
According to Piff,/the rigged game can be used/as a metaphor for understanding a society/in which a few people have a lot more wealth and status/than the rest of the people.
In dozens of studies involving thousands of participants,/Piff is finding/that as people get richer,/they lose their sense of compassion/and they feel an increased sense of entitlement. Wealthier individuals are actually more likely to feel/that greed is good/and that the pursuit of self-interest is good and moral.