Do you think that being rich is linked to immoral behavior? Science confirms it. After secretly observing the attitude of rich people in public, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and at the University of Toronto in Canada proved, to sum up, that the richer, more cheated, and the more we have and the more we want.
It is said that money does not make happiness but we can add also that it does not morals either. Indeed, according to a large study of individuals belonging to relatively higher social classes, these people are very likely to oppose and circumvent ethics.
Rich bad drivers
According to Paul Piff, a professor of social psychology at the University of California, individuals in the upper class tend to break the law, steal, cheat to increase their chances of succeeding, approve unequal behavior by lacking ethics in the workplace, and to encourage fraud.
Piff explains this fact as follows: "The privileges and security enjoyed by people in the upper class give them a certain priority and independence from society (middle or lower class). They are so inclined to break the rules and believe themselves above the law. "
Professor Piff and his colleagues studied the types of cars that have been predisposed to cutting off the road to pedestrians and breaking the rules of priority at a junction. The researchers concluded that high-end cars were 4 times more likely to force passage or cut off the road for people already on a pedestrian crossing. As if people with a luxury car had the right to feel free from any obligation to the rest of society.
According to this study, it seems more prudent to cross in front of a small car than a luxury car whose driver could show less gallantry and civility.
Rich cheaters and liars
In another study, more related to greed, the researchers showed that the upper class used cheating methods to make money. Individuals participated in a "game of chance" in which a computer randomly presented one side of a six-sided die on five separate streams. The higher the results, the greater the chance of winning a lot of money. The participants had to indicate their total score at the end of the game, but they ignored an important detail: the dice were stacked, and the best possible score after 5 shots could not exceed the score 12. However, the participants from the classes the most favored were 3 times more likely to have scores higher than 12. This served as a direct behavioral measure of cheating.
Plato and Aristotle considered greed as the basis of personal immorality because it leads to desires for material gain at the expense of ethical norms and values.
These results suggest that the tendency of affluent people to engage in immoral behavior can come from many factors. In their work environment, members of the upper class enjoy more privacy and independence. They therefore associate less risk with behaviors lacking ethics. In addition, they have enormous resources to deal with any possible repercussions of this behavior. They feel free and safe.
According to these studies, having a lot of money has a negative influence on human behavior; too much wealth rhymes with negative thoughts and attitudes. But is it the reality of all the rich? What is your opinion ?
