7 Negative Behaviors of Rich People

According to a news item, rich people are more likely to have a negative attitude.  It is noted in a seven-part study by psychologists at the University   of California Berkeley and the University of Toronto analyzing people’s behavior through a series of experiments.

1.       Self-interest: They are more likely to break rules. Drivers of expensive vehicles such as Mercedes, BMW, and Toyota's Prius hybrid were seen breaking the rules more often at four-way intersections than people who drove a Camry or Corolla. They were also more likely to cut off pedestrians trying to cross the street than drivers of cheaper cars.

2.       Unethical: They are more likely to tell lies. In another test using a game of dice, given the opportunity to win a $50 prizes, people who self-reported high social socioeconomic status were more likely to lie and say they had rolled higher numbers than they actually had. Even in people for whom $50 is a relatively small amount of money, cheating was three times as high.

3.       Less likely to tell the truth: In other studies, people with higher status were less likely, to tell the truth in a hypothetical job negotiation in which they were the employer trying to hire someone for a job they knew was soon to be eliminated.

4.       Less charitable: There is also a finding that rich people tend to give less to charity than poor people. 

5.       More greedy: When given a jar of candy that they were told was for children in a nearby lab – though they could take some if they wanted- the richest people took more candy than anyone else.

6.       Less concerned with other people: Rich people are more independent from others, have more resources, and are therefore less concerned with what others think of their actions than poorer people.

7.       Less connected:  According to Paul Piff of UC Berkeley, people with more money tend to look more positively on greed and rely less on family and friend networks for support in times of need, and this elevated status tend to disconnect them from society.

Learn from the mistakes of rich people.

Extracted from New Straits Times (February 29, 2012) – Rich more likely to cheat