Upper Class Tends to be Unethical…It’s a Learned Behavior
https://business-ethics.com/2012/03/06/1409-upper-class-tends-to-be-unethical%E2%80%A6-it%E2%80%99s-a-learned-behavior/
We all have a love/hate relationship with stereotypes. On the one hand, they allow us to quickly size up someone we just met based on their dress, accent or mannerisms. On the other hand, stereotypes are often inaccurate, perpetuate wrongheaded beliefs and discount individualism.
One particular stereotype concerns money and it’s this: Rich people are less ethical than others. The corollary is that poor folk are more honest and ethical. These are stereotypes that are ingrained in most cultures across the globe. It’s even become part of current election rhetoric in the U.S.
Well, there’s new research that shows this old saw may be true.
The study is titled Higher Social Class Predicts Increased Unethical Behavior produced by Paul K. Piff of UC Berkeley and others. Unfortunately, I cannot offer you a link to the study for free as I usually do due to copyright issues but you can click here to buy a copy for $US10 or use your school, corporate or local library account to download it. The article will appear in the upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed publication.
Here’s what the researchers wrote: “Seven studies using experimental [under controlled situations] and naturalistic [in the field under real life conditions] methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower class individuals.” The studies looked at how people reacted while driving and then how they acted in lab studies making decisions which looked at lying, cheating and stealing in work and non-workplace scenarios.
What did researchers conclude was the reason for unethical upper class behavior? “Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.”
Hello Gordon Gekko.
PNAS article andBillionaire Bonanzareport are attached as PDF.