Wealthier People More Likely To Cheat & Lie

Answer 1

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, wealthier people were more likely to behave unethically and serve their own self-interests than those with less money.

Researchers analyzed a person's wealth, occupational prestige and education to determine a person's rank in society. Age, sex, ethnicity, religious preference and political affiliations were also taken into account. 7 separate experiments were conducted which included over 1,000 people with incomes ranging from $16,000 to $150,000.

In one experiment, about 1/3 of drivers with more expensive cars were more likely to cut off other drivers at a 4-way stop. Almost 1/2 of the more expensive cars were less likely to yield to pedestrians.

In another experiment, a group of undergraduates were asked how willing would they be to engage in unethical behavior in various common hypothetical situations, such as taking a ream of paper from their workplace or failing to correct a cashier's error in their favor. Students who viewed themselves with a higher socioeconomic status made more unethical decisions than those who ranked themselves lower.

The study found that high-status individuals view greed as positive and beneficial and unethical behavior was closely related to positive views on greed.

Researchers acknowledge limitations to the study such as alternative explanations to the results of the experiments, however, having 7 different experiments producing similar results helps solidify the findings.