Resource of the day #2

Read this article on Compassion and Wealth and how they are intertwined. Very interesting.
Check it out on Los Angeles Times   http://articles.latimes.com/2013/sep/08/opinion/la-oe-wolpe-wealth-compassion-deficit-20130908 or read here :)



We know that wealth does not always make people happy, but does it make them kinder? Studies suggest exactly the opposite. Instead of being more magnanimous, the rich are more likely to lie, cheat, steal and in general display less compassion than the poor. And this finding remains consistent even after controlling for gender, ethnicity and spiritual beliefs.

A large body of research point to a compassion deficit in the rich that plays out in big and small ways. As reported in Scientific American, for example, drivers of luxury cars cut others off at intersections at a much higher rate than those driving economy cars. Other studies have found that the wealthy are more likely to lie in negotiations and less likely to agree with statements such as "I often notice people who need help." And during simulations in which participants could divide up candy, giving some to children and keeping some for themselves, wealthier participants consistently kept more for themselves and gave less to children.

Does all this mean, perhaps, that selfishness is part of what enables some people to prosper? No. Rather, research suggests that it is a result rather than a cause of financial success. Simply creating the feeling of wealth in someone can result in self-justification. UC sociologist Paul Piff demonstrated this with rigged Monopoly games in a study involving hundreds of students. One "wealthy" player began the game with twice as much money and got to roll two dice instead of one. But when the clearly advantaged player won, he or she was highly likely to attribute it to skill rather than to preset advantage.

At the University of Rotterdam, a series of studies found that people primed with reminders of money preferred to play and work alone, put more physical distance between themselves and new acquaintances, and were less helpful when they saw someone in need of assistance.

The reasons for this compassion gap are complex. Part of the explanation, Piff and fellow UC sociologist Dacher Keltner theorize, is that wealth allows people to be more independent. Those with considerable resources are less reliant on others and therefore feel less connected.

Most rich people rarely come into close contact with those in need. I recently asked a child in our school in Westwood if he knew anyone who ever went to bed hungry for lack of food. "No one," he answered. I suspect that's typical. Increasingly in America, wealth insulates us: Where once we sat on bleachers together, now the wealthy sit in box seats. They fly in private planes (or relax in exclusive clubs at the airport), live behind gates and in general maintain a buffer from those who are less fortunate. Studies suggest that actual personal distance in conversation grows with wealth as well.

A second theory that Piff and Keltner offer is that the wealthy are more likely to value greed as a social good — as a driver of the economy — and therefore to cut corners to make money. Ethics slide because making money is viewed as having social benefits as well as a personal ones.