The Empathy Ceiling: The Rich Are Different — And Not In a Good Way, Studies Suggest

[dreamdancer 0]

interesting...

Quote

Psychologist and social scientist Dacher Keltner says the rich really are different, and not in a good way: Their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish.

Lissette Gutierrez chose a pair of $1,495 Christian Louboutin shoes at Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan. An article called “Social Class as Culture: The Convergence of Resources and Rank in the Social Realm,” published this week in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, argues that rich people are more likely to think about themselves. Because the rich gloss over the ways family connections, money and education helped, they come to denigrate the role of government and vigorously oppose taxes to fund it. (Deidre Schoo for The New York Times) In fact, he says, the philosophical battle over economics, taxes, debt ceilings and defaults that are now roiling the stock market is partly rooted in an upper class "ideology of self-interest."

“We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it’s the same story,” he said. “Lower class people just show more empathy, more prosocial behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it.”

In an academic version of a Depression-era Frank Capra movie, Keltner and co-authors of an article called “Social Class as Culture: The Convergence of Resources and Rank in the Social Realm,” published this week in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, argue that “upper-class rank perceptions trigger a focus away from the context toward the self….”

In other words, rich people are more likely to think about themselves. “They think that economic success and political outcomes, and personal outcomes, have to do with individual behavior, a good work ethic,” said Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Because the rich gloss over the ways family connections, money and education helped, they come to denigrate the role of government and vigorously oppose taxes to fund it.

“I will quote from the Tea Party hero Ayn Rand: “‘It is the morality of altruism that men have to reject,’” he said.

Whether or not Keltner is right, there certainly is a “let them cake” vibe in the air. Last week The New York Times reported on booming sales of luxury goods, with stores keeping waiting lists for $9,000 coats and the former chairman of Saks saying, “If a designer shoe goes up from $800 to $860, who notices?”

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/08/10-7

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[jclalor 12]

Quote

“We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it’s the same story,” he said. “Lower class people just show more empathy, more prosocial behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it.”

Perhaps Jesus was on to something with that eye of a needle and camel thing.

[StreetScooby 5]

Quote

“Lower class people just show more empathy, more prosocial behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it.”

Did this "study" include any sampling from London? Or, did he just exclude people on the dole in general?

We are all engines of karma

[rushmc 23]

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[muff528 3]

Another of Keltner's observations: Playing with poor rats (i.e. "...rat pups raised in impoverished environments...") is mentally and physically beneficial to them "and can reverse the effects of deprivation". (But, I have to admit that I'm not sure whether the subjects of the study were the destitute rats or the poverty-stricken folks who were playing with them. Also, I found out that baby rats are called "pups"! ....who knew!?)

[Nataly 38]

I can't say I'm surprised by these findings... It seems obvious that it's easier to get rich by taking rather than by giving...

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

[dreamdancer 0]

the problem is that as they are taking they are asserting that they are in fact 'giving'...

(and many believe them)

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[rushmc 23]

Quote

the problem is that as they are taking they are asserting that they are in fact 'giving'...

Hmmm
Can you show me an example of your post here?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln