More money, more kindness?
A team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the upper class is considered kinder and more helpful than those less fortunate — and for a specific reason.
Experts from the Netherlands, China and Germany analyzed data from more than 2 million people of all different age groups from around the world — including China, the US, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, Sweden and Australia, according to the Daily Mail.
If you’re just as shocked to find this out, you’re not alone.
In most TV shows and movies — the snooty, rich person is often depicted as being greedy, mean and slightly, maybe very, devious.
But this new research says otherwise.
The study — which was originally published in the Psychological Bulletin journal — examined positive behavior, people’s willingness and generosity when helping others and whether they did any volunteer work or got involved in charitable causes.
“Irrespective of how we measured social class, we found a small positive association between higher social class and more prosociality [behaviors intended to benefit others],” Professor Paul van Lange of Vrije University in Amsterdam told The Times.
“Although the effect is small that higher social classes are more prosocial is quite stable across different age groups of people,” the researchers wrote in the paper published in the journal.
“As well as whether social class is based on their beliefs or on objective indicators that are commonly used in research.”
However, before anyone thinks that people who are in different tax brackets aren’t generous or kind folks — the study did find that people’s desire to help others didn’t differ much. It was how much they could give and their ability to give that varied.
And while rich people might appear to be more generous, the intent behind their giving actions might have you shaking your head.
“It is possible that higher social classes are a bit more focused on the reputation gains that they can derive from public forms of helpfulness and generosity,” Lange explained.
Ultimately, this kind of finding points out the psychological behavior of different social classes.
“This research can inform policymakers and practitioners about potential interventions that can foster cooperation and prosocial behavior across diverse social classes,” the paper read.
NYC is home to 123 billionaires worth a combined $759 billion, according to Forbes’ 2025 edition of Cities With The Most Billionaires — which must mean the Big Apple has many kind, generous neighbors.
Read the full article here
