Some might think that society’s class divisions stop at a superficial level— fancy cars, expensive clothes and glitzy jewelry. But research suggests that there is also a behavioral divide, and University of California researchers discovered that it doesn’t look too kindly on the wealthy.
The study, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, found that people living in the upper class consistently lacked social engagement, generosity, sensitivity and empathy for others as compared to those from the lower class.
The report studied people coming from a multitude of demographics and found that in many cases, one could tell a person’s social status simply by his or her social interactions. More importantly, the rude ones. The wealthier individuals were apt to frequently check their phones during a conversation or avoid eye contact. Lower-class people, however, were more likely to pay attention, laugh and nod their heads.
In an interview with The Vancouver Sun, co-author Dacher Keltner said this study speaks to the fact that, for as difficult as it is to be poor, being wealthy isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be:
“There’s this sense among people that all problems reside in the lower classes… While some of that is true— they are more prone to diseases of every kind, and suffer health problems because of the difficulties in their lives— the research also points to all these wonderful strengths: greater empathy, greater altruism, greater sensitivity to others and greater attunement to the social world.”