The Rich are Different—and So are You

In an article called “The rich are different—and not in a good way,”psychologist Dacher Keltner argues that the rich really are a different breed of people. He says that based on his research, the life experiences of rich people make them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish.

“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,” the article quoted Keltner as saying. “Lower class people just show more empathy, more pro-social behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it.”

Great. Just as I’m on a mission to help people re-draw their money blueprints, one of the biggest perpetuated ideas about having a lot of money gets re-enforced by research—that being rich is bad because it makes you a bad person. “I don’t want to be that way; I don’t want to be rich. I just want to be ‘comfortable.’”

On the flip side, Keltner states that unlike the rich, poor people have to depend on others for survival so they learn “pro-social behaviors.” They empathize more with others and they give more to those in need.

I’m not a scientist or a sociologist, so this isn’t about affirming or denying his findings. Even if you were to just think about it for a second, you can imagine some character like the guy from the game “Monopoly” pinching his curled mustache, glossing over the ways family connections, money and access to top education give his children much more of advantage than what a guy like me had growing up.

The fact is that in teaching thousands of people, it’s one of the main hang-ups that people unconsciously associate with having money: becoming a selfish, unlikable a-hole in the process. And like all stereotypes, they usually come with a sliver of something recognizably true; of course there are rich A-holes in the world, yes?

But not all of us! I certainly wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth. The research didn’t make much of a distinction between those who were born into wealth and those who created wealth by learning how to do it. Don’t you think that would make a difference?

And this is what ultimately brings me to what I got out of this article—rich and poor people are not inherently anything! Are there going to be tendencies? Sure, but there are plenty of poor people who are selfish just as there are rich that are generous.

The fact remains most of us who strive for wealth aren’t going to get there without empathy, good communication skills, honesty, integrity; the very same reasons that Keltner states poor people relate better to others. We weren’t given anything on our road to millions. We don’t have any choice but to develop the best characteristics of people and not the worst.

In the end, there’s nothing—absolutely nothing—that says you can’t be rich and empathetic, rich and caring, rich and fulfilled by a sense of connection to anyone and everyone whether they’re rich or not. If that’s who you are now, you’re just going to be more of that with a bigger bank account.

What do you think? What do you find in the connection between wealth and charity? Are rich people just automatically more selfish? Are poor people automatically more “human”? We want your opinion!!!