Social status affects the way people see the world around them and how they relate to others, according to several recent scientific studies.
While existing research supports that culture heavily influences worldview, several recent studies show that the wealthy and working classes are different cultures in their own right, according to several studies featured by New York Magazine.
One study conducted by a neuroscientist at Arizona State University, for example, found that those of higher socioeconomic stature believe they are more empathetic towards others than they actually are. In a 2015 paper on empathy, Michael Varnum and his colleagues enlisted 58 participants in the study, asking each to fill out a report on social class, then submit to an EEG session. During this brain scan, the participants were shown both neutral and pained faces — meant as a “distractor” — as they looked for something else in the image.
Barnum reported that rich participants gave themselves higher ratings of empathy, but in reality, the opposite was true. The results showed that “people who are higher in socioeconomic status have diminished neural responses to others’ pain,” the authors wrote. “These findings suggest that empathy, at least some early component of it, is reduced among those who are higher in status.”
For a more in-depth analysis of these studies, as well as an exploration of others, check out the article here.
—RealClearLife Staff
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