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Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior.

Paul K Piff1, Daniel M Stancato, Stéphane Côté

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. paulpiff@gmail.com

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|February 29, 2012
PubMed
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Wealthier individuals exhibit more unethical behaviors, including traffic law violations and workplace dishonesty. This finding suggests social class significantly impacts ethical decision-making and conduct.

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Area of Science:

  • Social Psychology
  • Behavioral Economics
  • Sociology

Background:

  • Social class is a significant determinant of individual behavior and societal interactions.
  • Understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status and ethical conduct is crucial for social and economic policy.
  • Previous research has explored various factors influencing ethical decision-making, but the specific impact of social class requires further elucidation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between social class and unethical behavior.
  • To determine if upper-class individuals exhibit more unethical tendencies than lower-class individuals across various contexts.
  • To explore potential mediators, such as attitudes toward greed, that may explain this relationship.

Main Methods:

  • A series of seven studies employing both experimental and naturalistic research designs.
  • Data collection involved observations of real-world behaviors (e.g., traffic violations) and controlled laboratory experiments assessing decision-making, honesty, and ethical endorsements.
  • Statistical analyses were used to compare the unethical behaviors of upper-class and lower-class participants and to test mediation models.

Main Results:

  • Upper-class individuals were consistently more likely to engage in unethical behaviors compared to lower-class individuals across all seven studies.
  • Specific unethical actions included breaking traffic laws, exhibiting unethical decision-making, taking others' property, lying in negotiations, cheating for rewards, and endorsing workplace unethical behavior.
  • Attitudes toward greed partially mediated the relationship between social class and unethical tendencies.

Conclusions:

  • Social class is a significant predictor of unethical behavior, with higher social class associated with increased unethical conduct.
  • The findings highlight the role of favorable attitudes toward greed in explaining why upper-class individuals may behave more unethically.
  • These results have important implications for understanding social inequality, ethical frameworks, and policy interventions aimed at promoting ethical behavior across different socioeconomic strata.