A recent study using various tests by the University of California at Berkeley, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicated that upper-class individuals were more likely to have unethical behavior compared to people of lesser means:
“Upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.”
This is an interesting, thought-provoking, and discussion starting study. Was this conducted by a liberal university to add to the 99% occupy Wall Street rhetoric? Are ethics slowly declining in this country? What do you think?
