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"Occupying privileged positions in society has this natural psychological effect of insulating you from others," said psychologist Paul Piff of the University of California, Berkeley. "You're less likely to perceive the impact your behavior has on others. As a result, at least in this paper, you're more likely to break the rules."

The findings, announced Feb. 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, come at a moment when historical tensions over wealth and class have reached a fever pitch: Is greed good, and extreme wealth a sign of virtue? Does wealth corrupt, and should a society strive to be egalitarian in income as well as principles?

To these thorny social questions, Piff and colleagues apply the methodologies of science. In their first two experiments, they monitored traffic at a four-way intersection in San Francisco, noting the makes and models of automobiles - a reliable indicator of socioeconomic status, or SES - and whether their drivers cut off other vehicles or pedestrians. Rude behavior rose with status, and high-SES drivers were roughly twice as inconsiderate as low-SES drivers.

In the next experiment, the researchers tested 105 Berkeley undergraduates on realistic ethical scenarios, such as what they'd do when given change for $20 after paying with a $10 bill. Lower-SES participants tended to be more honest.

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"This work is important because it suggests that people often act unethically not because they are desperate and in the dumps, but because they feel entitled and want to get ahead,"
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"When pursuit of self-interest is allowed to run unchecked, it can lead to socially pernicious outcomes," said Piff, who noted that the findings are not politically partisan. "The same rules apply to liberals and conservatives. We always control for political persuasion," he said.