Are the wealthy less ethical?

Does being wealthy mean you're less inclined to behave ethically? New research suggests that's the case.

From the abstract of "Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: (Post continues below.)

Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, 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.

"Elevated wealth status seems to make you want even more, and that increased want leads you to bend the rules or break the rules to serve your self-interest," study lead author Paul Piff told Health.com.

The researchers explored the question from several angles. Some examples:

• Drivers of higher-status vehicles were less likely to yield as they should to other cars at a four-way stop. "About 8% of the drivers in the lowest tier of prestige broke the rules, compared with 30% in the highest," The Wall Street Journal said. Drivers of fancy cars were also less likely to yield to a pedestrian.
• In other tests, people of wealth were more inclined to agree that they'd steal a ream of paper at work and to cheat at a computer game of dice.

Wired described yet another test:

The fourth experiment probed the underlying dynamics. Test-takers were asked to imagine themselves being very rich or poor, then given an opportunity to take candy from a jar that would next be delivered to children in another lab. Students who'd pretended to be rich took more candy, suggesting that "the experience of higher social class has a causal relationship to unethical decision-making and behavior," wrote Piff's team.

Taking candy from the mouths of babes! What could account for such behavior?

From Health.com:

Then again, there may be a simpler explanation: greed. The researchers found that unethical behavior was closely related to positive feelings about greed. Although the connection appeared to be strongest among high-status individuals, even lower-status individuals were more prone to ethical lapses if they felt that greed was good.

Still, the attitude that greed is good was much more prevalent among those who have more money.

Of course, such studies aren't conclusive. For instance, how do we know that the unidentified people driving the high-end cars hadn't bought more car than they could afford -- or were even the owners? Perhaps just the act of driving an expensive car can turn people into jerks.

And maybe, just maybe, the people who look out for their own interests more than those of others are the ones who become rich. It's the old chicken and the egg: Which came first?

Said Wired:

"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," said evolutionary psychologist and consumer researcher Vladas Griskevicius of the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the work.

More on MSN Money:

• 65% back higher taxes on rich
• 5 ways to get rich . . . or poor
• How do your finances stack up?
• Why banks only care about the 1%
• What the 1% know about money
• Struggling to get by -- on $350,000?