14 DAY TRIAL // According to a new investigation by experts at the University of California in Berkeley (UCB), it would appear that classes influences the behaviors and opinions of Americans to a much more significant extent than the people themselves realize.
Studies have shown that citizens living in the United States tend not to perceive their society as being a class-based one. However, they act as if that were the case, with behaviors and tendencies among poor people differing substantially from those of rich individuals.
Inclusion in a specific social class can influence aspects such as the type of clothes we wear, the styles of music we like, the people be befriend and hang out with, as well as the manner in which we interact with others. In other words, our income levels are not the only thing influencing these behaviors.
Details of the new investigation were published in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, PsychCentral reports. In the paper, experts say that these differences should be taken into account when conducting public policy debates.
“Americans, although this is shifting a bit, kind of think class is irrelevant. I think our studies are saying the opposite: This is a profound part of who we are,” psychologist Dr. Dacher Keltner explains.
The UCB expert authored the new study alongside professor Dr. Michael W. Kraus and graduate student Paul K. Piff, both of UCB. One example for these behavior differences can be seen in the way lower-class people rely on others in order to improve their status.
“If you don’t have resources and education, you really adapt to the environment, which is more threatening, by turning to other people,” Keltner explains. Rich folks don't have to do this at all.
“People who grow up in lower-class neighborhoods, as I did, will say,’ There’s always someone there who will take you somewhere, or watch your kid. You’ve just got to lean on people',” he goes on to say.
Interestingly enough, poorer people are more likely to understand the problems of others, and to be altruistic towards others when the situation demands it. Rich individuals on the other hand tend to be less empathetic, experts say.
Lower-class people “give more and help more. If someone’s in need, they’ll respond,” Keltner argues. In people who have access to more resources, the psychological response to help people who are in dire need is largely missing.
“What I think is really interesting about that is, it kind of shows there’s all this strength to the lower class identity: greater empathy, more altruism, and finer attunement to other people,” the investigator concludes.