Does Money Make You Mean?

According to Science, “Yes.”

The rich snob. Thinks he’s better than the rest of us. What a cliché! But is there any truth to it?

Actually, there is. And it’s backed by clinical science.

In 2012, Dr. Paul Piff of The University of California Irvine Psychology department did a study using the Monopoly game. He wanted to find out if people’s attitudes and behavior change if they are given advantages.

What he found was stunning.

The Monopoly Experiment

A coin was tossed, and one person was given the advantage of an extra $100 every turn, plus they got to roll two dice instead of one, making it easy for them to navigate the game. It guaranteed they would win easily.

What they found was horrifying.

“Regular” people became snobs! Within minutes.

The ones with the advantage consistently became rude, arrogant, even grabbing handfuls of snacks off the table in a discourteous way. They also resorted to taunting their disadvantaged opponent.

Dr. Piff repeated this study with over 100 different pairs of people, and the results were the same.

In the post-study interview when asked about the game, those given the upper hand…