Are the Rich Really Less Generous Than the Poor? (Update)

Hey there. Stephen Dubner. The episode you're about to hear is one that we originally made in 2017, but we have updated it and are replaying it now as part of a new campaign called pods fight poverty, which is run by the charity give directly. Their goal is to, well, give directly to families in poor countries, which according to the academic research on the topic is a really good idea. If you are inspired to give, and I hope you are, go to givedirectly.org/freakradio. We are joining a bunch of fellow podcasters here, and the goal is to collectively raise $1,000,000, which will lift 700 families out of poverty. 700 families, that's something to feel good about. Again, go to givedirectly.org/freakradio to learn more about this cause. Thanks for giving whatever you can, and as always, thanks for listening. What inspired this is, discussion that has come up in the last four or five years about the growing income disparity. The rich growing richer, the poor poor. That's Jim Andrioni. I'm a professor of economics at the University of California in San Diego. The discussion he's talking about now, I'm guessing you've had this discussion yourself. The rich, as the data have shown, are getting richer. So it's important to know whether the rich are going to work in the best interest of the whole society. One obvious question to ask. How does wealth affect how a given person treats other people? The scientific evidence to date has been not very encouraging. So no, it's not just you. Science also agrees that the more money a person has, the more likely she is to be an inconsiderate rude jerk. We took to the streets to see how widely held this view is. We asked a simple question. Who do you think are more selfish? Rich people or poor people? That's a tough question because I've known both. Oh, rich people are more selfish. Because if you live in comfortable and you see the next man out here not living and you can't help him, that's selfish. That is selfish. I would say the poor person is more willing to give because they know what it's like like to not have. I don't think it depends on your wealth. I think it depends on the type of person you are and the way you were raised. Maybe rich people, I think, just because of maybe more of the stigma. I don't know if they actually are, but I think rich people. I don't know the answer to that. I know a number of rich people who are extremely generous. But at the same time, I have seen homeless people be very generous with each other. I think it depends on the individual. I don't necessarily think it's an economic determination. We've been told, however, that it is an economic determination. In a country more and more polarized by inequality, Paul Piff led a series of startling studies. Wealthier participants …