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The idea that power and wealth can corrupt a person and negatively affect their ability to make decisions is not new.
This is an ancient knowledge that has been passed down from generation to generation in different ways and in different languages, the main meaning of which is that "power corrupts".
The two most powerful forms of power in our modern world are political power and financial power, as they have been for most of history. Over the years, studies have shown that the rich and powerful are more dishonest than the average person and are more likely to lie, cheat and steal to get what they want.
Daher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley who has spent decades studying wealth and power, said that the influence of power on a person is part of human nature.
"For researchers who study wealth and power, this is troubling, but not surprising, because it matches our findings so closely. "Unfortunately, the influence of power is one of the most reliable laws of human behavior," Keltner said.
In one experiment conducted by Keltner, researchers observed a busy intersection and found that people in expensive cars were four times more likely to cut off other drivers and ignore the rules of the road.
"He told us that there's something about wealth and privilege that makes you feel like you're above the law, that allows you to treat others as if they don't exist," Keltner said.
In the next experiment, Keltner asked one of his fellow researchers to pretend to be a pedestrian and had him cross the road while the team observed which cars stopped and which did not. Keltner found that more than half of the expensive cars sped through the intersection and paid no attention, not even looking the pedestrian in the eye. Meanwhile, everyone who drove up in a cheap car stopped.
In one of Keltner and Piff's most interesting experiments, they found that wealthy people are more likely to take candy from children
Adam Galinsky of Columbia Business School, who has also conducted research in this area, says that wealth and power can make people feel invincible and entitled because they justify and justify their social positions in relation to others.
"Wealth is, in fact, a mechanism of power, and power has a positive effect on people. It removes the constraints of society and allows people to act according to their dominant desires,” Galinsky said.
Joe Magee, an energy researcher and professor of management at New York University, says that power and wealth make you think differently about the world and your choices, sometimes for the better, but often at the expense of others.
“What power does is it sets the real self free. Some of us are oppressed by various social norms; we work in groups that put pressure on us. Once you get into a position of power, you can be who you are. People who are given more power see more choices.
What does it mean to have power? It's being free from the punishment that could be put on you for what you've done,” Magee said.
The results of these experiments should remind us to be aware of the role that wealth and power play in our lives and the influence they can have on our personalities.