We ’re More Likely To Steal From Large Groups Than From Individuals

By Emma L. Barratt We’re all aware of the financial disparity that plagues our economic systems. Many of those at the top of large corporations seem content to exploit large groups of people for their own significant financial gain. Strangely, this is somewhat at odds with previous research in behavioural economics, which tends to find that people are generally quite prosocial, honest, and overall unwilling to steal considerable amounts from others. From results like these, it’s difficult to piece together exactly how we’ve arrived at such levels of financial inequality. Psychologists have floated a number of potential explanations for this phenomenon. Perhaps those who end up rich have innately higher levels of psychopathy, for example. Or perhaps it’s the case that the cultural norms within certain businesses change the way people make economic decisions. However, new research in Nature Human Behaviour from Carlos Alós-Ferrer and colleagues suggests an alternative explanation: when it comes to acting selfishly, we are much more likely to do it at a grand scale than a small one. Previous tasks that seek to measure selfishness, such as the Dictator, Ultimatum, and Trust games, all probe how much of a sum a participant will transfer to another person under slightly different conditions and opportunities for personal gain. Responses to such tasks are generally pro-social, with participants often being generous to the other party, and mostly keen to tru...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Money Social Source Type: blogs