Abstract
What does it do to people when they are rich or poor? Do they differ in their responses to unfair treatment? For example, are the wealthy more or less likely to accept an unfair offer in an ultimatum game where it is costly to reject an unfair offer? How about when it is not costly to reject an unfair offer? In the present research, we measured self-reported wealth (i.e., family income, Studies 1–3) and manipulated wealth using a “lucky draw” game (Studies 2 and 3) to examine how wealth affects responses to unfairness in an ultimatum game (Studies 1–3) and a new game called the cost-free rejection game (CFRG, Study 3). Across three studies, we found that wealthy people rejected an unfair offer (i.e., being offered 20% while the other kept 80% of the endowment) more frequently than the less wealthy, and that this tendency to reject unfairness was mediated by their increased feelings of entitlement. This suggests that the wealthy, or even people who temporarily perceive themselves to be wealthy, are more easily offended by unfairness than the less wealthy.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 138-144 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |
| Volume | 71 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2017 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Cost
- Cost-free rejection game
- Entitlement
- Ultimatum game
- Unfairness
- Wealth
Cite this
}
The rich are easily offended by unfairness : Wealth triggers spiteful rejection of unfair offers. / Ding, Yi; Wu, Junhui; Ji, Tingting; Chen, Xu; Van Lange, Paul A.M.
In: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 71, 01.07.2017, p. 138-144.Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - The rich are easily offended by unfairness
T2 - Wealth triggers spiteful rejection of unfair offers
AU - Ding, Yi
AU - Wu, Junhui
AU - Ji, Tingting
AU - Chen, Xu
AU - Van Lange, Paul A.M.
PY - 2017/7/1
Y1 - 2017/7/1
N2 - What does it do to people when they are rich or poor? Do they differ in their responses to unfair treatment? For example, are the wealthy more or less likely to accept an unfair offer in an ultimatum game where it is costly to reject an unfair offer? How about when it is not costly to reject an unfair offer? In the present research, we measured self-reported wealth (i.e., family income, Studies 1–3) and manipulated wealth using a “lucky draw” game (Studies 2 and 3) to examine how wealth affects responses to unfairness in an ultimatum game (Studies 1–3) and a new game called the cost-free rejection game (CFRG, Study 3). Across three studies, we found that wealthy people rejected an unfair offer (i.e., being offered 20% while the other kept 80% of the endowment) more frequently than the less wealthy, and that this tendency to reject unfairness was mediated by their increased feelings of entitlement. This suggests that the wealthy, or even people who temporarily perceive themselves to be wealthy, are more easily offended by unfairness than the less wealthy.
AB - What does it do to people when they are rich or poor? Do they differ in their responses to unfair treatment? For example, are the wealthy more or less likely to accept an unfair offer in an ultimatum game where it is costly to reject an unfair offer? How about when it is not costly to reject an unfair offer? In the present research, we measured self-reported wealth (i.e., family income, Studies 1–3) and manipulated wealth using a “lucky draw” game (Studies 2 and 3) to examine how wealth affects responses to unfairness in an ultimatum game (Studies 1–3) and a new game called the cost-free rejection game (CFRG, Study 3). Across three studies, we found that wealthy people rejected an unfair offer (i.e., being offered 20% while the other kept 80% of the endowment) more frequently than the less wealthy, and that this tendency to reject unfairness was mediated by their increased feelings of entitlement. This suggests that the wealthy, or even people who temporarily perceive themselves to be wealthy, are more easily offended by unfairness than the less wealthy.
KW - Cost
KW - Cost-free rejection game
KW - Entitlement
KW - Ultimatum game
KW - Unfairness
KW - Wealth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85016715794&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85016715794&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.03.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jesp.2017.03.008
M3 - Article
VL - 71
SP - 138
EP - 144
JO - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
JF - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
SN - 0022-1031
ER -