The poor were wiser than the middle class
Representatives of the “lower” strata of the population show great wisdom in situations of interpersonal conflict than people with average incomes, they are impartial and consider the interests of others.
Article with the results of the work, in which scientists figured this out, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Canadian psychologists compared human judgments about conflict situations. Took into account such factors as social class, place of residence and different situations. The result was that richer people living in more densely populated areas adopt less “wise” decision. Also negatively on the quality of responses was affected by a situation involving people with high social status. “Wisdom” the researchers called ability to impartially, “intellectual modesty” approach to problem solving, taking into account the perspective of different people.
“We are not surprised by the impact of culture on such characteristics of intelligence, such as IQ, ability to perform tasks independently and focusing on myself as opposed to consideration of the points of view of others, says lead author Igor Grossmann of the University of Waterloo. Because we as a society continue to focus on independence and the rights of the middle class, however, sacrificing the wisdom and ability to argue in favor of a more self-centered population.”
Using data from large-scale surveys and laboratory studies, the authors were able to show that growing up in straitened financial circumstances people take into account how their decisions affect others, especially those who depend on them.
As examples of such behavior positively influences others, the authors cite companies of China, Korea and Japan. They also noted that the results are only applicable to interpersonal relations, not inter-group, such as, for example, politics.