Psychology’s “Dark Triad” and the Billionaire Class, Part 2

by Roy Eidelson

Source: Roy Eidelson

Psychopathy

The second component of the Dark Triad — psychopathy — refers to a person’s lack of empathy toward others and a tendency to behave in a callous and uncaring manner toward them. Here too, research by psychologists supports the view that, compared to their “lower-class” counterparts, “upper-class” individuals act with less compassion — and also fall short on certain basic skills necessary for building positive connections with other people.

In one experiment, for example, lower-income participants were substantially more willing to take on extra work to help out a distressed research partner than were the upper-income participants. In another study, lower-class participants demonstrated a stronger compassion-related physiological response than did their upper-class counterparts after watching a video of children suffering from cancer. In a related study, the lower-class participants in a stressful interview process showed greater sensitivity and compassion toward their competitors than did the upper-class interviewees. And in an experiment with four-year-old children, those from less wealthy homes behaved more altruistically than those from wealthier homes, donating more of their prize tokens to children they were told were hospitalized.

In other studies, individuals from a lower social class were significantly better than upper-class participants at judging the emotions being portrayed when they were presented with photos of human faces. The researchers concluded that this enhanced ability may reflect the reality that those who are less well-off must rely more on accurately reading their social environment, because they depend more on interpersonal relationships and collaborative efforts in their daily lives. On the other hand, individuals with extensive material resources like today’s super-rich are more likely to find close relationships, especially with people of lesser means, quite unnecessary in their goal-oriented pursuits — and their perspective-taking abilities may suffer as a result.

In the business world, a compassion deficit among members of the billionaire class isn’t very hard to see. For example, rarely do we hear the CEOs of today’s corporate behemoths acknowledge the critical role that they themselves play in blocking upward mobility and financial security for millions of working-class Americans. Most obviously, union-busting and related “right-to-work” efforts suppress the wages and benefits that could dramatically improve the lives of working families. More broadly, despite substantial increases in worker productivity over the past few decades, the super-rich have directed the rewards of economic growth into their own pockets rather than into their employees’ paychecks. Likewise, international trade agreements, written in secret with strong corporate representation, have prioritized protecting profits for huge companies over safeguarding wages, human rights, and the environment. Perhaps this callousness is captured especially well by Amazon’s billionaire CEO Jeff Bezos, who reportedly once described his negotiating approach as similar to “the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle.”

Narcissism

The third trait of the Dark Triad — narcissism — refers to an individual’s sense of superiority over other people and convictions about personal entitlement to special treatment. Once again, in a diverse set of psychological studies, individuals of higher social class displayed greater levels of narcissism and entitlement than did their less wealthy counterparts.

In one study, for example, participants who rated themselves higher on a measure of socioeconomic status also scored higher on a scale designed to measure psychological entitlement; a sample item from that scale is “I honestly feel I’m just more deserving than others.” Another study instead used a nonverbal measure of entitlement. Participants looked at sets of circles of varying sizes and were asked to identify which size circle best described how they saw themselves compared to others. Those of higher social status picked larger circles as their self-descriptors than did those of lower social status. In a third study that used a behavioral measure of narcissism, upper-class participants were more likely than their lower-class counterparts to make use of a wall mirror before having their photos taken. In a survey study, researchers in Germany directly assessed a sample of very high net-worth individuals. They too found that this group scored higher on a measure of narcissism compared to a separate sample of people of lesser economic means.

In the board room and beyond, the narcissistic super-rich are accustomed to being in charge and to having things their way — unlike those they sometimes refer to as “the little people.” Of course, they don’t necessarily feel fortunate in this regard because, by their own account, they fully deserve all the benefits and privileges bestowed upon them. The special favors they receive are particularly apparent when we consider the corrupting influence of wealth on “equal justice under law,” the hallowed words engraved atop the Supreme Court Building in our nation’s capital. Indeed, unequal treatment runs the gamut from the likelihood of arrest and prosecution to the leniency offered in sentencing. As one example of these unwritten norms, wealthy tax cheats have developed a broad repertoire of arguments — based on notions of personal superiority — for why they should receive a light sentence or no sentence at all after being caught, prosecuted, and found guilty (all rarities in their own right). Their farfetched justifications — which some judges nevertheless find persuasive — include all of the following: they’ve already suffered sufficient public humiliation for their misdeeds; although they cheated, they’ve also been generous in their charitable donations; the fines they’ve paid were sufficiently punitive; and their status as “job creators” makes it unwise to remove them from the community and put them behind bars.

Note from KMM: Pegean says, Narcissism? Narcissist? Where have i heard those words before? Somewhere in this blog….

A Wondrous Quartet

Women’s International League, May 1, 1922. In the public domain.*

I have often preached on the indispensability of empathy in cooperative human relationships—e.g., here and here and here. But to “make the world a better place,” as so many of us want to do, empathy is not enough. It is also essential to sympathize with individuals and groups treated inhumanely, to feel compassion for the sufferings and misfortunes of others, and to accompany those who are struggling against violence and injustice.

If we ask people with which sex they are most likely to associate these characteristics, my guess is that most of them would say “women.”

Not coincidentally, all four of the indispensables are reflected in the mission statement of the Women’s March on Washington, which led the protest movement against the Trump agenda in January. For example:

“In the spirit of democracy and honoring the champions of human rights, dignity, and justice who have come before us, we join in diversity to show our presence in numbers too great to ignore… We practice empathy with the intent to learn about the intersecting identities of each other….[Nonviolence] is a positive force confronting the forces of injustice and utilizes the righteous indignation and spiritual, emotional, and intellectual capabilities of people as the vital force for change and reconciliation…. ”

Wednesday, March 8, is International Women’s Day.  The theme this year is #BeBoldForChange. The organizers of the Women’s March on Washington are staging another series of events for Wednesday—a Day without a Woman action. Please read about the plans for that campaign, and think about how you can express empathy, sympathy, and compassion, and also accompany the protestors in words and spirit even if you will not be actively protesting, as they strive for social justice, human rights, and peace.

To read some suggestions for participation in Wednesday’s events, read this.

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Action Agenda for Recovery of Citizenship and Civility

Protest: Stop Militarism
Protesters hold banner showing support for the St. Petersburg (Florida) for Peace at the March 20, 2010, anti-war protest in Washington, DC. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Rrenner.

by Civility Pilgrim

You ask what we can do beyond the screams, sarcasm, threats, and tears:

  1. I say: Hold mock constitutional conventions in each State to increase awareness of our constitution and the abuses to its inherent virtues and rights. People know nothing about our rights and governance.

Educate! Circulate copies of the universal declaration of human rights (UDHR).  Create community dialogs to inform, inspire, and increase awareness of the rights, responsibilities, and requirements of citizenship.

2. I say: Teach non-violent protest.

3. I say: Remind people of the perilous state of life on Earth in our Anthropocene Era.  Catastrophes are imminent. Extinctions of life, pollution of air, water, and earth are omnipresent.

4.  I say: Preach peace! Educate people about the sources and consequences of war and conflict. There must be a relentless education of the public to stop their romanticist notions of the economic satisfaction, benefits, and comforts from war!

5. I say: Do what you can when you can to communicate empathy, compassion, and courage.

6. I say: Discuss and critique the serious pathology of the USA popular culture: Materialism, consumerism, exploitive capitalism, celebritization, endless competition and violence infatuation.

7. I say: Teach peace and nonviolence as an educational requirement in schools, colleges, and workplaces.  Re-designate schools, colleges, and universities as peace institutions. Require each student to take a course or minor concentration in peace and justice.

8. I say: Elect political leaders who are not beholden to special commercial, professional, and personal interests.

These suggestions are insufficient in isolation, but as a group, as a wave across the land, they can channel energies, inspire ideals, and bring purpose and meaning to life and lives.