High-status individuals are held to higher ethical standards

Although there is evidence for the generosity of high-status individuals, there seems to be a strong perception that the elites are selfish and contribute little to others’ welfare, and even less so than poorer people. We argue that this perception may derive from a gap between normative and empiric...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Trautmann, Stefan T. (VerfasserIn) , Wang, Xianghong (VerfasserIn) , Wang, Yijie (VerfasserIn) , Xu, Yilong (VerfasserIn)
Dokumenttyp: Article (Journal)
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 13 September 2023
In: Scientific reports
Year: 2023, Jahrgang: 13, Pages: 1-12
ISSN:2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-42204-z
Online-Zugang:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42204-z
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-42204-z
Volltext
Verfasserangaben:Stefan T. Trautmann, Xianghong Wang, Yijie Wang & Yilong Xu
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:Although there is evidence for the generosity of high-status individuals, there seems to be a strong perception that the elites are selfish and contribute little to others’ welfare, and even less so than poorer people. We argue that this perception may derive from a gap between normative and empirical expectations regarding the behavior of the elites. Using large-scale survey experiments, we show that high-status individuals are held to higher ethical standards in both the US and China, and that there is a strong income gradient in normatively expected generosity. We also present evidence for a gap between people’s normative expectations of how the rich should behave, and their empirical expectations of how they actually do: empirical expectations are generally lower than both normative expectations and actual giving.
Beschreibung:Gesehen am 20.09.2023
Beschreibung:Online Resource
ISSN:2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-42204-z