Upper-Class People Have Trouble Recognizing Others’ Emotions

[keco52]

Upper-class people have more educational opportunities, greater financial security, and better job prospects than people from lower social classes, but that doesn’t mean they’re more skilled at everything. A new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds surprisingly, that lower-class people are better at reading the emotions of others.

The researchers were inspired by observing that, for lower-class people, success depends more on how much they can rely on other individuals. For example, if you can’t afford to buy support services, such as daycare service for your children, you have to rely on your neighbors or relatives to watch the kids while you attend classes or run errands, says Michael W. Kraus of the University of California-San Francisco. He cowrote the study with Stéphane Côté of the University of Toronto and Dacher Keltner of the University of California-Berkeley.

One experiment used volunteers who worked at a university. Some had graduated from college and others had not; researchers used educational level as a proxy for social class. The volunteers did a test of emotion perception, in which they were instructed to look at pictures of faces and indicate which emotions each face was displaying. People with more education performed worse on the task than people with less education. In another study, university students who were of higher social standing (determined from each student’s self-reported perceptions of his or her family’s socioeconomic status) had a more difficult time accurately reading the emotions of a stranger during a group job interview.

These results suggest that people of upper-class status aren’t very good at recognizing the emotions other people are feeling. The researchers speculate that this is because they can solve their problems, like the daycare example, without relying on others—they aren’t as dependent on the people around them.

A final experiment found that, when people were made to feel that they were at a lower social class than they actually were, they got better at reading emotions. This shows that “it’s not something ingrained in the individual,” Kraus says. “It’s the cultural context leading to these differences.” He says this work helps show that stereotypes about the classes are wrong. “It’s not that a lower-class person, no matter what, is going to be less intelligent than an upper-class person. It’s all about the social context the person lives in, and the specific challenges the person faces. If you can shift the context even temporarily, social class differences in any number of behaviors can be eliminated.”

Upper-Class People Have Trouble Recognizing Others’ Emotions - Association for Psychological Science

 

[Pittsey]

Your class system is a mess. Does it literally depend on how much money you have as to which class you belong?

 

[S O F I]

Well, the general consensus among upper-class rich people is that those in the lower class are lazy, unfortunately. The rich, and especially those who came from humble beginnings and made a fortune, have no sympathy nor a will to understand those who have not ascended the social ladder. That's why Republicans tend to vote against any sort of financial help like unemployment insurance, free health care, the minimum wage, etc.

 

[vg4030]

My wife accuses me of this all the time

 

[dilla]

Well, the general consensus among upper-class rich people is that those in the lower class are lazy, unfortunately. The rich, and especially those who came from humble beginnings and made a fortune, have no sympathy nor a will to understand those who have not ascended the social ladder. That's why Republicans tend to vote against any sort of financial help like unemployment insurance, free health care, the minimum wage, etc.

I agree with this totally, but does it make them "bad people?" They genuinely don't feel sympathy or have very little of it. How can you be mad at them? Faking sympathy is a bigger slap in the face, because you'll have people in a "lower" class that will feel insulted and feel like they are being condescended to.

The dirt poor may not feel this way and would be grateful for the money, but for those that are on the cusp of moving up to the next class are just frustrated, I think. Once they too become upper class, they'll lose their sympathy for the very same people they were with not too long ago.

Now, to deliberately oppress the poor is one thing, but to simply be apathetic or not want to give up money, time, effort, etc. is another thing. I think the former needs to fixed but not to the extent that those who mind their own business and don't want to help are not forced to help. That's when said people get angry and vote against relief for those less fortunate instead of being indifferent or maybe even vote for it despite not really wanting to. Forcing them will most likely yield bad results, the results we have today.

 

[keco52]

I learned at an early age that I couldn't depend on other ppl...so I was poor and still couldn't recognize others emotions. BEAT THAT

 

[masta247]

Well, the general consensus among upper-class rich people is that those in the lower class are lazy, unfortunately. The rich, and especially those who came from humble beginnings and made a fortune, have no sympathy nor a will to understand those who have not ascended the social ladder. That's why Republicans tend to vote against any sort of financial help like unemployment insurance, free health care, the minimum wage, etc.

Exactly. Also in many cases socioeconomic class goes in pair with certain personality traits and experiences. And people from lower classes are more keen to reach out for help and sympathy while those from higher classes tend to be more self-dependent.

 

[dilla]

They say the best relationships are interdependent, one where there is equal giving and receiving. So being independent MIGHT not be the answer. Although it is also true that if you want something done, you do it yourself. How you take these ideologies and mesh them together to refine that train of thought and then have the poor (most likely, uneducated) comprehend it, I don't know. Getting the rich to embrace this thought isn't easy either.

 

[S O F I]

I think it's also frustrating that everyone (regardless of socio-economic status) thinks that their problems are harder and more complicated and that they have more on their plate than others. We're so self-centered by nature. I'm sure everyone has that one friend who always thinks the world is against him/her or that one friend, if you went to college/university, who thinks that they have harder classes/more homework/less time than anyone else.

 

[dilla]

I think it's also frustrating that everyone (regardless of socio-economic status) thinks that their problems are harder and more complicated and that they have more on their plate than others. We're so self-centered by nature. I'm sure everyone has that one friend who always thinks the world is against him/her or that one friend, if you went to college/university, who thinks that they have harder classes/more homework/less time than anyone else.

I accept my problems with open arms. If there's one thing I can say about myself is that I understand all the problems I have are because of me. Either my actions, or lack of action, caused them, or my reaction to my surrounds is hindering me. Most people can't see that.

I have a friend who refused to bring me a plunger from his house not two miles away because he had just got home from eating out and had to study for a test two or three days away. Note, it was 7PM and I told him I had a swimming pool in my bathroom because of this overflowing and he still refused. He knew I didn't have a car either but he did. It was the last time I asked him for help, as he had pulled bullshit like this many times in the past. That two minutes of his time was not worth it for me.

So I bought my own plunger. Fuck the world.

 

[Duke]

I accept my problems with open arms. If there's one thing I can say about myself is that I understand all the problems I have are because of me. Either my actions, or lack of action, caused them, or my reaction to my surrounds is hindering me. Most people can't see that.

I have a friend who refused to bring me a plunger from his house not two miles away because he had just got home from eating out and had to study for a test two or three days away. Note, it was 7PM and I told him I had a swimming pool in my bathroom because of this overflowing and he still refused. He knew I didn't have a car either but he did. It was the last time I asked him for help, as he had pulled bullshit like this many times in the past. That two minutes of his time was not worth it for me.

So I bought my own plunger. Fuck the world.

Thats quite un-friendlike of dude. Is he still your friend?

 

[S O F I]

Yeah, sounds like an asshole. But I couldn't help but think you were probably an asshole to him for like 2 years straight lol. I'd imagine it's like you asking Bobby for help.

 

[dilla]

We are still friends and I am not an asshole to people I consider friends, unless they know I'm just messing. And I wouldn't continue with it if I knew it wasn't mutual and that I'd get trolled some time later down the line. But I help him with a lot of stuff, usually computer related or giving sites to go to, settings to change, and helping with schoolwork (writing speeches, he schools me on science stuff). But a lot of the times when I ask for help from him, he just seems reluctant or full of excuses. At one point we stopped talking because I never answered a text and thought we weren't friends anymore. That went on for two weeks. I lived, I had other friends who I help and who return the favor. But I'm not just gonna stop talking to him, period. That's not nice either. I ended up breaking the ice again after a while and told him why I was pissed. But slowly realize what's going on and act accordingly. Just kindly refuse when he comes around the next time.

You learn from these experiences, or I try to, so I'm not too pissed about it happening either.

 

[Jokerman]

Yeah, sounds like an asshole. But I couldn't help but think you were probably an asshole to him for like 2 years straight lol. I'd imagine it's like you asking Bobby for help.

lol "Bobby, I need a plunger." "Ok, I'll be right over."

 

[vg4030]

lol "Bobby, I need a plunger." "Ok, I'll be right over."

*Bobby turns up without plunger and pants around ankles*

 

[dilla]

Haha. Well, I stopped beefing with everyone. I don't think I've provoked Bobby and vice versa. Same with Duke. Beefing is gay and gay is for Sandeep.