Are higher class people less prosocial toward others?

What is it about?

The functioning of societies depends strongly on people’s willingness to be considerate and helpful to others in general. People may have different beliefs about who are the most prosocial ones. Scientists have debated about the question of whether people from higher or lower social classes are more prosocial. One group of theorists argue that people from lower social classes are more prosocial, because they learn to share risks by connecting and being helpful (a risk management perspective). Another group of theorists emphasize that people from higher social classes often have greater material and immaterial resources that help them develop and maintain prosociality as a basic orientation to others in general (a resource perspective). To reconcile this theoretical debate, we conducted a large-scale meta-analysis summarizing results from 471 independent studies spanning 60 societies. In support of the resource perspective, we found that people from higher social classes are slightly more prosocial than those from lower social classes.

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This meta-analysis contributes to resolving the current scientific debate on class-based differences in prosociality. Specifically, favoring the resource perspective over the risk management perspective, higher class individuals are found to be slightly more prosocial , and this effect is replicated across societies, continents, and cultural zones, and in studies among children, adolescents, and adults.

Perspectives