Study Says Luxury Changes People for the Worse

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed)
Mar 5th 2010 at 6:01PM

A new study found that when people are exposed to luxury they become more self-centered and less empathetic towards others.

The study was put together by Harvard professor Roy Y.J. Chua and London Business School assistant professor Xi Zou as a step towards understanding how luxury goods effect the human psyche, and as a means of explaining the harmful decisions of wealthy groups like Wall Street executives. In the study people were asked to make a series of decisions designed to pit self-interests against society-interests, and the people who thought about luxury immediately before the test made more selfish and potentially harmful decisions than those who didn't.

The results seem to suggest that businessmen who have meetings at posh resorts surrounded by opulence and luxury will make more profit-driven, self-interested decisions than those who meet in a modest conference room. What do you think, does being surrounded by luxury make a person more likely to think only about themselves?

Via psfk

Tags: lifestyle, luxury, psychology, spending, spending habits, SpendingHabits, study, wealth

Filed under: Wealth

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Jake Mar 5th 2010 7:59PM

Sure its ture, its obvious where I live. Its more of a culture in very affluent areas of the country, men speak for themselves by driving s classes and living in big houses.

LifeStudent Mar 5th 2010 8:24PM

To become successful, you have to have spent a considerably large amount of time building yourself up, while simultaneously spending increasingly LESS time helping others. Putting aside the wishes and wants of others and selfishly making yourself smarter, faster, stronger than your competition, so that you'll be rewarded more greatly. This is what successful people have to do, in order to achieve great success with even greater financial rewards. In this country, and world, in order to get the rewards, you must be self-centered to make yourself faster stronger and smarter.

And with your well-deserved rewards, you only THEN tend to buy luxury items. Herein people who like luxury items are not selfish; moreso, we'll find that highly successful people are incredibly selfish and self-centered. It's a matter of the "chicken before the egg" scenario. Were they luxury-primed first, or selfish first? Fact is, in order to afford luxury items, you have to be successful. In order to attain great success in this country, you have to go through a lengthened unrewarding period of making yourself better -- that lengthened period of self-introspection and specialized honing of your personal abilities IS the epitome of selfish behavior. But just b/c you suddenly achieve great success, won't suddenly change you into some 'gracious and non-self-centered person' - by far, no. Instead, the opposite, you retain your character, the character that got you to where you are as a successful person: selfish and self-centered. This article proves this sentiment.

Best example: a doctor had to spend 20 years focusing on making him/herself smarter. That doctor never made the time to volunteer at the local church or homeless shelter. That doctor never really had time to spend with his/her family and help them unselfishly with tasks. The fact is, that they were spending 100 hours a week in the library, writing and reading, learning diseases, to focus on his or her personal knowledge. If that isn't selfish, i don't know what is! And now, 20 years later, they can afford more luxury products and services.

Another example: an athlete had to spend countless hours in the gym, getting stronger, practicing their sport, learning plays, etc. They are richly rewarded now for their time of dedication to making themselves better. Though they could have used that time to contribute to others (by using their physical strength to build Habitat for Humanity Homes and mentoring through Big Brothers Big Sisters), they decided to focus on themselves instead - so that they could be the best in their sport.

Great success is not something that everyone should achieve. Some should be selfish, and some should be unselfish. Fact is, MOST do not get great [financial] success from giving their time to others (esp if they aren't paying). Volunteer work is selfless - volunteers are needed, but the majority of volunteers are selfless people who will likely never receive great luxuries. It's just a fact.

I think it is best to determine which you want to be - do you want to selfishly focus on making yourself better so that you can be richly rewarded, or do you want to unselfishly give your body and mind to others. Either choice is fine. But, walk confidently through life knowing and realizing your conscious decision.

People will always attack you for your decisions --- either (1) you're selfish and you have no time to help them cuz you're so focused on making yourself smarter and faster and better, or (2) they'll criticize you b/c you're not wealthy and can't afford luxury items they want you to buy them due to the fact that you chose a more "giving" profession. People will always attack you and question your success. Arguably, to live guilt free, you must be confident in your decision, realizing the benefits and detriments to your decision.

In order to get the rewards, you must be self-centered to make yourself faster stronger and smarter. *** Of course, another way to get rewards is to unselfishly be supportive of the self-centered people who will hopefully give you one of their Centurian credit cards and put you on their will ! I think this is the winning model: herein, both of which are honorable in my opinion , and both of which are rewarded richly in the end.

steve Mar 6th 2010 9:38AM

Lifestudent - I like your thinking, and well spoken too. I have a fly to throw in the ointment though! My wife is a doctor, but she works part time. On her days off, she she spends time with our children, except the one Monday a month she volunteers at a free clinic. Once a week, she meets over lunch with her "little sister" from big brothers/big sisters. She lectors at church, and even today she is volunteering with medical students, only to rush home and host a going away party for one of her colleagues. We donate over $1K a month to church and other organizations.
Ok so she doesn't drive a S class, just an acura. We don't live in a multimillion dollar home, those are across the street from us!
I just wanted to say that you can balance out your life, if you're selfish, you're selfish no matter what - do you think a strung out fast food worker that won the lottery would suddenly become altruistic? Or would they live the high life until the money ran out? I think it would depends on how a person was raised, and the morals that they learned growing up.

SeriousBusiness Mar 6th 2010 1:39PM

@LifeStudent

You just helped me out in life stranger. I was having conflicting emotions about.. do I want to follow the career choice my dad made, or do I want to do what I am good at..and try and carve my own path.

What you said was pretty obvious in some ways. And I honestly don't know why I didn't think about it.. (I have read a lot of those.. what I would call self help books)

Anyways +1 :)

reallytorkedoff Mar 25th 2010 11:11PM

Interesting, though unoriginal, theory.

It doesn't apply to the children of rich people who wear Louis Vuitton and Gucci, but have never had to work for it. Yet they're often a-holes.

Also, people like you describe often eschew luxury goods, but you never hear about them, right?

These scenarios aren't really covered in the article. What are your ideas folks??

Core Mar 6th 2010 1:45PM

"What do you think, does being surrounded by luxury make a person more likely to think only about themselves?"

I would say they are more success oriented and concentrated on monetary gain. I do not think there is anything wrong with that at all... unless your monetary gain starts hurting other people indirectly or directly.

Me personally I am for the Win Win Solution. Everyone wins as far as business deals go. The customer is happy, and the owner is happy.