It has been some time since we posted on the topic of altruism, but it is one of the words we come back to directly and indirectly nearly every day, one way or another. We watch out for our own stories to explain this phenomenon. Raxa Collective works in locations categorized as developing economies. Some among our ranks are from so-called developed economies, with among the highest per capita incomes in the world, while others among our ranks are from economies at the other end of the per capita income range.

A consensus has developed among those of us who have worked across a spectrum of countries, a consensus which we considered a bit of a paradox (and a completely unrealistic and unfair generalization, but still we noticed it this way), that poorer people do more surprisingly generous things considering that they would seem to have less with which to be generous.

And it turns out that we have been noticing something that may have a scientific explanation. Thanks to Paul Piff, among others. We first listened to him here, but below, from his own webpage, he kindly offers you a much larger selection of opportunities to read and listen to him explaining his work.

Links to representative media coverage of my research:

• April 25, 2014: Money can’t buy trustworthiness. The Atlantic

• April 4, 2014: Does money make you mean? NPR TED Radio Hour

• February 2, 2014: How inequality hollows out the soul. The New York Times

• December, 2013: Something’s fishy. APA Monitor

• August 21, 2013: Does wealth breed narcissism: The new “Mirror, mirror on the wall” study. PBS Newshour

• August 20, 2013: Wealthy selfies: How being rich increases narcissism. TIME

• August 14, 2013: Prius drivers are the worst (joke). Conan O’Brien monologue

• August 12, 2013: The rich drive differently, a study suggests. The New York Times

• June 21, 2013: Exploring the psychology of wealth. PBS Newshour

• ​April 1, 2013: Why the rich don’t give to charity. The Atlantic

• March 30, 2013: Our inconsistent ethical instincts. The New York Times

• March 14, 2013: How the other half gives. Financial Times

• December 14, 2012: When it comes to charity, the poor give more. Marketplace Money, National Public Radio

• August 20, 2012: Study reveals the geography of charitable giving. Morning Edition, National Public Radio

• July 10, 2012: Does money make people less compassionate? The Patt Morrison Show

• July 1, 2012: How money makes people act less human. New York Magazine

• June 2, 2012: Conversations with thinkers. The John Batchelor Show

• May 12, 2012: Fables of Wealth. The New York Times

• May, 2012: Findings. Harper’s Magazine

• April 10, 2012: How wealth reduces compassion. Scientific American

• March 16, 2012: Greed prevents good. The New York Times

• March 4, 2012: Should we trust the upper class? BBC

• March 4, 2012: Other people’s suffering. The New York Times

• March 3, 2012: Culture Warriors. The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News

• February 28, 2012: Are the wealthy less ethical? Marketplace Money, National Public Radio

• February 28, 2012: Why the rich are less ethical: They see greed as good. TIME

• February 27, 2012: Wealthy, motivated by greed, are more likely to cheat, study finds. Los Angeles Times

• February 27, 2012: Are rich people more unethical? CNN

• February 27, 2012: Self-interest spurs society’s ‘elite” to lie, cheat on tasks, study finds. Bloomberg (See newscast here)

• February, 2011: Servile disobedience. Harper’s Magazine

• September 9, 2010: Who gives more, the haves or the have-nots? The Patt Morrison Show

• August 20, 2010: The way we live now: The charitable-giving divide. The New York Times Magazine

• August 8, 2010: Poor are more charitable than the wealthy. All Things Considered, National Public Radio

• July 29, 2010: The rich are different from you and me. The Economist