Which Group Is the More Unethical? Rich or Poor? Give Up?
September 7, 2026
I read “Higher Social Class Predicts Increased Unethical Behavior.” I don’t want to be a research skeptic. I do want to point out that the findings are not news, surprising, or at odds with common sense. I know that some people who like social science-type research will be annoyed with my statement. Some may launch well-reasoned Don Quixote assaults on my little windmill. No problem. I understand: Grants, tenure points, and peer love at a specialist conference. I get it.
What’s missing from the write up from my point of view is linking the research to behavior in a specific sector. How about Wall Street tycoons and tycoonettes with the right stuff? Or, why not take a look at the modern-day Platos posting screeds on X.com and other online media? None of that makes it into the serious research writing. Let’s have some fun then. I want to apply a couple of the paper’s findings to a couple of the BAITs (that’s my lingo for Big AI Tech).
Here is the “official” abstract of the research paper:
Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals’ unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.
It’s suitable for my purpose. I want to run through a research “finding” and then relate that to a BAIT humanoid or a cluster of BAIT humanoids in a coffee shops like Coupa Cafe or Philz.
ITEM 1. Elite drive up in snazzy rides, park in places the driver designates is suitable for his/her vehicle, and drives with flair, slow mode to be noticed and fast mode to be cool. Application: Observe employees with expensive and exotic vehicles leaving a parking lot. Research required: Open your eyes and look.
ITEM 2. Elite make decisions based on the rules and the law accepted or defined by the elite’s world view. A group of elites will, if there is disagreement about how to maximize a financial payoff, the group will compromise on methods that produce as much money as possible without [a] getting caught, [b] being fired assuming leadership cares, [c] being ostracized by other elites, or [d] being killed; e.g., the former Googler who became unalive as a result of a paid escort’s injecting a controlled substance into the wizard. (Bummer and a PR problem). Non elites (you know who you are) have an ethical compass calibrated differently. A person who volunteers to work at a food bank is unlikely to snap into the ethical architecture of some Silicon Valley BAIT professionals. That’s a generalization, but it is close enough for horse shoes like AI marketing I think.
ITEM 3: Lie and cheat are useful words. In the context of a group of elite AI professionals, what a less-than-important humanoid might label a bad way to act is irrelevant. I would hypothesize that the BAIT elite view deceptition and cutting corners, among related actions, as the only way to behave toward those in the not-elite set. One does not amass vast sums of money without a little bit of fancy dancing. I suppose it is more accurate for me to say, “A Cirque du Soleil-style performance” at a minimum.
The research is useful because it provides what some people would describe as “expert witness output.” That’s okay, but I think one need only look at the behaviors of the BAITs and one can assemble a comprehensive set of data about elites in this Silicon Valley metaphor.
If you doubt me, think about the circular financing, the litigation among the BAITs, and the Looney Tunes-type marketing about systems that generate errors, make up information, and refuse to talk about the real winners from AI. Whom? you ask? Online cyber criminals. For these folks, AI is a gift from heaven, and the ROI is good now and only going to be better when the agentic online crimes ramp up.
Net net: Abstract research is not as much fun as observation. Watch lab rats. Write down what you see. After a couple of days, you have nailed the behaviors.
Stephen E Arnold, September 7, 2026
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