Aiding inner ruthlessness

Results from a recent experiment that studied body language of students from various socio-economic strata interacting with one another. The students did not know each other before the experiment.

Students from a higher socio- economic background were more likely to be rude during the silence. They would doodle, fidget or start grooming themselves. Less-privileged students made far more effort to engage with the other person, making “I’m interested” signals such as laughing or raising eyebrows. In short, the richer people were a lot ruder, while the poor were a lot more polite. The richer you are, the less reliant you are on other people. It doesn’t matter much what others think of you, since you are unlikely to be asking them for a favor any time soon. And yet while the rich may be rude because they are wealthy, it is just as likely to be the other way around. Just as plausibly, they are wealthy because they are rude. Carnegie and other self-help writers have missed the point the last few decades. Getting ahead in life isn’t about making people like you. It is about getting them to serve your interests and success depends, more than anything, on an inner ruthlessness.

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