0:00:00.904,0:00:03.428
I want you to, for a moment,

0:00:03.452,0:00:06.522
think about playing a game of Monopoly.

0:00:07.087,0:00:12.508
Except in this game,[br]that combination of skill, talent and luck

0:00:12.532,0:00:15.287
that helped earn you success[br]in games, as in life,

0:00:15.311,0:00:16.712
has been rendered irrelevant,

0:00:16.736,0:00:18.892
because this game's been rigged,

0:00:18.916,0:00:20.391
and you've got the upper hand.

0:00:20.795,0:00:22.579
You've got more money,

0:00:22.603,0:00:25.140
more opportunities to move[br]around the board,

0:00:25.164,0:00:26.906
and more access to resources.

0:00:27.398,0:00:29.268
And as you think about that experience,

0:00:29.292,0:00:30.718
I want you to ask yourself:

0:00:31.105,0:00:36.152
How might that experience of being[br]a privileged player in a rigged game

0:00:36.176,0:00:38.470
change the way you think about yourself

0:00:39.168,0:00:41.580
and regard that other player?

0:00:42.914,0:00:45.995
So, we ran a study[br]on the UC Berkeley campus

0:00:46.019,0:00:48.259
to look at exactly that question.

0:00:48.283,0:00:51.976
We brought in more than 100 pairs[br]of strangers into the lab,

0:00:52.857,0:00:54.571
and with the flip of a coin,

0:00:54.595,0:00:58.636
randomly assigned one of the two[br]to be a rich player in a rigged game.

0:00:58.660,0:01:00.406
They got two times as much money;

0:01:01.509,0:01:04.561
when they passed Go,[br]they collected twice the salary;

0:01:05.339,0:01:07.620
and they got to roll[br]both dice instead of one,

0:01:07.644,0:01:09.938
so they got to move[br]around the board a lot more.

0:01:09.962,0:01:11.568
(Laughter)

0:01:12.018,0:01:13.726
And over the course of 15 minutes,

0:01:13.750,0:01:16.241
we watched through[br]hidden cameras what happened.

0:01:17.257,0:01:19.353
What I want to do today,[br]for the first time,

0:01:19.377,0:01:21.525
is show you a little bit of what we saw.

0:01:21.549,0:01:23.850
You'll to have to pardon[br]the sound quality,

0:01:23.874,0:01:25.847
because again, these were hidden cameras.

0:01:25.871,0:01:27.556
So we've provided subtitles.

0:01:27.951,0:01:30.266
[Video] Rich Player: How many[br]500s did you have?

0:01:30.290,0:01:31.441
Poor Player: Just one.

0:01:31.465,0:01:32.885
RP: Are you serious?[br]PP: Yeah.

0:01:32.909,0:01:36.040
RP: I have three. (Laughs)[br]I don't know why they gave me so much.

0:01:36.064,0:01:39.429
Paul Piff: So it was quickly apparent[br]to players that something was up.

0:01:39.453,0:01:42.580
One person clearly has[br]a lot more money than the other person,

0:01:42.604,0:01:45.160
and yet, as the game unfolded,

0:01:45.184,0:01:49.714
we saw very notable differences,[br]dramatic differences begin to emerge

0:01:49.738,0:01:51.147
between the two players.

0:01:51.488,0:01:55.807
The rich player started to move[br]around the board louder,

0:01:55.831,0:01:58.855
literally smacking the board[br]with the piece as he went around.

0:01:58.879,0:02:00.586
(Game piece smacks board)

0:02:00.610,0:02:03.559
We were more likely[br]to see signs of dominance

0:02:03.583,0:02:07.596
and nonverbal signs, displays of power

0:02:07.620,0:02:10.294
and celebration among the rich players.

0:02:11.500,0:02:14.185
We had a bowl of pretzels[br]positioned off to the side.

0:02:14.209,0:02:15.751
It's on the bottom right corner.

0:02:15.775,0:02:19.234
That allowed us to watch[br]participants' consummatory behavior.

0:02:19.258,0:02:22.236
So we're just tracking[br]how many pretzels participants eat.

0:02:23.782,0:02:25.729
[Video] RP: Are those pretzels a trick?

0:02:25.753,0:02:27.297
PP: I don't know.

0:02:27.713,0:02:30.828
Paul Piff: OK, so no surprises,[br]people are on to us.

0:02:30.852,0:02:34.344
They wonder what that bowl of pretzels[br]is doing there in the first place.

0:02:34.368,0:02:36.002
One even asks, like you just saw,

0:02:36.026,0:02:38.684
"Is that bowl of pretzels[br]there as a trick?"

0:02:39.035,0:02:42.079
And yet, despite that,[br]the power of the situation

0:02:42.103,0:02:44.313
seems to inevitably dominate,

0:02:44.337,0:02:47.372
and those rich players[br]start to eat more pretzels.

0:02:47.396,0:02:48.782
(Laughter)

0:02:52.290,0:02:53.702
[Video] RP: I love pretzels.

0:02:53.726,0:02:55.396
(Laughter)

0:02:58.314,0:03:00.316
Paul Piff: And as the game went on,

0:03:00.448,0:03:02.923
one of the really interesting[br]and dramatic patterns

0:03:02.947,0:03:05.599
that we observed begin to emerge

0:03:06.254,0:03:09.056
was that the rich players[br]actually started to become ruder

0:03:09.080,0:03:10.492
toward the other person --

0:03:11.103,0:03:14.705
less and less sensitive to the plight[br]of those poor, poor players,

0:03:14.729,0:03:18.735
and more and more demonstrative[br]of their material success,

0:03:19.288,0:03:21.741
more likely to showcase[br]how well they're doing.

0:03:24.084,0:03:25.717
[Video] RP: I have money ...

0:03:25.741,0:03:27.637
(Laughs) I have money for everything.

0:03:28.013,0:03:29.486
PP: How much is that?

0:03:29.510,0:03:31.737
RP: You owe me 24 dollars.

0:03:33.404,0:03:36.111
You're going to lose all your money soon.

0:03:36.135,0:03:38.271
I'll buy it. I have so much money.

0:03:38.295,0:03:40.321
I have so much money, it takes me forever.

0:03:40.345,0:03:42.434
RP 2: I'm going[br]to buy out this whole board.

0:03:42.458,0:03:44.539
RP 3: You're going[br]to run out of money soon.

0:03:44.563,0:03:46.611
I'm pretty much untouchable at this point.

0:03:46.635,0:03:48.223
(Laughter)

0:03:48.247,0:03:51.432
Paul Piff: And here's what I think[br]was really, really interesting:

0:03:51.456,0:03:53.646
it's that, at the end of the 15 minutes,

0:03:54.298,0:03:57.672
we asked the players to talk[br]about their experience during the game.

0:03:58.647,0:04:02.733
And when the rich players talked[br]about why they had inevitably won

0:04:02.757,0:04:04.429
in this rigged game of Monopoly ...

0:04:04.453,0:04:08.527
(Laughter)

0:04:09.468,0:04:15.816
They talked about what they'd done[br]to buy those different properties

0:04:15.840,0:04:17.805
and earn their success in the game.

0:04:17.829,0:04:18.863
(Laughter)

0:04:18.887,0:04:21.287
And they became far less attuned

0:04:21.311,0:04:23.823
to all those different[br]features of the situation --

0:04:23.847,0:04:25.860
including that flip of a coin --

0:04:26.503,0:04:30.502
that had randomly gotten them[br]into that privileged position

0:04:30.526,0:04:31.829
in the first place.

0:04:31.853,0:04:34.686
And that's a really,[br]really incredible insight

0:04:34.710,0:04:38.371
into how the mind[br]makes sense of advantage.

0:04:40.101,0:04:42.279
Now, this game of Monopoly can be used

0:04:42.303,0:04:47.262
as a metaphor for understanding society[br]and its hierarchical structure,

0:04:47.286,0:04:50.903
wherein some people[br]have a lot of wealth and a lot of status,

0:04:50.927,0:04:52.411
and a lot of people don't;

0:04:52.435,0:04:55.324
they have a lot less wealth[br]and a lot less status

0:04:55.348,0:04:58.396
and a lot less access to valued resources.

0:04:58.420,0:05:01.802
And what my colleagues and I[br]for the last seven years have been doing

0:05:01.826,0:05:04.666
is studying the effects[br]of these kinds of hierarchies.

0:05:05.706,0:05:09.085
What we've been finding[br]across dozens of studies

0:05:09.109,0:05:12.385
and thousands of participants[br]across this country

0:05:12.485,0:05:16.366
is that as a person's levels[br]of wealth increase,

0:05:17.088,0:05:20.863
their feelings of compassion[br]and empathy go down,

0:05:23.038,0:05:26.764
and their feelings of entitlement,[br]of deservingness,

0:05:26.788,0:05:30.348
and their ideology[br]of self-interest increase.

0:05:31.284,0:05:32.877
In surveys, we've found

0:05:32.901,0:05:36.764
that it's actually wealthier individuals[br]who are more likely to moralize

0:05:36.788,0:05:38.495
greed being good,

0:05:38.519,0:05:42.487
and that the pursuit of self-interest[br]is favorable and moral.

0:05:43.063,0:05:46.693
Now, what I want to do today[br]is talk about some of the implications

0:05:46.717,0:05:48.612
of this ideology self-interest,

0:05:49.668,0:05:52.312
talk about why we should[br]care about those implications,

0:05:52.336,0:05:53.935
and end with what might be done.

0:05:55.565,0:05:57.982
Some of the first studies[br]that we ran in this area

0:05:58.006,0:05:59.342
looked at helping behavior,

0:05:59.366,0:06:02.573
something social psychologists[br]call "pro-social behavior."

0:06:03.453,0:06:04.902
And we were really interested

0:06:04.926,0:06:08.327
in who's more likely[br]to offer help to another person:

0:06:08.444,0:06:10.674
someone who's rich or someone who's poor.

0:06:11.555,0:06:12.823
In one of the studies,

0:06:12.847,0:06:18.277
we bring rich and poor members[br]of the community into the lab,

0:06:18.389,0:06:21.213
and give each of them[br]the equivalent of 10 dollars.

0:06:21.785,0:06:25.997
We told the participants they could keep[br]these 10 dollars for themselves,

0:06:26.021,0:06:28.909
or they could share[br]a portion of it, if they wanted to,

0:06:28.933,0:06:31.277
with a stranger, who's totally anonymous.

0:06:31.301,0:06:34.558
They'll never meet that stranger;[br]the stranger will never meet them.

0:06:34.582,0:06:36.832
And we just monitor how much people give.

0:06:37.554,0:06:42.203
Individuals who made 25,000,[br]sometimes under 15,000 dollars a year,

0:06:42.227,0:06:45.544
gave 44 percent more[br]of their money to the stranger

0:06:45.568,0:06:49.273
than did individuals making[br]150,000, 200,000 dollars a year.

0:06:50.983,0:06:53.020
We've had people play games

0:06:53.809,0:06:56.475
to see who's more or less likely to cheat

0:06:56.499,0:06:58.853
to increase their chances[br]of winning a prize.

0:06:58.877,0:07:01.626
In one of the games,[br]we actually rigged a computer

0:07:01.650,0:07:05.330
so that die rolls over a certain score[br]were impossible --

0:07:05.354,0:07:09.446
You couldn't get above 12[br]in this game, and yet ...

0:07:10.564,0:07:13.753
the richer you were, the more likely[br]you were to cheat in this game

0:07:13.777,0:07:16.502
to earn credits toward a $50 cash prize --

0:07:17.146,0:07:19.384
sometimes by three to four times as much.

0:07:21.106,0:07:22.270
We ran another study

0:07:22.294,0:07:26.085
where we looked at whether people[br]would be inclined to take candy

0:07:26.474,0:07:29.114
from a jar of candy[br]that we explicitly identified

0:07:29.138,0:07:31.018
as being reserved for children --

0:07:31.042,0:07:34.638
(Laughter)

0:07:34.662,0:07:38.816
I'm not kidding -- I know it sounds[br]like I'm making a joke.

0:07:39.221,0:07:41.451
We explicitly told participants:

0:07:41.475,0:07:45.808
"This candy is for children participating[br]in a developmental lab nearby.

0:07:45.832,0:07:47.961
They're in studies. This is for them."

0:07:47.985,0:07:50.909
And we just monitored[br]how much candy participants took.

0:07:51.567,0:07:54.482
Participants who felt rich[br]took two times as much candy

0:07:54.506,0:07:56.159
as participants who felt poor.

0:07:57.675,0:07:59.632
We've even studied cars.

0:08:00.315,0:08:01.984
Not just any cars,

0:08:02.008,0:08:05.272
but whether drivers[br]of different kinds of cars

0:08:05.296,0:08:08.314
are more or less inclined[br]to break the law.

0:08:08.338,0:08:09.850
In one of these studies,

0:08:10.558,0:08:15.285
we looked at whether drivers[br]would stop for a pedestrian

0:08:15.309,0:08:18.169
that we had posed waiting[br]to cross at a crosswalk.

0:08:18.193,0:08:20.041
Now in California, as you all know,

0:08:20.065,0:08:22.469
because I'm sure we all do this,

0:08:22.493,0:08:26.014
it's the law to stop for a pedestrian[br]who's waiting to cross.

0:08:26.434,0:08:28.276
So here's an example of how we did it.

0:08:28.300,0:08:31.843
That's our confederate off to the left,[br]posing as a pedestrian.

0:08:31.867,0:08:35.849
He approaches as the red truck[br]successfully stops.

0:08:36.219,0:08:37.998
In typical California fashion,

0:08:38.022,0:08:40.991
it's overtaken by the bus[br]who almost runs our pedestrian over.

0:08:41.015,0:08:42.368
(Laughter)

0:08:42.392,0:08:44.597
Now here's an example[br]of a more expensive car,

0:08:44.621,0:08:48.868
a Prius, driving through,[br]and a BMW doing the same.

0:08:51.590,0:08:54.005
So we did this for hundreds of vehicles

0:08:54.029,0:08:56.488
on several days,

0:08:56.512,0:08:58.936
just tracking who stops and who doesn't.

0:09:00.587,0:09:04.840
What we found was as the expensiveness[br]of a car increased ...

0:09:04.864,0:09:06.936
(Laughter)

0:09:06.960,0:09:10.191
the drivers' tendencies[br]to break the law increased as well.

0:09:10.215,0:09:13.016
None of the cars -- none of the cars --

0:09:13.040,0:09:16.111
in our least expensive car category

0:09:16.135,0:09:17.293
broke the law.

0:09:17.793,0:09:22.636
Close to 50 percent of the cars[br]in our most expensive vehicle category

0:09:22.660,0:09:23.859
broke the law.

0:09:25.550,0:09:26.798
We've run other studies,

0:09:26.822,0:09:30.709
finding that wealthier individuals[br]are more likely to lie in negotiations,

0:09:30.733,0:09:32.924
to endorse unethical behavior at work,

0:09:32.948,0:09:35.548
like stealing cash from the cash register,

0:09:35.662,0:09:38.451
taking bribes, lying to customers.

0:09:40.697,0:09:42.290
Now, I don't mean to suggest

0:09:42.314,0:09:45.888
that it's only wealthy people[br]who show these patterns of behavior.

0:09:45.912,0:09:48.718
Not at all -- in fact,[br]I think that we all,

0:09:48.742,0:09:51.661
in our day-to-day, minute-by-minute lives,

0:09:51.685,0:09:54.534
struggle with these competing motivations

0:09:54.558,0:10:00.249
of when or if to put our own interests[br]above the interests of other people.

0:10:00.273,0:10:02.549
And that's understandable,

0:10:02.573,0:10:05.470
because the American dream is an idea

0:10:05.494,0:10:10.329
in which we all have an equal opportunity[br]to succeed and prosper,

0:10:10.353,0:10:12.909
as long as we apply[br]ourselves and work hard.

0:10:12.933,0:10:15.642
And a piece of that means that sometimes,

0:10:15.666,0:10:18.595
you need to put your own interests

0:10:18.619,0:10:22.128
above the interests and well-being[br]of other people around you.

0:10:22.152,0:10:25.523
But what we're finding[br]is that the wealthier you are,

0:10:25.547,0:10:29.387
the more likely you are to pursue[br]a vision of personal success,

0:10:29.411,0:10:31.736
of achievement and accomplishment,

0:10:31.760,0:10:33.948
to the detriment of others around you.

0:10:34.927,0:10:38.200
Here I've plotted for you[br]the mean household income

0:10:38.224,0:10:41.460
received by each fifth[br]and top five percent of the population

0:10:41.484,0:10:42.912
over the last 20 years.

0:10:43.579,0:10:44.813
In 1993,

0:10:44.837,0:10:47.963
the differences between the different[br]quintiles of the population,

0:10:47.987,0:10:49.175
in terms of income,

0:10:49.199,0:10:51.271
are fairly egregious.

0:10:51.732,0:10:54.422
It's not difficult to discern[br]that there are differences.

0:10:54.446,0:10:57.275
But over the last 20 years,[br]that significant difference

0:10:57.299,0:10:59.591
has become a Grand Canyon of sorts

0:10:59.615,0:11:02.639
between those at the top[br]and everyone else.

0:11:02.663,0:11:06.297
In fact, the top 20 percent[br]of our population

0:11:06.321,0:11:09.420
own close to 90 percent[br]of the total wealth in this country.

0:11:09.444,0:11:13.123
We're at unprecedented levels[br]of economic inequality.

0:11:15.858,0:11:19.699
What that means is that wealth is not only[br]becoming increasingly concentrated

0:11:19.723,0:11:22.657
in the hands of a select group[br]of individuals,

0:11:22.681,0:11:27.009
but the American dream[br]is becoming increasingly unattainable

0:11:27.033,0:11:29.375
for an increasing majority of us.

0:11:30.227,0:11:33.026
And if it's the case,[br]as we've been finding,

0:11:33.050,0:11:34.499
that the wealthier you are,

0:11:34.523,0:11:37.042
the more entitled you feel to that wealth,

0:11:37.066,0:11:40.064
and the more likely you are[br]to prioritize your own interests

0:11:40.088,0:11:41.844
above the interests of other people,

0:11:41.868,0:11:45.393
and be willing to do things[br]to serve that self-interest,

0:11:45.417,0:11:49.084
well, then, there's no reason to think[br]that those patterns will change.

0:11:49.108,0:11:52.640
In fact, there's every reason[br]to think that they'll only get worse,

0:11:52.664,0:11:55.850
and that's what it would look like[br]if things just stayed the same,

0:11:55.874,0:11:58.932
at the same linear rate,[br]over the next 20 years.

0:12:00.162,0:12:02.902
Now inequality -- economic inequality --

0:12:02.926,0:12:05.125
is something we should[br]all be concerned about,

0:12:05.149,0:12:08.752
and not just because of those[br]at the bottom of the social hierarchy,

0:12:08.776,0:12:11.120
but because individuals and groups

0:12:11.144,0:12:15.617
with lots of economic[br]inequality do worse ...

0:12:16.349,0:12:18.643
not just the people[br]at the bottom, everyone.

0:12:19.206,0:12:21.273
There's a lot of really[br]compelling research

0:12:21.297,0:12:23.957
coming out from top labs[br]all over the world,

0:12:23.981,0:12:28.631
showcasing the range of things[br]that are undermined

0:12:28.655,0:12:31.171
as economic inequality gets worse.

0:12:31.195,0:12:34.024
Social mobility,[br]things we really care about,

0:12:34.048,0:12:36.506
physical health, social trust,

0:12:36.530,0:12:39.462
all go down as inequality goes up.

0:12:39.486,0:12:44.011
Similarly, negative things[br]in social collectives and societies,

0:12:44.035,0:12:46.115
things like obesity, and violence,

0:12:46.139,0:12:47.737
imprisonment, and punishment,

0:12:47.761,0:12:51.887
are exacerbated as economic[br]inequality increases.

0:12:51.911,0:12:55.454
Again, these are outcomes[br]not just experienced by a few,

0:12:55.478,0:12:58.916
but that resound[br]across all strata of society.

0:12:58.940,0:13:01.600
Even people at the top[br]experience these outcomes.

0:13:02.219,0:13:04.156
So what do we do?

0:13:05.307,0:13:08.889
This cascade of self-perpetuating,

0:13:08.913,0:13:11.398
pernicious, negative effects

0:13:11.422,0:13:14.818
could seem like something[br]that's spun out of control,

0:13:14.842,0:13:16.730
and there's nothing we can do about it,

0:13:16.754,0:13:19.009
certainly nothing[br]we as individuals could do.

0:13:19.558,0:13:25.647
But in fact, we've been finding[br]in our own laboratory research

0:13:26.520,0:13:31.100
that small psychological interventions,

0:13:31.695,0:13:34.714
small changes to people's values,

0:13:34.831,0:13:38.188
small nudges in certain directions,

0:13:38.212,0:13:41.346
can restore levels[br]of egalitarianism and empathy.

0:13:41.759,0:13:46.032
For instance, reminding people[br]of the benefits of cooperation

0:13:46.056,0:13:47.951
or the advantages of community,

0:13:48.961,0:13:52.773
cause wealthier individuals[br]to be just as egalitarian

0:13:52.797,0:13:54.122
as poor people.

0:13:55.369,0:14:00.894
In one study, we had people watch[br]a brief video, just 46 seconds long,

0:14:00.918,0:14:02.336
about childhood poverty

0:14:03.144,0:14:07.345
that served as a reminder of the needs[br]of others in the world around them.

0:14:08.257,0:14:10.152
And after watching that,

0:14:10.176,0:14:13.632
we looked at how willing people[br]were to offer up their own time

0:14:14.242,0:14:18.273
to a stranger presented to them[br]in the lab, who was in distress.

0:14:19.026,0:14:22.246
After watching this video, an hour later,

0:14:22.270,0:14:25.650
rich people became[br]just as generous of their own time

0:14:25.674,0:14:27.820
to help out this other person, a stranger,

0:14:27.844,0:14:29.289
as someone who's poor,

0:14:29.313,0:14:33.571
suggesting that these differences[br]are not innate or categorical,

0:14:33.595,0:14:37.351
but are so malleable[br]to slight changes in people's values,

0:14:37.375,0:14:40.783
and little nudges of compassion[br]and bumps of empathy.

0:14:41.172,0:14:42.749
And beyond the walls of our lab,

0:14:42.773,0:14:46.052
we're even beginning to see[br]signs of change in society.

0:14:46.893,0:14:50.041
Bill Gates, one of our nation's[br]wealthiest individuals,

0:14:50.065,0:14:51.993
in his Harvard commencement speech,

0:14:52.017,0:14:54.878
talked about the problem[br]of inequality facing society

0:14:54.902,0:14:57.565
as being the most daunting challenge,

0:14:57.589,0:15:00.423
and talked about what must[br]be done to combat it,

0:15:00.447,0:15:05.465
saying, "Humanity's greatest advances[br]are not in its discoveries --

0:15:05.489,0:15:08.521
but in how those discoveries are applied

0:15:08.545,0:15:10.333
to reduce inequity."

0:15:11.356,0:15:13.285
And there's the Giving Pledge,

0:15:13.309,0:15:17.236
in which more than 100[br]of our nation's wealthiest individuals

0:15:18.077,0:15:21.259
are pledging half[br]of their fortunes to charity.

0:15:21.886,0:15:26.358
And there's the emergence of dozens[br]of grassroots movements,

0:15:27.136,0:15:28.889
like "We are the 1 percent,"

0:15:29.508,0:15:30.991
"Resource Generation,"

0:15:31.556,0:15:33.445
or "Wealth for Common Good,"

0:15:33.469,0:15:37.808
in which the most privileged[br]members of the population,

0:15:37.832,0:15:40.776
members of the one percent and elsewhere,

0:15:40.800,0:15:42.539
people who are wealthy,

0:15:42.662,0:15:46.115
are using their own economic resources,

0:15:46.139,0:15:50.372
adults and youth alike --[br]that's what's most striking to me --

0:15:50.396,0:15:53.957
leveraging their own privilege,[br]their own economic resources,

0:15:53.981,0:15:56.822
to combat inequality

0:15:56.846,0:15:59.288
by advocating for social policies,

0:15:59.866,0:16:01.724
changes in social values

0:16:01.748,0:16:04.006
and changes in people's behavior

0:16:04.143,0:16:07.183
that work against[br]their own economic interests,

0:16:07.207,0:16:10.385
but that may ultimately[br]restore the American dream.

0:16:11.420,0:16:12.640
Thank you.

0:16:12.664,0:16:17.999
(Applause)