#The pedestrian summary drivers#
#The pedestrian summary driver#

Our main dependent variable was a behavioral measure of unethical tendencies. Participants completed a series of filler measures, which included the measure of unethical decision-making tendencies used in study 3 ( 16). In this prior research, as expected, manipulations of perceived social-class rank influenced generosity ( 7) and the ability to identify others’ emotions ( 5). This induction primes subjective perceptions of relatively high or low social-class rank. Participants also rated their position in the socioeconomic hierarchy relative to people at the very top or bottom.

Participants experienced either a low or high relative social-class rank by comparing themselves to people with the most (least) money, most (least) education, and most (least) respected jobs. We adopted a paradigm used in past research to activate higher or lower social-class mindsets and examine their effects on behavior ( 5, 7). Study 4 sought to provide experimental evidence that the experience of higher social class has a causal effect on unethical decision-making and behavior. Percentages of cars that cut off other vehicles as a function of vehicle status are shown in Fig.

#The pedestrian summary drivers#

A binary logistic regression indicated that upper-class drivers were the most likely to cut off other vehicles at the intersection, even when controlling for time of day, driver's perceived sex and age, and amount of traffic, b = 0.36, SE b = 0.18, P < 0.05. In the present study, 12.4% of drivers cut in front of other vehicles.

#The pedestrian summary driver#

Observers stood near the intersection, coded the status of approaching vehicles, and recorded whether the driver cut off other vehicles by crossing the intersection before waiting their turn, a behavior that defies the California Vehicle Code. As vehicles are reliable indicators of a person's social rank and wealth ( 15), we used observers’ codes of vehicle status (make, age, and appearance) to index drivers’ social class. In study 1, we investigated whether upper-class drivers were more likely to cut off other vehicles at a busy four-way intersection with stop signs on all sides.

Our first two studies were naturalistic field studies, and examined whether upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals while driving.