Empathy: the Rich vs. the Poor

Empathy. A word defined as the experience of understanding another person's condition from their perspective. Many would think that people's wealth has no correlation to empathy, but in reality

 it does. 

To test this theory, Adam Galinsky, a professor at Northwestern University, along with a research team, used the "E" test. This test is very simple. As shown in the picture above, the subjects are asked to draw an "E" on their forehead. If the subject draws it like the man in the picture to the right did, it usually means they have a lot of power and wealth with a "Reduced tendency to comprehend how others see, think, and feel". The people who draw it "forwards", so the surrounding people can read it, tend to have more empathy, less power, and less money. Why is this?

Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology at UC Berkley, found that the rich, "Think that economic success and political outcomes, and personal outcomes, have to do with individual behavior, a good work ethic". In other words, in general the rich tend to think more about themselves and not other people, while in general the poor tend to think more about each other and not about themselves. 

What do you think your peers would do if you asked them to take the "E" test?