From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Mon Mar 18 2002 - 06:51:49 MST
Well, keep in mind that it WAS conducted in England, where class
resentment remains one of the most popular sports. I'd be interested in
seeing how this experiment played out in different countries with
significantly different economic traditions.
Given the 4 to 1 cost ratio involved, its rather obvious that the
poorest came out the biggest losers in the end, as they wasted their
money on a spite they couldn't afford, and drew the greater ire of the
wealthy down upon them, and possibly helps to explain the 3rd generation
effect beyond just internal causes.
James Rogers wrote:
>
> Research like this is not conducive to making one an optimist.
>
> ---- Original message follows ----
> Research Shows Just How Much People Hate A Winner
>
> New research by economists at the Universities of Warwick and Oxford in the
> UK has provided surprising insight into just how much people hate a winner.
>
> It also shows what lengths human beings are prepared to go to damage a
> winner out of a sense of envy or fairness.
>
> The researchers, Professor Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick and
> Dr. Daniel Zizzo of Oxford, designed a new kind of experiment, played with
> real cash, in which subjects could anonymously burn away other people s
> money -- but only at the cost of giving up some of their own.
>
> Despite this cost to themselves, and contrary to economists usual
> assumptions, 62% of those tested chose to destroy part of other test
> subjects cash. In the experiment, half of all the laboratory earnings were
> deliberately destroyed by fellow subjects.
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