FACT of Life

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   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   
   In this society, people are judged based upon their educational, job/career, and socioeconomic status.  Yes, people are inherently judged upon the money they make.  Rich and educated people are deemed more noteworthy and more worthy of respect than those who aren't.  For instance, Oprah Winfrey is more respected and highly regarded than a homeless.  Yes, money adds value to a person whether we wish to acknowledge this or not.  Let/s discuss

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   1. 72

      Quilligrapherposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      G’day Grace. It is nice to meet up with you again. I hope you are doing well.
      
      I am afraid that I do not see the OP statement as a “Fact of Life.” I would be delighted to see a study that suggests such claims deserve to be treated as facts. At best, they are hasty generalizations, ones that are in generous terms glaringly flawed.
      
      How one person judges another individual has been the subject of academic scrutiny. A study reported in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that judgements are not likely to be based on wealth or education at all. {1} Money, position, station and prestige, it turns out, are not shown to have a big effect on how positively people judge each other. For example, when judging other people, the research revealed, the opinions of observers usually reflected their own personally traits. Positive or negative opinions turned out to correlate closely with the well being, mental health, and social attitudes attributed to the rater. The data produced particularly strong associations between how positively a participant judged others and how enthusiastic, happy, kind-hearted, courteous, emotionally stable and capable the observer considered himself or was considered by others.
      
      In stark contrast, Dustin Wood, assistant professor of psychology at Wake Forest University and lead author of the study, drew interesting conclusions about negativity. "A huge suite of negative personality traits are associated with viewing others negatively…The simple tendency to see people negatively indicates a greater likelihood of depression and various personality disorders." It seems those who tend to view others negatively have a tendency to also think negatively about themselves. This is an interesting study with surprising conclusions.
      
      Thank you, Grace, for launching this discussion.
      
      {1} http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ … 080210.php

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2. 78

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   I disagree.  Some people may be more famous but I respect no one more than my late grandfather, a manual laborer who never had two nickels to rub together and never learned to read.
   
   He was also a miner, a soldier, a prize fighter, a union leader, a damn good Santa Claus, a great father, and a role model for anyone when it comes to how to be self-sufficient, upstanding, brave, honest and kind.

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   1. 0

      Motown2Chitownposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Beautiful. 

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   2. 0

      mbuggiehposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly.
      
      I am  not at all sure that the wealthy are "respected" or that income is a marker for Americans of the worth of another human being.
      
      In fact, my experience dealing with thousands of people through the years tells me that wealth and income---particularly excessive wealth and income, is more a source of scorn than of reverence.
      
      And that is a very good thing.

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3. 94

   Susana Sposted 10 years ago

   Personally, I judge people on how kind and compassionate they are. Nothing else really matters to me.

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   1. 0

      mbuggiehposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly...and my sense is that the overwhelming majority of people would agree.

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