Is Being ‘Filthy Rich’ Immoral? Why Society Views Extreme Wealth As Wrong

LOS ANGELES — Is it morally wrong to be “filthy rich”? Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Massachusetts Amherst examined how people across 20 countries judge excessive wealth. People in wealthier, more equal societies are actually more likely to view having too much money as morally wrong compared to those living in poorer, more unequal countries.

The research, published in PNAS Nexus, involved over 4,300 participants from nations as diverse as Belgium, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Peru. While you might expect people in struggling economies to resent the ultra-rich more, the opposite appears to be true.

The study found that people do not find excessive wealth very immoral across all countries, but more equal and wealthy societies like Belgium and Switzerland consider having too much money more wrong than less equal societies.

This suggests that when basic needs are met and inequality is lower, people become more sensitive to the potential harm caused by concentrated extreme wealth. Meanwhile, in developing nations where billionaires might represent hope for economic advancement, excessive wealth is viewed more favorably.

What Makes Wealth “Immoral”?

The study revealed that moral judgments about excessive wealth are distinguishable from how people feel about economic inequality in general. In other words, you can think income gaps are unfair while still being okay with individuals accumulating vast fortunes, or vice versa.

Researchers identified specific moral values that predict whether someone will condemn excessive wealth. People who prioritize equality and what psychologists call “purity” were more likely to view extreme wealth as wrong. Purity concerns involve ideas about cleanliness, naturalness, and avoiding corruption. People may find having too much money impure or unnatural.

Researchers believe purity may be the newest moral intuition in human psychology, possibly having evolved alongside religious thinking. There may be a genuine psychological truth behind being “filthy rich” beyond it just being an American saying.

On the flip side, people who value loyalty, authority, and proportionality (the idea that rewards should match merit) were less likely to condemn excessive wealth in all societies studied

The research team recruited demographically representative samples across 20 nations including Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, France, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and the United States, with 4,351 participants overall.

People in Russia, Switzerland, and Ireland showed the strongest moral opposition to excessive wealth, while people in Peru, Argentina, and Mexico were least likely to show moral objections to having excessive wealth.

Countries with lower inequality (measured by something called the Gini coefficient) were more likely to consider excessive wealth as immoral. The Gini coefficient measures how evenly income is distributed in a country, with zero representing perfect equality and higher numbers indicating greater inequality.

Wealthier nations, measured by GDP per capita, were more likely to view excessive wealth as morally problematic. Countries with higher economic output per person, like Ireland and Switzerland, were more likely to find excessive wealth immoral than countries with lower economic output, like Nigeria or South Africa.

The Psychology of Excess

In a follow-up study focusing on American participants, researchers dug deeper into why some people moralize excessive wealth. They discovered that moral judgments about extreme wealth often depend on how that wealth was acquired and spent.

The researchers found that people’s attitudes varied based on whether wealth was obtained through what they categorized as “benevolent” means (like athletics) versus “exploitative” means (like government corruption). People also distinguished between “benevolent” spending (like philanthropy) and “exploitative” spending (like tax evasion).

The study revealed that purity concerns predict moral condemnation across various areas of excess beyond just wealth. This includes what researchers called “benevolent excess” (like too much knowledge or happiness), “constructive excess” (like too much health or wisdom), and “self-indulgence excess” (like too much sex, eating, or fun).

Conservative political ideology, along with valuing proportionality, loyalty, and authority, was associated with greater moral acceptance of excessive wealth. Age mattered too, with older participants more likely to view extreme wealth as acceptable.

Many cultural traditions and religious teachings have long emphasized the potentially corrupting nature of money. Religiosity only had a weak link to how people felt about extreme wealth, which suggests that judging the super-rich isn’t just about following religious rules against greed.

The Billionaire Question

The researchers reference a 2023 statement by Elon Musk, currently the world’s richest person, who said it’s morally wrong to use the word “billionaire” as an insult if the individual uses their wealth to create products making millions of people happy. This perspective aligns with Western thinking that prioritizes happiness maximization as a moral good.

But as the study shows, this view isn’t universal. Left-leaning individuals, people living in more equal societies, those who highly value equality, people with higher socioeconomic status, and people who value purity are more likely to view excessive wealth as morally objectionable.

Instead, people concerned with purity appear sensitive to things they see as corrupting or degrading. Based on these results, such individuals are likely to morally oppose possessing too much money, even after accounting for political ideology and religiosity.

If most people don’t see extreme wealth as morally problematic, building support for policies addressing wealth concentration becomes more challenging. Individual moral values and cultural environments shape how people judge excessive wealth, even when acquired through honest means.

The luxury of moral criticism of excess may be more affordable for wealthier communities. Meanwhile, in developing nations, billionaires might represent aspiration rather than moral failure.