--- title: Rich People Have More Trouble Relating To Others, Study Says description: A study suggests that working-class people make wiser decisions than their wealthier peers, at least when it comes to their relationships. canonical: https://time.com/5078268/rich-people-wealth-relationships/ author: Amanda MacMillan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-02T17:10:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:48.912Z article:section: Health og:title: Rich People Make Worse Relationship Decisions, Study Says og:description: Other research has suggested that wealthier people are more narcissistic og:url: https://time.com/5078268/rich-people-wealth-relationships/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e3fd1ecb6c2b3d/6988f67186f68e88d66e7b5a/salary-paycheck-wise.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6412 og:image:height: 3607 og:image:alt: More going out than coming in? og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rich People Make Worse Relationship Decisions, Study Says twitter:description: Other research has suggested that wealthier people are more narcissistic twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e3fd1ecb6c2b3d/6988f67186f68e88d66e7b5a/salary-paycheck-wise.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rich People Make Worse Relationship Decisions, Study Says > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: 5 Easy Ways to Make Any Marriage Better [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Easy Ways to Make Any Marriage Better](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IEPp0GGs.m3u8) (2:25)  _Published 2017-10-14. There's no way around it: A happy relationship takes hard work. And in his new book The All-or-Nothing Marriage ($28, amazon.com), psychologist Eli Finkel tells you what you can do to make yours flourish._ by [Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/) ## Amanda MacMillan Jan 2, 2018 5:10 PM UTC  Cropped closeup shot of a businessman signing cheques Cropped closeup shot of a businessman signing cheques Getty Images by [Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/) ## Amanda MacMillan Jan 2, 2018 5:10 PM UTC Affluent people have more resources available to them, and their status might suggest they’ve made smart decisions about money. But a recent study finds that people who aren’t rich may actually make wiser decisions when it comes to their relationships with friends, family and co-workers. The research, [published in _Proceedings of the Royal Society B_](http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/284/1869/20171870#sec-2), examined the link between class and reasoning in two experiments: an online survey of 2,145 people from across the United States and in-person interviews with almost 300 residents of one county in Michigan. Both groups included people from varying economic backgrounds, from the nonworking poor to the middle- or upper-class. People in the study were asked to recall recent experiences from their lives, or to consider hypothetical situations, that involved friends or coworkers. They also answered questions designed to determine how much they engaged in each of the five aspects of what the researchers called “wise reasoning style.” People with wise reasoning style recognize the limits of their own knowledge (known as intellectual humility); recognize that the world is in flux and that situations can unfold in multiple ways; look at things from an outsider’s viewpoint; recognize the other side’s perspective in an argument; and search for ways to compromise and resolve conflicts. The researches found that people in a higher social class “consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning,” the authors wrote in their paper. The results were consistent across different regions of the United States and occurred regardless of people’s IQ, age, gender and personality differences in agreeableness, openness to new experiences and consideration of others’ emotions. The findings suggest that higher social class “weighs individuals down” by undermining their ability to reason wisely, the study authors wrote in their paper. “The rich may have the affordances that provide the foundation for higher education and potential for wealth,” lead author Igor Grossman, associate professor of psychology at the University of Waterloo, told TIME by email, “but they may have less of the affordances that teach them—or force them—to reason wisely about interpersonal conflicts.” Other research has suggested that wealthier people [are more narcissistic](http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/20/wealthy-selfies-how-being-rich-increases-narcissism/) and get [more happiness](http://time.com/5071079/happiness-income/) out of their own accomplishments than from their relationships with others. The same type of independent mindset “may enable them to more likely ‘shrug off’ their interpersonal conflicts and reason less wisely,” says Grossman. A person’s ability to relate well to others also seems to depend on the status of people nearby. A rich person in a low-status position—compared to his or her boss, for example—may be just as wise as a lower-class person, Grossman says. “There is research on how experimental manipulations of power and status change your perception of reality,” he says, “including feeling of entitlement.” **MORE**: [TIME’s Guide To Happiness](http://time.com/collection/guide-to-happiness/) The new research only found class differences in reasoning around interpersonal conflicts, and Grossman stresses that the findings don’t necessarily translate to decision-making around finances, careers or other areas of life. He’s also not suggesting that being “wise” has much to do with why a person is rich or poor. “In our view, this has more to do with the social structure and lack of social mobility in the United States, rather than their ability to reason about interpersonal affairs,” he says. What the study does suggest, he adds, is that people who want to be wiser should strive for a more interdependent mindset. “Take a third-person perspective, and the perspective of the other person in the situation,” he says. “Understand that situations and perspectives can change in time, and the importance of collaborating and cooperating to maintain long-term relationships.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5078268/rich-people-wealth-relationships/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5078268/rich-people-wealth-relationships/"},"headline":"Rich People Make Worse Relationship Decisions, Study Says","datePublished":"2018-01-02T17:10:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:53:48.912Z","description":"A study suggests that working-class people make wiser decisions than their wealthier peers, at least when it comes to their relationships.","url":"https://time.com/5078268/rich-people-wealth-relationships/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","onetime","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e3fd1ecb6c2b3d/6988f67186f68e88d66e7b5a/salary-paycheck-wise.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda MacMillan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e3fd1ecb6c2b3d/6988f67186f68e88d66e7b5a/salary-paycheck-wise.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"More going out than coming in?","caption":"More going out than coming in?","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5078268/rich-people-wealth-relationships/","name":"Rich People Make Worse Relationship Decisions, Study Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Easy Ways to Make Any Marriage Better","description":"There's no way around it: A happy relationship takes hard work. 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