A ‘rigged’ game of Monopoly reveals how feeling wealthy changes our behavior

[xchrom]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/30/a-rigged-game-of-monopoly-reveals-how-feeling-wealthy-changes-our-behavior/



***SNIP

A Game of Privilege

Now comes social-psychologist Paul Piff (of the well-known research team of Keltner and Piff) who focuses most of his research on social hierarchies and how these impact our lives and society in general.

In this TED Talk held at TEDxMarin (as in Marin County, CA), Piff discusses a recent series of behavioral experiments centered on the game of Monopoly. These experiments –conducted at the UC Berkeley campus — involved the secret recording of multiple “rigged” games of monopoly in which one randomly-chosen player in a randomly selected group was given certain a priori advantages…such as: twice the money, greater ability to move around the board (more than two dice!), and more access to resources (higher bonuses for passing ‘go’).

According to Piff, the goal here was to study how “a privileged player in a rigged game behaves”. After just fifteen minutes of play for each game, the researchers began noticing “dramatic” behavioral changes in the advantaged players…observed changes ranged from louder, more forceful movement of their game piece (and other “displays of power”) to seemingly trivial things like eating more pretzels.

In one humorously shocking (or shockingly humorous) example, one of the advantaged players, after successfully winning the game, was heard explaining what he had done, strategically, to succeed and win. This example speaks to “how we make sense of advantage”, says Piff

[Laelth]

1. Very interesting. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[Electric Monk]

2. Old, but K&R for exposure

[Laelth]

3. Key excerpt:

Using money games (in which some were given more money than others), jars of candy (reserved for sick children), and even hidden camera experiments with real automobile traffic (which cars were more likely to obey the law — stop at a cross walk — for a pedestrian), results of all of these showed a general tendency for wealth and hierarchical status to increase one’s sense of entitlement (and are “more likely to prioritize self-interest over the interests of others”) …while simultaneously decreasing one’s empathy and concern for others.

It's well worth reading the entire essay, but I advise using this link: http://planetsave.com/2013/12/23/a-rigged-game-of-monopoly-reveals-how-feeling-wealthy-changes-our-behavior-ted-video/

-Laelth

[tridim]

4. My strategy was to get Boardwalk and Park Place by any means.

Put two hotels on each, and roll in the dough for the rest of the game.

It's amazing what people will sell you when they're desperate. I guess the rich IRL found that out a long time ago.

[thesquanderer]

5. Two hotels on each?

I guess this demonstrates how people who have power can change the rules to their advantage...

[tridim]

8. I never knew about that rule.. I guess we didn't play by the rules.

But at least the rules were the same for everyone, unlike real life.

[thesquanderer]

9. True, the rules may have been the same for everyone...

...but that change to the rules make it more of a "rich get richer" environment. First, it enables a single landing on a property to require a bigger payment than the owner would otherwise ever be entitled to. Also, there are a fixed number of hotels that can be purchased, so doubling up on them means that those hotels may also become unavailable for other people to buy for their own properties. So that change to the rules is an example of how eliminating regulation further favors the rich!

[kydo]

6. I always went for railroads first and then grab the cheap properties

and start loading the cheap places with houses and hotels.

[Phentex]

10. the railroads were steady income...

I wouldn't even bother with the cheap places if I ever got all the railroads.

[Sirveri]

12. railroads also gave board maneuver since you could teleport between owned RR's

If I remember the rules correctly.

[snooper2]

7. There are a whole bunch of squares missing on that board...

Instead of wasting time on that the dude should have just came to our poker game on Saturday night...




Was it my chip stack making me get louder as the night progressed or the beer?

[baldguy]

11. Born on 3rd base; think they've hit a triple.