• Listen to this segment

• Listen to the entire program

Verizon workers on strike in Northeast states are sporting bright red t-shirts declaring, “CWA On Strike For Middle Class Jobs.” The Communication Workers of America union members are fighting against wage, healthcare, and other benefits cuts proposed by their employer. Their message is clear – this battle is not only about money, it’s about class status, and they believe others will sympathize. Wealth, income, and class are hot topics these days as Americans are increasingly pummeled with evidence that inequality is growing. The official national unemployment rate remained steady at just over 9 percent in July. A startling Pew Research study released last month revealed that the class divide runs deep, particularly along racial lines. Pew reported white households, on average, possessed 18 times the wealth of Latino households, and 20 times the wealth of black households. Also, the wealth gap between the rich and everyone else continues to rise. Currently, about 20% of Americans possess 80% of the nation’s wealth. Yet just a couple weeks ago Politico reported on a meeting of super-rich political donors discussing a possible GOP presidential candidate, during which some of the nation’s wealthiest people complained they were targets of “class warfare.” While this may seem irrational to the majority of Americans, years of research could have predicted the fears of those at the meeting. In an academic article published in the August edition of Current Directions in Psychological Science, three researchers compiled studies done by themselves and others on the effects of income, and perceived class status, on thinking and behavior. Multiple studies demonstrate that upper-class individuals are more focused on their personal experience, and less on context, than their less fortunate counterparts. Upper-class individuals are also less likely to show empathy for others, and less likely to share resources, than those in the working-class.

GUEST: Dacher Keltner, Professor of Psychology at the University of California Berkeley, co-director of The Greater Good Science Center, and one of three authors of the article, “Social Class as Culture: The Convergence of Resources and Rank in the Social Realm”

The article is not yet accessible to the public. In the mean time, read analysis of the study here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44084236/ns/health-behavior/