Today the L.A. Times posted an article about what happens when you get rich. Okay, it’s not quite about that. It’s about how the wealthy differ from people who aren’t. And by differ, I mean that the 1%ers do more cheating and commit other dishonest acts than their 99%er counterparts.

Surprised?

This is not to say all wealthy people are rats, and all non-wealthy types aren’t. But the study is fascinating.

They literally take candy from babies, according to Paul Piff, the study’s lead author:

The rich really are different from the rest of us, scientists have found — they are more apt to commit unethical acts because they are more motivated by greed.

People driving expensive cars were more likely than other motorists to cut off drivers and pedestrians at a four-way-stop intersection in the San Francisco Bay Area, UC Berkeley researchers observed. Those findings led to a series of experiments that revealed that people of higher socioeconomic status were also more likely to cheat to win a prize, take candy from children and say they would pocket extra change handed to them in error rather than give it back.

Because rich people have more financial resources, they’re less dependent on social bonds for survival, the Berkeley researchers reported Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. As a result, their self-interest reigns and they have fewer qualms about breaking the rules.

Because the rich are more insulated, they’re more likely they are to act in “insensitive” ways. So those bubbles they inhabit can create… dun-dun-dun-n-n…

Interesting that the words “self-interest” were also mentioned, since those are the very words so many have used to describe the grabbiest of the GOP grabby, the one percentiest of the 1%ers, the corporatiest of the corporate (Dems, you’re no angels either).

Interestingly, anyone who acquires a lot of money is susceptible to this behavior. They undergo a noticeable psychological change, apparently.

Another point made by Piff in earlier studies: Wealthy people were less likely to act generously than relatively impoverished people. Well, except for our evil Marxist socialist “food stamp president” right? He says “Yes” to a whole lot more people and their needs than the Party of No ever will.

Then again, President Obama, unlike, say… Willard Romney, wasn’t born with a silver foot in his mouth.

More details here.