Body Language Reveals Wealth

A flashy handbag or Armani suit can signal a person's wealth, but so can their body language, according to a new study. People of higher socioeconomic status are more rude when conversing with others.

Psychologists Michael Kraus and Dacher Keltner
of the University of California, Berkeley, videotaped pairs of
undergraduate students who were strangers to one another, during
one-on-one interviews. In total, 100 undergraduate students
participated.

The researchers then looked for I'm interested" gestures, including laughter and raising of the eyebrows

The higher SES students fidgeted with nearby objects for an average of
two seconds, while those from lower SES backgrounds almost never
fidgeted during the 60-second clips. Upper SES students also groomed
themselves for short stints while lower SES students didn't. Rather,
the lower SES students nodded their heads, peacock's tail, the seemingly snooty gestures of higher SES students indicates modern society's version of "I'm fit," and "I don't need you."

"In the animal world, conflict arises when you're battling for status.
So it's adaptive for us to avoid those conflicts and tell us we know
'I'm higher status than you, so don't bother having a conflict with
me,'" Kraus figures.

Lower SES individuals can't afford to brush off others. "Lower SES
people have fewer resources, and by definition should be more dependent
on others," Kraus said.

The research is detailed in the January issue of the journal Psychological Science.
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