"If you encounter financial suffering on a regular basis, you may be more likely to donate money to charitable organizations. According to a new study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy , people with higher incomes who live in economically diverse areas are more likely to give to charity than those with higher incomes who live in more homogeneous areas. The study found that people who made more than $200,000 contributed an average of 4.2 percent of their discretionary income. But in areas in which more than 40 percent of residents made $200,000 or more, these wealthy residents donated only about 2.8 percent.
“The study suggests that wealth has this basic insulating effect. It makes people more and more insulated from others, more prioritizing of their own interests, less likely to feel compassion toward other people and feel like charity is a good thing,” said Paul Piff, a social psychologist who studies cultures of wealth and poverty."
