There was a new social experiment on the busy streets of New York and Chicago that showed an unfortunate dichotomy for homeless people.
When a person is wearing a business suit, pedestrians are more likely to give money to the homeless.
If the person asking for money was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, people would donate less money than if they were wearing clothes.
The researchers argue that pedestrians might subconsciously perpetuate economic inequality by donating to people with more money.
"As economic inequality rises in many parts of the world, and countries such as the United States roll back social safety net programs, the responsibility for dealing with inequality's deleterious impacts has increasingly fallen to economically precarious individuals themselves or to private citizens exercising compassion."
Researchers are trying to figure out ways to make charitable giving better.
The limitation of the experiment was that the person who stood on the street and asked for money didn't claim that he was personally experiencing homelessness so as not to deceive anyone.
He held a sign that said at least 1,700 Chicagoans slept on the streets in January. It is not cold yet. Donations will be used to help. I would like to thank you. There is a sign in New York.
He would tell them he was collecting money for charity if they asked him what he was doing.
The only variables were whether the charity collector was asking for money in Chicago or New York, and whether he wore jeans and a t-shirt with unruly hair.
According to the findings, pedestrians on busy city streets judge the social class of those asking for money based on appearance.
Our perception of social class can affect how we view strangers. Low levels of warmth and empathy can be caused by signs of poverty.
Those with higher status received more aid, financial or otherwise, than those with lower status, according to some experiments done in the 70s.
The ability to perceive social class in others allows humans to identify social hierarchy and their own place within them, but it also allows for patterns of social perception that justify those at the bottom as incompetent.
The current experiments in New York and Chicago can't tell us what people are thinking if they drop money in a cup.
The study's first author drew more donations when he wore a business suit.
His upper-class attire was more effective than a pair of jeans and a shirt.
The charity collector got US$54 in 3.5 hours. He got US$21 in a t-shirt.
486 people were asked to look at images of the previous experiment and rate the charity collector on a scale of 1 to 10.
The suit and t-shirt were judged to be lower in status than the suit. The charity collector was rated lower on warmth, competence, humanity, and relatability when he wore a t-shirt.
Pedestrians gave the charity collector less money when he wore a t-shirt. The man might have been seen as less trustworthy or personable in this outfit.
Pedestrians who give money were not surveyed.
Street goers may have thought the charity collector was collecting for charity. They may have given more to the professionally dressed person.
The team doesn't think this perception is likely. The cardboard sign is not indicative of a professional institution and most people assume the collector is taking the money for himself.
People dropped money in the man's cup, even though he was dressed in a different way.
There was a study published.
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