Rich People Do Ignore Those Around Them

Wealthy people pay less attention to those around them as compared to people of lower social status, according to new study that used Google Glass headsets to track gazes. The research found out that the difference seemed to stem from spontaneous processes related to perception and attention. Researchers hypothesized that our social class affected how relevant others were to us in terms of our own goals and motivations. Compared with people who come from less advantaged circumstances, people from privileged backgrounds are likely to be less dependent on others socially; as such, they are less likely to views other people as potentially rewarding, threatening or otherwise worth paying attention. Researchers said this difference, what they call “motivational relevance”, was so fundamental that it manifested in basic cognitive processes – like visual attention – that operate quickly and involuntarily.