Why poor people tend to be more compassionate, but die early

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Why poor people tend to be more compassionate, but die early

Tuesday, 31 January 2012

Have you ever noticed that financially challenged people are often more compassionate but have

a higher risk of dying young than individuals who are in a better socio-economic position? Well, researchers now say that emotional differences and inequality in access to care between the rich and the poor may be the basis of one living longer than the other, reports Sade Oguntola.

alt Compassion and kindness are personality traits that many believe are innate — a reflection of whom we are. Showing empathy to other people’s mental states does not only ensure there is a connection with others in times of grief and despair, but also ensures resilience and perseverance on the part of the affected through difficult times.

Many contemplative traditions speak of loving-kindness as the wish of happiness for others and that of compassion to relieve others’ suffering. But the ability to recognise the suffering of others and to show compassion is something that differs based on socioeconomic class.

What is more, findings by researchers indicate that being quicker to express compassion differs from one socio-economic class to the other and, indeed, may be scientific, based on differences in their emotions. In addition, the poor are found to die younger than the rich.

In a study of more than 300 ethnically diverse young adults who were recruited for three experiments using three separate groups of participants, socioeconomic status was found to be associated with the level of empathy and compassion that people show in the face of emotionally charged situations.

The participants in the study (all volunteers) were college undergraduates. Their class identification – lower class, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle class or upper class – was based on parental income and education.

Interestingly, the research findings published in the Journal Emotion found that people in the lower socio-economic classes are more physiologically attuned to suffering, and quicker to express compassion than their more affluent counterparts unlike individuals in the upper middle and upper classes.

Recognising suffering is the first step to responding compassionately. But like the study found, it is not that upper classes do not care; it is just that they are not good at perceiving stress or anxiety. Well-to-do individuals because of their affluence have limited exposure to hardship and difficult challenges which are core recipe for learning compassion and gratitude.

In the first experiment, 148 young adults were rated on how frequently and intensely they experienced such emotions as joy, contentment, pride, love, compassion, amusement and awe.

They also reported how much they agreed with such statements as “When I see someone hurt or in need, I feel a powerful urge to take care of them,” and “I often notice people who need help.”

The study found that compassion was the only positive emotion reported at greater levels by lower-class participants.

The findings, which challenged previous studies that have characterised lower-class people as being more prone to anxiety and hostility in the face of adversity, indicated that there was a culture of compassion and cooperation among lower-class individuals that may be borne out of threats to their well-being.

Although it might be assumed that watching someone suffer would cause stress and raise the heart rate, the researchers found that during compassion, the heart rate lowered as if the body were calming itself to take care of another person.

Unfortunately, being poor is very stressful and places a huge toll on people. Study reveals that the poor are twice as likely to die before reaching 65 as the most affluent. Inequality in itself damages people. It damages their health and their prospects in education.

Inequality is higher than ever before and in the last few years the gap appears to be widening faster. In different societies throughout history, such societal “defects,” including poverty, have long contributed to disease and shorter life spans.

In a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health, which tallied the number of deaths in a single year from the combined effects of social problems like low high school graduation rates, racial segregation, individual and neighbourhood poverty, weak social support, and income inequality, the researchers stated that weak social support took as many lives as lung cancer and that racial segregation killed the same number of people as stroke.

What’s the mechanism behind this relationship? The poor, uneducated, and marginalised are often unable to access knowledge about protecting themselves from disease. Even when they do have the right information, they may not have the resources to put it to use.

But are poor people more compassionate than rich people? Well, Mr Henry Amba, a business- man in Ibadan, stated that poor people might be seen to be more compassionate because they lived to compensate for their lack of material assets, especially since they depended on interdependent relations with others, adding that they often had to cultivate good inner qualities in their personalities and behaviours to get what they need.

Mr Amba reasoned that unlike the rich, poor people were nicer because aside the fact that they wanted people to give them money, they tended to develop their character move differently than the rich people.

Conversely, Dr Kehinde Adigun, a consultant family physician, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, stated that poor people tended to be more compassionate because of their live experiences.

“Usually from their wealth of experience, they are able to show compassion. But people born with silver spoon, may never know what lack is like or what suffering means, would want to do, but may not know where to start from.”

What is more, Mr Olugbemi Olukolade, a clinical psychologist at the UCH, Ibadan, stated: “The truth about life is that you cannot see a very rich person that is compassionate. People say they are not.

“A rich person will only give towards the cause that has something in it for him. That is the philosophy of the rich and that is why the rich will continue to get richer,” Mr Olukolade said.

“But the poor man will show compassion and give out. In fact, a poor man can dash out his trousers, but a rich man would not do such a thing without first weighing the action critically.”

According to him, some studies have also found that things that are important to the rich differ from those things that matter to the poor. “Things that matter to the poor include family values, how the society perceives them and so on. But the values of the rich are different. A rich man can leave his home for three months without seeing his family, working for money because partly, he is afraid of being poor.”

Meanwhile, experts say the poor can do the following to be a happier, healthier persons:
•Eat plenty of vegetables.
•Eat right.
•Take moderate amount of alcoholic beverages.
•Don't over indulge yourself.
•Stay away from too much caffeine.
•Get your eyes checked regularly.
•Brush twice a day and visit the dentist regularly.
•Dress right for the weather.
•Get plenty of rest.
•Always wear a seat belt.
•Smile! It will make you feel better.
•Bathe regularly.
•Read to exercise the brain.
•Surround yourself with friends.
•Forgive and forget.
•Take plenty of vacations.
•Love your neighbour as yourself.