During a phone call with reporters last week to announce the billionaire Giving Pledgers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (right) spoke about the generosity of the wealthy" target="_blank" title="a.富有的；丰富的">wealthy.

'I've always believed there's a connection between being generous and being successful,' Mr. Bloomberg said. He said the more you donate the more business opportunities come your way-not to mention that giving is the right thing to do.

It is a comforting idea, especially at a time of populist ire and envy over the wealthy" target="_blank" title="a.富有的；丰富的">wealthy. And it certainly has been true for Mr. Bloomberg and other top philanthropists.

But is it true for the broader population of wealthy" target="_blank" title="a.富有的；丰富的">wealthy?

A new academic study published in the Journal of Personality & Social Psychology suggests the poor are more more inclined to charity than the rich.

Paul Piff, a Psychology Researcher, University of California, Berkeley, and his colleeagues at the University of California, Berkeley, conducted a series of experiments involving 115 volunteers who were asked to fill out an online questionnaire about their age, sex, socio-economic status and other information.

To gauge their socioeconomic status, they were shown a ladder with ten rungs, with each rung representing a different level of income, education and occupational status. They were then asked to place an 'X' on the run they felt corresponded to their place in their community.

They were brought into a lab and told that they were going to play a game in which they would get 10 credits. The credits would be converted to cash at the end of the experiment. The volunteers were then asked how many credits they would be willing to give to a partner that they would never meet or know.

They found that people who ranked themselves at the bottom of the ladder gave away 44% more credits than those at the top.

'So essentially, people who have more, or who identify themselves as having more, were or tended to give less in this just very simple task of generosity toward a stranger,' Mr. Piff told NPR.

Mr. Piff explained that people in the lower rungs have more compassion for those in need than people at the top.

In my experience, people's generosity is more determined by character, not by wealth. There are some very selfish rich people and some generous ones. Wealth seems to only exaggerate a person's existing nature and character.

What do you think of the study and its results?

Robert Frank

• connection [kə´nekʃən] n.联系；关系；联运 (初中英语单词)
• generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)
• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• personality [,pə:sə´næliti] n.人；个性；人品；人物 (初中英语单词)
• california [,kæli´fɔ:njə] n.加利福尼亚 (初中英语单词)
• series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
• income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
• partner [´pɑ:tnə] n.伙伴 v.同....合作 (初中英语单词)
• identify [ai´dentifai] vt.认出；鉴定；验明 (初中英语单词)
• character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
• selfish [´selfiʃ] a.自私的，利己的 (初中英语单词)
• generosity [,dʒenə´rɔsiti] n.慷慨；慷慨的行为 (高中英语单词)
• donate [dəu´neit] vt.捐赠 (高中英语单词)
• psychology [sai´kɔlədʒi] n.心理(学) (高中英语单词)
• charity [´tʃæriti] n.施舍；慈悲；博爱 (高中英语单词)
• ladder [´lædə] n.梯子；阶梯 (高中英语单词)
• exaggerate [ig´zædʒəreit] v.夸张，言过其实 (高中英语单词)
• academic [,ækə´demik] a.学术的 n.大学学生 (英语四级单词)
• status [´steitəs] n.身份；情形；状况 (英语四级单词)
• essentially [i´senʃəli] ad.本质上，基本上 (英语四级单词)
• compassion [kəm´pæʃən] n.同情；怜悯 (英语四级单词)