Individuen, die ihren sozialen Status als höher wahrnehmen, sind in der Regel schlechter darin, Emotionen anderer zu erkennen | Die Studie berichtete auch über Hinweise darauf, dass selbst bewertete Zunahme des sozialen Status über die Lebenspanne auch mit einer schlechteren Emotionswahrnehmung verbunden war.

From the article: New research has found that individuals who perceive their own social status as higher tend to be worse at perceiving the emotions of other people. The study also reported evidence that self-assessed increases in social status over one’s lifespan were associated with worse emotion perception as well. The paper was [published](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-01493-2) in Scientific Reports.

Humans are highly social beings. Interactions with other humans are crucial for them. The core ability for having satisfying interactions with others is the ability to understand how others are feeling and what they are likely thinking. However, some studies have indicated that emphatic accuracy, i.e. one’s ability to identify and perceive the emotions of others, depends on one’s social status.

Social status is the relative position or rank a person holds within a group or society. Throughout evolution, higher status meant better access to resources, mates, and protection, which increased chances of survival. Today, social status influences access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. It also affects psychological well-being, as people with higher status tend to report greater self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Low social status, on the other hand, is linked to higher stress, anxiety, and feelings of exclusion. Status shapes how individuals are treated by others, guiding respect, trust, and influence in social interactions. Recent studies have indicated that individuals of lower social status tend to rely more on their social perception abilities to guide their interactions with others. This is not surprising, as for those who possess relatively few resources, these social cognitive abilities (i.e., abilities to accurately tell how others are feeling and what they are thinkings) are important for survival. On the other hand, there are also views that better social cognitive abilities will allow a person to improve his/her social status.

Study author Victoria K. Lee and her colleagues wanted to address this question – is better use of social cognitive abilities something that is characteristic of people with lower social status, or is it something that advances one’s social status, meaning that people with higher social status will have better social cognitive abilities? They conducted an online experiment.

Just read Proust. Makes it quite clear.

This explains the Boomers