The Elite Global Citizen: How Wealth Shapes Cosmopolitan Identity and Charitable Intentions

Abstract

In four studies, we provide the first empirical examination of how wealth relates to cosmopolitan identity and its consequences for charitable intentions. Study 1 demonstrated that wealth positively predicted cosmopolitan identity in a 60-nation dataset (n = 90,350). Study 2 replicated this finding with multi-item measures in the United States, India and Australia (total n = 861); self-esteem and self-efficacy accounted for this association. Study 3 demonstrated the mediating role of cosmopolitan identity in explaining the link between wealth and charitable intentions (n = 351). Study 4 provided causal evidence for these relationships by experimentally manipulating wealth perceptions in the United States and India (total n = 537). People who were made to feel wealthy (as opposed to poor) reported greater self-esteem and self-efficacy, which flowed through to heightened cosmopolitan identification, and finally to increased charitable intentions. Together, these studies suggest that structural economic realities may impose psychological barriers to cultivating global citizenship, hence implicating prosocial downstream consequences.