That seems to be the case even in primates, said Piff, who describes his status growing up as being "relatively comfortable, middle-class." Because of his education, he's now "probably upper-middle class," he said.
Fitzgerald wrote his view, "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me," in his short story "The Rich Boy," which appeared in "All the Sad Young Men," a collection initally published in 1926.
"It's not that the rich are innately bad, but as you rise in the ranks -- whether as a person or a nonhuman primate -- you become more self-focused," Piff said. "You can change that by reminding upper-class people of the needs of others. That may not be their default, but have them do it is sufficient to increase their patterns of altruistic behavior."