Let’s Play: What Would You Choose

Imagine these scenarios:

1. You're offered two choices. In the first scenario, you earn $50,000 while everyone around you makes $25,000.

2. In the second, you pocket a whopping $100,000, but others make $200,000.

Which would you choose?

Logic would suggest grabbing the $100,000. After all, it's double the money! You could buy twice as much, save twice as much, or invest twice as much. The fact that others make more shouldn't affect your quality of life.

What Research Finds

Yet something remarkable happened when researchers Solnick and Hemenway presented this exact choice to 257 participants. Half of them chose to earn less–just so they could be the highest paid.

Another way of looking at this is that we don’t want others to succeed even if we are better off.

Let that sink in. People willingly sacrificed double their income just to maintain a higher relative position in society.

That in itself is disheartening but explains so much of what we see in society today.

Why Do We Do This?

It's easy to dismiss this as irrational behavior, but there's more to the story. As social creatures, we're hardwired to care about our standing in the group. Our ancestors' survival often depended on their social status, which determined access to resources, mates, and protection.

This deep-seated instinct might explain why:

• We resist organizational change that could upset the pecking order

• New ideas from others often face skepticism (they might threaten our position!)

• Tariffs are favored even when they hurt us, as long as they harm someone else more!

The Takeaway

Understanding this quirk of human nature is important for economic policy and anyone involved in leadership, innovation, or organizational change. It's not enough to show people a better future—you must also address their concerns about relative standing.

What about you? Would you choose $50,000 to be the highest earner or $100,000 to be "below average"? The answer might reveal more about your decision-making than you'd expect.

Drop your thoughts below – I'm curious to hear your perspective on this fascinating aspect of human behavior.

Paper information

Citation:

Solnick, S. J., & Hemenway, D. (1998). Is more always better? A survey on positional concerns. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 37(3), 373-383.