Adapted from news.yahoo.com
They tend to have short first names... like this Bill Gates fellow
You may have seen recent headlines about a surprising
correlation between the amount of sex someone has in their off hours and
how large their paychecks are. (Short version: More sex = more money.)
The
study has attracted a fair amount of attention, presumably because
people appreciate it when two individually enjoyable things — sex and
money, in this case — become one, like the cronut. But more sex is not
all that separates the Bourgeois from the down-on-his-luck everyman.
Here, a short list of other things correlated with being wealthy:
1. They're happier
Money apparently can buy you happiness.
A study from April by
economist Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers found a clear correlation
between wealth and self-described "happiness" spanning several different
countries worldwide. "While there are some differences in the slopes,
the more remarkable feature is simply that for every country, the
relationship estimated at low incomes appears to hold in roughly equal
measure at higher incomes," wrote the study's authors.
The
important caveat is that original income level didn't appear to matter.
For example: A doubling of wealth produces the same percent change in
happiness whether that initial income was $1,000 or $1,000,000.
Apparently, it's all relative.
2. They drive like jerks
Social scientist Paul K. Piff at the
University of California,
Berkeley,
wanted to know if rich people behaved differently when behind the wheel
of an expensive vehicle with luxuries like working AC and FM radio. So
he set up a study to observe how drivers of different vehicles responded
to pedestrians, as well as at multi-stop intersections.
What did
Piff discover? After observing 274 cars, the team found that more
expensive vehicles were more likely to jump their turn at an
intersection, or cut in front of pedestrians at a crosswalk. So-called
"beater" cars, on the other hand, always stopped for someone trying to
cross.
3. They're probably taller
A recent Australian study found that being 6 feet tall raises your
annual income nearly $1,000 compared to your less vertically gifted
counterparts.
"Our estimates suggest that if the average man of
about 178 centimeters [5 feet 10 inches] gains an additional five
centimeters [2 inches] in height, he would be able to earn an extra $950
per year — which is approximately equal to the wage gain from one extra
year of labor market experience," says study co-author Andrew Leigh, an
economist at Australian National University. The findings seem to
corroborate a 2005 sample of Fortune 500 CEOs, who averaged about 6
feet.
Exactly why tall folks earn better wages is less clear.
Researchers say it may have something to do with an added confidence
boost. Or perhaps the air is just better up there.
4. They probably use Google
"If you're smart and rich, there's a good chance you use Google." That's
a real line from a CNN Money story published today. It details a study
conducted by an online advertising company you probably haven't heard of
called Chitika, which found that people who use that Google thing tend
to live in states with above-average median household incomes and
above-average college graduation rates. Confoundingly, the data
scientist responsible for the study declined to postulate on why the
correlation occurs. Perhaps it's because Google controls a commanding
two-thirds of the U.S. search market, which is a rather large Venn
circle that, I'm guessing, might even contain a few rich people in it.
5. They probably have a short first name
Short, easy-to-process names may lead to higher salaries, according to
research conducted by TheLadders.com. The findings suggest that for
every extra letter in your first name, there was a $3,600 drop in salary
on average, especially for people who willfully shortened their names.
(Steve versus Stephen, for instance.)
The highest paid male names, in no special order, appeared to
be: Tom, Rob, Dale, Doug, and Wayne. And the highest paid female names:
Lynn, Melissa, Cathy, Dana, Christine. Exactly why this is, again, is
left undiscussed.
Physical abuse is a very touchy subject. Many
women experience it, but none deserve it. It is a senseless
and heartless act and is a sign of a true coward. 
