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A lottery ticket holder from South Carolina has earned $ 1.6 billion ($ 1.24 billion) in the Mega Millions lottery. This is the biggest jackpot in the history of the United States. The money could change a lot for the winner – including his political opinions.
A study published in 2014 on lottery winners in the UK revealed that they had become more right after their windfall.
Using data from the UK household panel survey of more than 25,000 British adults, the researchers tracked the political preferences of lottery winners from 1996 to 2009.
A total of 4,277 participants in the survey were winners of the lottery who also registered their political convictions. They evaluated their views from one to seven, one of them strongly supporting the left Labor Party and seven others, the Conservatives, the UK's leading right-wing party.
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Earning over £ 500 ($ 645) has changed people's point of view by about 0.13 points on the right scale. This equates to a change of about 2% on the conservative side.
This might not seem like a significant change, but it was significant compared to other factors influencing an individual's politics, such as education. According to the survey data, the completion of high school education up to the age of 18 pushed people from across the political spectrum to almost 4% right, compared to people without formal education. And the more the lottery wins, the more the right turn is important.
There is a well-established link between having more money and more of the right, but it is difficult to separate the values with which people grow up and the social circles in which they live. Collecting land in your bank account – no matter what your past history and beliefs – really brings about a significant change of perspective.
The reason why the winners of the lottery pass right is not clear. Nattavudh Powdthavee, a behavioral scientist at Warwick Business School and co-author of the study, may contribute in part to the new meaning of winners' rights to their money.
"We know that if the money you receive comes from income, you feel entitled to it. You have the impression that you worked hard to get it, "said Powdthavee. "We did not really expect the lottery win to have the same effect."
Because of this attitude towards their money, the winners are more and more reluctant to see it redistributed in the form of taxes, explains Pawdthavee. Studies in the United States have also revealed that lottery winners are less likely to support the redistribution of wealth through the tax system.
The study suggests that people's political beliefs are more volatile than some would think.
"Most people who research political preferences think they are almost inborn. You grow up and gain a strong political conviction that will not be changed, "says Powdthavee. "But even something like a lottery win can change our core beliefs."
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