The Psychology of scarcity : poverty impedes cognitive function, by Mani et al.
“A variety of studies point to a correlation between poverty and counterproductive behavior. [...] Some explanations of this correlation focus on the environmental conditions of poverty (Ed: predatory lenders, unreliable transportation...). [...] Other explanations focus on the characteristics of the poor themselves. Lower levels of formal education, for example, may create misunderstandings about contract terms, and less parental attention may influence the next generation’s parenting style.
[...] Our hypothesis is about how monetary concerns tax the cognitive system, we define poverty broadly as the gap between one’s needs and the resources available to fulfill them. Because this is based on subjective needs, it encompasses low-income individuals both in the developing and the developed world as well as those experiencing sharp transitory income shocks, such as the unemployed.
[...] The data reported here suggest a different perspective on poverty: [...] The poor, in this view, are less capable not because of inherent traits, but because the very context of poverty imposes load and impedes cognitive capacity. The findings, in other words, are not about poor people, but about any people who find themselves poor.”