A series of studies into unethical behaviour across the social classes has shown that posh people are more likely to cheat, lie and be greedy than people who are less well-off.
'He wishes to be free, to marry the female of whom he speaks, I fear, sir, ' observed Mrs. Sparsit in an undertone, and much dejected by the immorality of the people.
Her visitors were startled and fascinated by the foreignness of this arrangement, which recalled scenes in French fiction, and architectural incentives to immorality such as the simple American had never dreamed of.
And when you have that kind of mentality and that kind of attitude, it's very easy for people to start creeping over the line between proper behavior, questionable behavior and then ultimately immoral behavior.