Nearly 30 years ago, Florida State University Clinical Professor of Law, Lawrence Krieger,

published what would become a foundational paper in behavioral economics about his students.

He noticed something odd happening to their personalities, well beyond their academic growth.

By the end of their three years of legal training, they were measurably different people.

Not their skills as lawyers, but their values, motivations, and their relationships to the world.

Krieger suspected it was the university experience, and so he created an empirical

test alongside psychologist Kenan Sheldon. The pair conducted a longitudinal study of law students at

Florida State University. They found students entering law school reported levels of well-being comparable to or higher than those of undergraduate students.

Yet, within a single year, their well-being plummeted. That decline persisted through years two and three.

Outside of well-being, they tracked values shifts. Students were not just

becoming unhappier. They were actually becoming different people. They started caring about

many different things. Community service values and intrinsic motivation tanked. Appearance values,

such as concern with image,

status, and the external markers of success

took over.

The researchers concluded that law school culture

promotes the adoption of, quote,

material and image-based values,

especially in those who thrive within that culture. I read about this study

years ago in a book about behavioral psychology and was reminded of it recently while reading

Lane Brown's New York Magazine article, What Does Extreme Wealth Do to the Brain? Now, for that piece,

Brown cold called dozens of billionaires to interview them about how their values have changed since becoming ultra wealthy. He was surprised

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