Don’t think you’re lucky? Think again | Oliver Burkeman

You probably think you got where you are today through willpower and elbow grease. But what about chance, asks Oliver Burkeman

Do you feel lucky? The answer, well known to psychologists, is that you probably don't. You probably think you got where you are today through willpower and elbow grease. We chronically underestimate luck's role, and this seems to get worse the richer we get; surveys show that the wealthiest are least likely to attribute their fortunes to, well, good fortune. They also seem to be meaner: one ingenious study found drivers of luxury cars were more likely to cut others off than those in cheaper vehicles.

It's hardly surprising many such people oppose taxation and government spending: why should others get a handout if they didn't need one? The ironic result is that they vote against the very policies that helped them get lucky to begin with. In a recent Atlantic essay, Robert Frank, an economist who has studied attitudes to chance, quoted EB White: "Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men."