Does money make you mean?

By Bankrate.com

We all know that money can't buy love or happiness. But could just thinking about money actually make you mean?

A new behavioral study finds that folks with money on their minds are less helpful, less considerate and less willing to ask for assistance or engage with others than those who have not been "preconditioned" to money. On the bright side, the money-minded tend to be more independent and focused, and they tend to work longer on a task before asking for help.

The nine experiments in the study, published as "The Psychological Consequences of Money" in a recent issue of Science Magazine, used random samples of students and nonstudents at the University of Minnesota, Florida State University and the University of British Columbia.

Kathleen Vohs, an assistant professor of marketing at the UM Carlson School of Management who authored the article with Nicole Mead of FSU and Miranda Goode of UBC, says she was surprised at how consistent the findings were across the nine experiments.

"Money may not be the root of all evil, but it might be the root of some indifference," she says. "It does make you perhaps indifferent to others."

At the drop of a pencil

To determine whether money in mind leads to self-sufficient behavior, Vohs and her team divided their subjects into groups. The control group received neutral preconditioning while the "money prime" group was subtly reminded of money in various ways: a word scramble puzzle that contained money references, a poster depicting different currencies, stacks of play money or tokens, or reading an essay that mentioned money.

After the preconditioning, the groups were given a task or placed in a staged situation that tested measurable subconscious behavior.

In the first two experiments, subjects were given a puzzle and told that help was available for the asking, either from the experimenter or a peer who had just completed the exercise. Result: The money-prime participants waited significantly longer than control subjects to ask for help.

In the next four experiments, subjects were asked for help in several scenarios: by the experimenter, by another participant, by a passer-by who spilled a box of pencils in a random accident or by the suggestion that they donate to the University Student Fund. Result: The money-prime subjects offered to fill out fewer data sheets, spent less time helping a peer, picked up fewer pencils and donated less to the student fund than their neutral counterparts.

In the final three experiments, money-prime participants placed more physical distance between themselves and a participant partner, preferred solitary to group leisure activities and more frequently chose to work alone rather than with a peer compared to the control participants.

Social cluelessness

But does that necessarily mean money makes you mean?

"No, we don't find any evidence of that," Vohs says. "We take a lot of emotion measures, and money reminders don't put people in a different mood. Since mean people are generally in a bad mood, we rule that out. In nine studies, we found no effect on mood."

Then again, money primes weren't exactly candidates for Mr. or Miss Congeniality either.

"We didn't find any animosity; it was more of a sense of social cluelessness. They're not mindful of other people. We don't have any indication that they were being rude to these people. It was more 'I can't help you' or 'I don't know how to help you.' Granted, being helpful would be a nicer thing to do, but the intention wasn't to be selfish or mean; they just didn't see that they had a role in this person's life."

 1 | 2 | next >