Science explains the root of all good and evil.

What happens to people when they have money? Results published in the journal Science found that by possessing or merely thinking money, people are less likely to ask for help in solving a problem, or offer help to another person, or make donations. Even worse, people with money physically distanced themselves from others. This pattern of behaviour is called ’self-sufficiency’.

The paper’s abstract kicks off with this sly statement:

Money has been said to change people’s motivation (mainly for the better) and their behavior toward others (mainly for the worse).

In one experiment, two groups of participants were given $2 in quarters. They were told the quarters were a supplement to their regular payment for participation, although in reality, they were given to ensure that everyone had money on hand when a donation opportunity arose later. After the participants performed a word scramble exercise, the experimenter casually mentioned that a box by the door had been set up for those interested in making a donation to a university student fund. The researchers found that participants in the group that unscrambled phrases having to do with money donated significantly less to the student fund. They contributed 77 cents compared to the $1.34 given by those who unscrambled words that did not contain money-related concepts.

Another experiment involved a game of Monopoly in which the participants were left with $4,000, $200 or no money. The researchers then staged an accident in which a person walking through the lab spilled a box of pencils, creating an opportunity for the participants to help pick them up. Participants in the high-money group gathered fewer pencils than those in the low-money or no-money groups.

To test social intimacy, the researchers designed another experiment in which participants sat in front of a computer while completing questionnaires. After six minutes, one of three screensavers appeared: one depicting currency floating underwater, one depicting fish swimming or a blank screen. Afterwards, participants were asked to move two chairs together while the experimenter left the room to retrieve another participant for a get-acquainted conversation. Participants who viewed the floating money placed the two chairs farther apart than did the participants who saw the fish and the blank screensavers - 118 inches compared to about 80 inches.

The authors concluded that, "money brings about a self-sufficient orientation in which people prefer to be free of dependency and dependents." They continue,

The self-sufficient pattern explains why people view money as both the greatest good and evil. As countries and cultures developed, money may have allowed people to acquire goods and services that enabled the pursuit of cherished goals, which in turn diminished reliance on friends and family. In this way, money enhanced individualism but diminished communal motivations, an effect that is still apparent in people’s responses to money today.

It would seem that money changes our psychology in predictable ways. Surprise, surprise.

[tags]money, psychology, behavior, science[/tags]