Just thinking about money can turn the mind stingy

In a series of experiments, psychologists found that subconscious reminders of money prompted people to become more independent in their work, less likely to seek help from others or to provide it. They became reluctant to volunteer their time and stingy when asked to donate to a worthy cause.

“Everybody says that if they had the money, they’d give more away, they’d do what Warren Buffett did,” said Kathleen D Vohs, lead author of the study. “Well, we thought that that was a nice thing to bring into the lab, to test in a variety of ways,” added Dr Vohs, a psychologist in the University of Minnesota school of management.

In one experiment, involving 52 undergraduates, the students unscrambled sets of jumbled phrases. One group untangled phrases that were often about money like “high a salary paying.” A second group solved word puzzles that did not refer to money.

By “priming” unconscious thoughts, the researchers found that students with money on their minds, while clearly self-reliant, were less likely to lend assistance: twice as slow to help and about twice as cheap when asked to donate to the needy.

The researchers say this effect of money is plainly evident in everyday life. People with resources do not recruit friends to help run a party. They hire a caterer. Students with money do not give a moving party with pizza. They hire a mover. “We know there is a civilizing side to money, that people acting in a self-interested fashion depend on fellow humans in a community and tend to treat them fairly,” said George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. “But this study shows its pernicious side, how the pursuit of money can be isolating.