On Not Thinking About Money

In a remarkable series of experiments, Kathleen Vohs and associates explored the “psychological priming effects” of thinking about money.  In nine experiments, subjects were exposed to conditions that either (1) reminded them of money, (2) reminded them of something else unrelated to money, or (3) left them in a “control” group of “un-reminded” subjects.  The experiments progressed from the simple use of money as a prime through an examination of how that prime affected social interactions.  “The results of the nine experiments,” write the researchers, “suggest that money brings about a self-sufficient orientation in which people prefer to be free of dependency and dependents” (Vohs, 2006).

The series of experiments produced a number of results:

•     Participants who had been reminded of money and then were given a difficult task worked longer than the control groups before asking for help.
•     Participants who had been reminded of money and then were given the opportunity to help a stranger at a simple task were only half as willing to help as were those in the control group.
•        Participants who had been reminded of money appeared to expect higher levels of self-sufficiency from other people.
•       Even when the task was as simple as picking up some pencils that had been spilled by a stranger, participants who had been reminded of money were less willing to help pick up the pencils than members of the control group.
•     Money-primed participants donated less money to a student fund than those in the non-primed control group.
•       Those primed with the idea of money put more physical distance between themselves and a newly-met stranger than did those in the control group.
•       Participants who had been reminded of money were less willing to collaborate with a co-worker and were more likely to perform “independent but socially insensitive actions.”

Supporting research among college students has noted that those who major in economics operate from a much more self-interested, competitive and independent frame of reference than do students in other major disciplines.  Vohs and her colleagues offer this restrained conclusion:

The self-sufficient pattern helps explain 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.

 Congregational meetings devote large portions of the meeting time to reporting and discussing financial matters.  I have to wonder if that is the best setting then to also discuss mission and outreach projects.  If reminders of money increase self-sufficiency and decrease the willingness to help others, is it any wonder that so many of our church meetings produce results that can be miserly and sometimes just plain mean?

It may be best for congregations and church councils to schedule meetings in a different way.  I think that the psychology of money priming is an argument for quarterly congregational meetings.  On such a schedule discussions about altruistic mission and service projects would happen in a different quarter from discussions of budget and finance.  In addition, this is also an argument for having separate finance and stewardship committees in the church.  It is difficult, I suspect, for people who are reminded of money to be able to reflect on how to be more generous in giving it away.  Some structural changes might help to overcome some of the blind spots created when we are money-primed.

What does this mean when we apply it to personal lives as well?  When a couple is worried about and thus reminded often of money, does selfishness increase?  I suspect it does.  Does the willingness to work together toward joint problem-solving decrease?  I suspect it does.  Am I less willing to take out the trash after I have paid some bills or checked the checking account balance on line?  The research would indicate that this will be the case. 

Now that I am aware of the power of money-priming, I can of course make choices that will reduce its power.  I can remember this influence and make better choices after a money-reminder.  I can be more strategic about when I have to deal with money so that it doesn’t impact my relationships so directly.  I can exercise more self-control when it comes to my responses.