Why money messes with your mind

[mina.magpie]

Why money messes with your mind (New Scientist)

Dough, wonga, greenbacks, cash. Just words, you might say, but they carry an eerie psychological force. Chew them over for a few moments, and you will become a different person. Simply thinking about words associated with money seems to makes us more self-reliant and less inclined to help others. And it gets weirder: just handling cash can take the sting out of social rejection and even diminish physical pain.

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The interesting bit of the article comes up later though. We apparently have two entirely different psychologies at work when dealing with social values and "market" or survival values:

Vohs suggests there is a simple dynamic at work here. "Money makes people feel self-sufficient," she says. "They are more likely to put forth effort to attain personal goals, and they also prefer to be separate from others." The touchy-feely social side of us may disapprove of such behaviour but it is useful for survival. This ability to assess which set of norms applies in a particular situation is important in guiding our behaviour, Ariely says. It allows you to avoid expecting too much trust in the midst of a competitive business negotiation, for example, or making the mistake of offering to pay your mother-in-law after she has cooked you a nice meal. "When we keep social norms and market norms on separate paths, life hums along pretty well," says Ariely. "But when they collide, trouble sets in."

I suppose that's why money just doesn't mix with politics, charity work and the like, and why game theory and capitalism could even develop - they DO actually describe human psychology - but only the "market" half of it.

That's how I read this anyway.

Mina.

[Sophie90]

I could get along quite happily without money, if everyone else did too.


We should all operate on the economy of favours, exchange, and people who know people.

Put your Monty Python records onto tape for me, and you can drive to Scotland and back in my car.


Limited as this would be, at least this financial system would be based on real things, rather than imaginary, hypothetical numbers darting from screen to screen as in the current house of cards system.

Many of the people in the City are on Cocaine, you know.

[Miniar]

it should be said that not "everyone" reacts that way to money.
Me, I struggle to see it as more than just "colourful paper" which is not what you want to see your money as when you got bills that need paying.

[am529]

Interesting article. I don't react that way to money though. I don't really value money much, and I'm happier giving it away or buying things for other people than using it for myself.