Show Me The Money

Have you heard the expression “Money changes people”? The saying implies that people’s behaviors and attitude towards society change as they come into possession of large amounts of money. Now according to an article from SeattlePI.com, just SEEING money can alter people’s behaviors. Several experiments were conducted to see the affect of people who were exposed to seeing money versus those who were not. The results were that people who were exposed to money became more self-sufficient and less social.

“The underlying idea is that at some point early on in human evolution everyone probably needed someone else to help them achieve their goals,” whether building a home or catching food. Eventually systems of exchange came along, and then money, which could be exchanged for things, allowing people to pursue their own aims without the aid of others. So, over time, people with money didn’t need other people so much.”

In one experiment conducted, 61 students at the University of British Columbia were asked to fill out questionaires. Some of the students sat in front of a poster showing money, sat in front of a poster that showed flowers, and the others sat in front of a poster that showed a seascape. The students were then asked to choose between different recreational activities that were categorized into group or individual events. The results showed that students who were looking at the money were more likely to choose individual activities.

Another test had students unscramble a set of letters into words. The words fell into two groups, one that involved money and one that did not. The students were then asked to solve a puzzle and told to ask for help if needed. Those who unscrambled the words that involved money, waited almost twice as long to ask for help versus those whose words were random.

“Subjects exposed to the idea of money subsequently show more self-reliant but also a more self-centered approach to problem-solving than subjects exposed to neutral concepts,” said Carole B. Burgoyne and Stephen E. G. Lee of the University of Exeter in England.