Merely Activating the Concept of Money Changes Personal and Interpersonal Behavior

Vohs, Kathleen D., Nicole L. Mead, and Miranda R. Goode (2008), “Merely Activating the Concept of Money Changes Personal and Interpersonal Behavior,” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(3), 208-212

Posted: 29 Apr 2016

See all articles by Kathleen Vohs

Kathleen Vohs

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities - Carlson School of Management

Nicole Mead

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Marketing Management

Miranda Goode

Ivey Business School, Western University

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

Money plays a significant role in people’s lives, and yet little experimental attention has been given to the psychological underpinnings of money. We systematically varied whether and to what extent the concept of money was activated in participants’ minds using methods that minimized participants’ conscious awareness of the money cues. On the one hand, participants reminded of money were less helpful than were participants not reminded of money, and they also preferred solitary activities and less physical intimacy. On the other hand, reminders of money prompted participants to work harder on challenging tasks and led to desires to take on more work as compared to participants not reminded of money. In short, even subtle reminders of money elicit big changes in human behavior.

Keywords: money, self, competency, performance, helping, interpersonal relationships

Suggested Citation

Vohs, Kathleen and Mead, Nicole and Goode, Miranda, Merely Activating the Concept of Money Changes Personal and Interpersonal Behavior (2008). Vohs, Kathleen D., Nicole L. Mead, and Miranda R. Goode (2008), “Merely Activating the Concept of Money Changes Personal and Interpersonal Behavior,” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(3), 208-212, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2771295

Kathleen Vohs (Contact Author)

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities - Carlson School of Management ( email )

19th Avenue South
Suite 3-150
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States

Nicole Mead

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Department of Marketing Management ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Miranda Goode

Ivey Business School, Western University ( email )

1255 Western Rd.
London, Ontario N6G 0N1
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/faculty/directory/miranda-goode/

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