Hannah Tait, Natalia Manning & Fiona McNeill 1

 Self Sufficiency ◦ Being free from needing others to effectively perform a task ◦ Socially insensitive: others can also do it themselves  Foundations:  Money = incentive (Lea & Webley, 2006)  Money undermines interpersonal harmony (Amato & Rogers, 1997)  Are both right? Are both a result of self- sufficiency? 2

 Investigated idea that money brings about a self-sufficient orientation  9 experiments  IV = Money priming techniques  Money priming led to reduced desire for help and reduced helpfulness towards others. 3

Exp.N Condi- tions Priming methodDVSig. level 1523Descramble/Monopoly moneyTime taken to ask for helpp<0.02, p<0.03  Prediction: Participants primed with money would work longer than controls before requesting help  Participants primed with real money, play money or neutral concepts  Participants were given difficult but solvable problems  Money primed participants (real or play) worked longer than those primes with neutral concepts. 4

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 But did the experimenter’s perceived status influence the participant’s behaviour?.... 6

Exp.N Condi- tions Priming methodDVSig. level 2382EssayTime taken to ask for helpp=0.05  Prediction: Participants primed with high money would spend more time working than participants primed with low money before asking for help  Status differences between the participant and experimenter were removed  High money primed participants spent longer on the task than low money primed participants 7

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Exp.N Condi- tions Priming methodDVSig. level 3392DescrambleTime volunteered to help experimenter p<0.05  Prediction: People who value self-sufficiency will be less helpful than others because they expect each person to take care of themselves  Participants were primed with either money or neutral concepts  Money primed participants offered less help than neutral concept primed participants 9

 But as the experimenter asked for help in the future did money primed participants fail to realise that help was truly needed?…. 10

 Prediction: Participants primed with money would spend less time helping than controls  Participants joined by a confederate completing another task who pretended not to understand their task instructions  Money primed participants spent just 45% of the time helping that controls spent Exp.NCondi -tions Priming methodDVSig. level 4442DescrambleTime spent helping a peerp<

 But did participants perceive that helping the confederate required previous knowledge?…. 12

 Prediction: Participants primed with money would offer less help than controls  Primed in 2 steps: 1. Played Monopoly with a confederate. Left with play money of differing amounts. 2. Imagine a future with abundant finances (high money), strained finances (low money) or imagine plans for tomorrow (control)  Confederate spilled a box of pencils  High money condition picked up an average of 2 less than control condition (difference not as large for low money condition). Exp.NCondi -tions Priming methodDVSig. level 5363Monopoly money, Imagine Number of pencils gatheredp<0.02, p<

 Prediction: participants primed with money concepts would donate less money  $2 in quarters in exchange for participation  Filler questionnaires and a false debrief  Experimenter mentioned they were taking donations in a box by the door  Mean for controls was 57₡ (74%) more than for money primed participants Exp.NCondi -tions Priming methodDVSig. level 6442DescrambleValue of monetary donationp<

 Tested in social context using physical distance  Questionnaires in front of computer screen  Screensaver: currency/fish/blank screen  “Get acquainted” conversation – asked to move chairs  Money prime: places chairs further apart  Physical distance Exp.NCondi -tions Priming methodDVSig. level 7363ScreensaversPhysical distance from partner P<0.05, p<

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 Tested in social context  Questionnaire with poster on wall in front of them  Currency/seascape/flower garden  Second questionnaire: choose between solo activity or an activity for two or more people  Money prime: individually focused leisure experiences  Less social Exp.NCondi -tions Priming methodDVSig. level 8613PostersNumber of solitary activities chosen P<0.05, p<

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 Tested in working context  Used the same screensaver conditions as Exp. 7 (Money/Fish/None)  Project work – alone or with peer?  Money prime: less likely to choose to work with peer Exp.NCondi -tions Priming methodDVSig. level 9373ScreensaversChoice whether to work alone or in a pair P<0.05, p<

Exp.NCondi -tions Priming methodDVSig. level 1523Descramble/Monopoly money Time taken to ask for helpp<0.02, p< EssayTime taken to ask for helpp= DescrambleTime volunteered to help experimenter p< DescrambleTime spent helping a peerp< Monopoly money, Imagine Number of pencils gathered p<0.02, p< DescrambleValue of monetary donation p< ScreensaversPhysical distance from partner P<0.05, p< PostersNumber of solitary activities chosen P<0.05, p< ScreensaversChoice whether to work alone or in a pair P<0.05, p<

 Hypothesis supported- money brings about a state of self-sufficiency  Predictions met – money primes cause you to be less helpful towards others and more inclined to work alone  Implications- enhanced individualism but diminished communal motivations in today's money focused society 21

 Previous research has not looked at this directly  First to focus on self-sufficiency  Many of the experiments are not original (Macrae et al. 1994; Twenge et al., 2007) but not necessarily unimproved  Questions the issue in a real world setting  Builds on its own foundations, experiments become more rigorous often improving on the last 22

 The 2 aspects of ‘self-sufficient’ defined are investigated  Design focuses on real life behaviour  But…  Experiment 7: distance chair is placed from partner – does this fit with the definition of self-sufficient?  Experiment 8: options for group vs. independent social activity – does this really fit with the definition of self-sufficient given? 23

 Filler questionnaires and false debriefs  Blind-to-condition experimenters/confederates (where possible)  Double-check system  Controlled for mood fluctuations  Checked for and excluded suspicious participants  No systematic errors identified but less of a concern as tasks don’t produce specific values to be applied  We are surprised more people were not suspicious  Selection bias: participants were all students from the US and Canada 24

 An extensive array of experiments  Findings were consistent throughout  But…  Is money making you more self-sufficient or  Stubborn  Hard working  Antisocial  2 way system of money and self-sufficiency (Zhou, Vohs & Baumeister, 2009) 25

 Increasing salary may make you work harder ◦ But can increasing salary decrease employees pro- sociability? (Jordan, 2010)  Money impairs people’s everyday abilities to savour everyday positive emotions and experiences (Quoidbach et al. 2010)  Willingness to volunteer own time is affected by thinking of time in terms of money (Pfeffer & DeVoe, 2009). 26

 Student population not representative  Although students are from Canada, the US, China and Hong Kong they are all at one of 3 universities in North America  Between subjects design  Does the experiment really apply to long- term real life? 27

 Test in a country that values social networks more and individualism less e.g. Japan  Test using people of differing socio- economic status  Longitudinal within subjects study 28

 We question that the hypothesis has been supported: A salient concept of money appears to increase self-sufficient behaviour… but is it really self-sufficient?  Thorough and well designed experiment  Very consistent (significant) findings  Easily applicable to a real world setting  But…  2 experiments do not conclusively show self sufficiency 29

 Vohs, K.D., Mead, N.L. & Goode, M.R. (2008). Merely Activating the Concept of Money Changes Personal and Interpersonal Behaviour, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(3),

 Vohs, K.D., Mead, N.L. & Goode, M.R. (2006) The Psychological Consequences of Money. Science, 314,  31

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