Money and Its Impact on Our Abilities to Interact with Others

1598 Words7 Pages
Money is an essential not only to shape living standards but also to the psychology of humans, which has a direct effect on our abilities to communicate. Although it may seem strange that an abundance of something so essential can be a negative, there is evidence showing a larger income can lead to a lack of social skills and ability to interact with others. A lack of wealth can also be a negative factor in how one socializes. Whether it be having too much or too little, studies have shown that money has a direct impact on our communication skills. The effect money has on our ability to interact with others can be seen early in childhood. Although many concepts are not yet grasped, there is evidence that the idea of money is shown to affect a child’s ability to socialize. A study by Sandra Wygrab in the Journal of Economic Psychology included an experiment that examined the social interactions between children. Two groups of kids were observed while they played a pro-social and sharing game in order to gauge their social as well as selfish preferences. One group was showed pictures/symbols of money and reminded of money throughout the games while the other was a control group that was showed pictures such as flowers and plants. The children were then given two options, the pro-social choice of sharing stickers with partners or keeping them for themselves. The percentage of pro-social choices made by non-money activated children was 20.6% higher than that of money activated ones (Wygrab, 605). The results of these games suggest that reminders of the concept of money leads to more individualistic choices, which reveal more selfish preferences. The reason why this experiment was so intriguing was the fact that everyone who participated did not exceed the age of eight. This shows that even though the kids are too young to understand how money works in real life, how
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