Money Cues Increase Agency and Decrease Prosociality Among Children: Early Signs of Market-Mode Behaviors

Psychological Science
Agata GasiorowskaKathleen D Vohs

Abstract

People can get most of their needs broadly satisfied in two ways: by close communal ties and by dealings with people in the marketplace. These modes of relating-termed communal and market-often necessitate qualitatively different motives, behaviors, and mind-sets. We reasoned that activating market mode would produce behaviors consistent with it and impair behaviors consistent with communal mode. In a series of experiments, money-the market-mode cue-was presented to Polish children ages 3 to 6. We measured communal behavior by prosocial helpfulness and generosity and measured market behavior by performance and effort. Results showed that handling money (compared with other objects) increased laborious effort and reduced helpfulness and generosity. The effects of money primes were not due to the children's mood, liking for money, or task engagement. This work is the first to demonstrate that young children tacitly understand market mode and also understand that money is a cue to shift into it.

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Citations

May 21, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Agata Trzcińska, Katarzyna Sekścińska
Sep 10, 2016·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Xijing Wang, Eva G Krumhuber
Dec 9, 2017·Frontiers in Psychology·Magnus BergquistAndré Hansla
May 12, 2018·Child Development·Margaret EchelbargerCharles W Kalish
Feb 18, 2020·Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience·Jin LiYiping Zhong
Jun 14, 2019·Frontiers in Psychology·Wenjie ZhangYiping Zhong
Dec 22, 2016·Cognitive Science·Arber Tasimi, Susan A Gelman
Feb 20, 2021·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Xijing WangHao Chen
May 1, 2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Radosław WalczakLuca Tommasi

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