AN EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED BY SARIAL ABI WITH VOHS SHOWS THAT PEOPLE, WHEN EXPOSED TO IMAGES OF MONEY, ARE BETTER THAN THE REST IN SOLVING MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS

Money and goal achievement are related. Now, a new experiment conducted by Zehra Gülen Sarial-Abi from the Department of Marketing, gives us a hint that there could be more to discover in the relation between money and goal achievement. Merely seeing images of money on a computer screen (without holding it in our hands) seems to nudge us in the direction of goal achievement. And these goals range from solving mathematical problems and puzzles to losing weight. Sarial-Abi discusses this topic in a paper: The Mere Presence of Money Motivates Goal Achievement, joined with Kathleen D. Vohs, Professor of Marketing at University of Minnesota.

Individuals shown images of money, in the experiment, were more effective than the rest in solving mathematical problems and puzzles and, when primed by saying that they had recently gained weight and offered different dishes, they chose healthier food than peolpe in the control group.

One might wonder what is it about money that affects so strongly our psychology? First of all, money has practical uses, it serves as a reward to people, and it can be used as a vehicle to obtain resources.

Second, Sarial-Abi and Vohs say that money is very likely our built-in motivator. Thinking about goal achievement gives us positive feelings and intrinsically motivates us. If we add to this thoughts images of money, our positive feelings are even stronger. Sarial-Abi’s experiment hints at this “heightened intrinsic motivation among participants who both adopted a goal and were reminded of money”. Participants in the money/goal condition, compared to those in other conditions, showed better attitudes toward goal-related words and reported more enjoyment during goal pursuit.

Then, there is also a goal theory to keep in mind. Relationship partners often evoke different goals. So, for instance, we can link a mother to school achievement. If our tie between a mother and success in school is so strong, even in the absence of our mother, our psychology will knock on our door with reminders that might be sufficient for us to complete our tasks. And these tasks can vary widely because money has the capacity to help people achieve almost any goal. For Sarial-Abi and Vohs “this strong, consistent, and frequent pairing of money and goal achievement forms the basis of our theorizing that even mere reminders of money – much like thinking of a relationship partner – can evoke goal-directed behaviors”.

The experiment highlights the goal theory very nicely. In addition, it hints at an interesting fact - although the participants reminded of the fact that money does not necessarily lead to goal achievement showed signs of weakened motivation, their motivation level was still higher than in participants not reminded of money at all”.