News
Time Or Money?
A new study in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin offers the message that the desire for money cold be a trap. According to the researchers, self-esteem based on financial success can leave people feeling lonely and disconnected.
Deborah Ward of the University at Buffalo and colleagues first asked 345 participants to rate themselves on various statements related to financially contingent self-worth, such as “my self esteem is influenced by how much money I make” and “I feel bad about myself when I feel I don’t make enough money”. Next, participants reported how much they felt time pressures in their life, rating statements including “there are not enough minutes in the day” on a scale of one to seven.
Participants then estimated what percentage of time they spent being alone and with others (either working or socialising), and stated how often they felt lonely and isolated and how connected they felt to other people. The team also measured participants’ sense of autonomy, how much control and choice they felt they had in life.
Participants whose self-worth was tied to their financial success reported feeling more time pressure — which, in turn, was related to greater feelings of social disconnection and loneliness. Participants’ sense of autonomy also partly accounted for this relationship: those whose self-worth was more financially contingent reported a lower sense of autonomy, which was related to worse social outcomes.
The findings indicates that basing self-worth on financial achievements can have pretty negative consequences. Financially contingent self-worth can lead to higher anxiety, increased feelings of pressure, and a higher likelihood of unfavourably comparing oneself to others.
Deborah Ward of the University at Buffalo and colleagues first asked 345 participants to rate themselves on various statements related to financially contingent self-worth, such as “my self esteem is influenced by how much money I make” and “I feel bad about myself when I feel I don’t make enough money”. Next, participants reported how much they felt time pressures in their life, rating statements including “there are not enough minutes in the day” on a scale of one to seven.
Participants then estimated what percentage of time they spent being alone and with others (either working or socialising), and stated how often they felt lonely and isolated and how connected they felt to other people. The team also measured participants’ sense of autonomy, how much control and choice they felt they had in life.
Participants whose self-worth was tied to their financial success reported feeling more time pressure — which, in turn, was related to greater feelings of social disconnection and loneliness. Participants’ sense of autonomy also partly accounted for this relationship: those whose self-worth was more financially contingent reported a lower sense of autonomy, which was related to worse social outcomes.
The findings indicates that basing self-worth on financial achievements can have pretty negative consequences. Financially contingent self-worth can lead to higher anxiety, increased feelings of pressure, and a higher likelihood of unfavourably comparing oneself to others.