Money Materialism - psychology of a strong incentive – Lea & Webley

Money & Materialism

Money as tool, money as drug: The biological

psychology of a strong incentive – Lea & Webley

Two ways in which money is a motivator:

1.Used as a tool/instrumentally  to obtain biological relevant incentives.

2.Imitate the action of natural incentives

Conclusions:

A purely Tool Theory view of money motivation cannot explain all observed phenomena.Adding Drug Theory helps make sense of the things Tool Theory can’t explain.According to Drug Theory, money taps into basic human instincts such as trading (linked to reciprocal altruism) and object play.A biological explanation of behaviour (like the motivation for money)

uses evolutionary reasoning: people do things either because (a) it gives a

selective advantage now, (b) it gave such an advantage in the past, or (c) it’s a by-product of another adaptive tendency. Importantly, this doesn’t mean behaviour if fixed or purely innate – human instincts always interact with culture and society. For example, the instinct (finding a mate) is universal, but the way it plays out is shaped by cultural rules and traditions (e.g. arranged marriages or not).

Examples:

a.Washing your hands b.Fear of snakes c.Reading (we evolved big brains and language skills) Money is studied here in its literal sense (coins, credit, etc.), not as a metaphor for property or possessions.

Money counts as ‘money’ if it functions as a:

oMedium of exchange  you can use it to trade for goods and services.oUnit of account  it provides a standard way to measure value.oAnd store of value  it keeps its value over time so you can save it and spend it later.

Money motivates people like basic drives (e.g. food or sex). Specifically:

a)Incentive  people are more likely to do actions that can earn them money.b)Reinforcer  people are more likely to repeat actions that previously gave them money. 1 / 3

Most strong human motivations are easy to explain from a biological

perspective because they have two key features:

1.Adaptiveness  they guide people toward or away from things that matter for survival or reproduction (e.g. hunger, sex, social connections).

2.Darwinian continuity  similar or related motives exist in other animals, although in humans they can be more complex and shaped by culture.

Money motivation is different:

-It doesn’t directly help survival or reproduction.-There’s no obvious equivalent in other animals.-Money is too recent in human history to have led to genetic adaption.-Culture strongly influences how we use money, but it’s unclear whether there’s any underlying biological drive.

Question the article tries to answer:

Is there a biological reason why money is such a powerful incentive?Tool Theory Money as a rational, instrumental medium of exchange.Money is an incentive only because it can be exchanged for goods and services, which are the real incentives (and those have clear evolutionary roots).oIt is a means to an end, not a motivator on its own.We do not need the psychology of money – only an understanding of how people use it as an instrument.Drug Theory Money has psychological/emotional effects beyond instrumental value.Money is a functionless motivator that triggers our motivational systems without being directly biologically useful.Money is a kind of ‘psychological drug’ – it can trigger our brain’s reward systems by mimicking natural incentives.oMoney can ‘act like’ natural incentives at a cognitive level.oBrain imaging studies  money activates specific brain areas, and immediate monetary incentives stimulate parts of the brain that are associated with immediate reward, not delated reward.This helps explain why money can feel addictive, give immediate satisfaction, and sometimes lead to harmful behaviour.Theories of money The economic theory of money

-Money has three primary functions: it is a medium of exchange, a

unit of account and a store of value. 2 / 3

-Two main types of money (that distinguish between how value is

established):

oCommodity/metalist model  backed by a real, desirable substance (like gold or silver).The value comes from the biological aspect of the underlying commodity. This is an example of Drug Theory.oFiat/chartalist money  value comes from government declaration, accepted by society as legal tender.  Tool Theory.Psychological theories of money

Depth psychology (Freud): money interest stems from early

childhood development. Interest in collecting or controlling coins reflects the same drives that were active during toilet training (pleasure and control) Drug Theory.

Operant psychology (Skinner): money acts as a token that gains

value through association with rewards, so through conditioning and not logic  Drug Theory.

Functional autonomy (Allport): motivation to acquire money can

become self-sustaining, even if it originally came from other basic drives  Drug Theory.

Cognitive development (Piagetians): children gradually learn how

to use money and navigate adult economic systems  Tool Theory.Sociological theories of money Classic sociology

oMarx: saw money as ‘commodity fetishism,’ where value

becomes detached from the labour that created it  Drug Theory.Money comes from labour being turned into commodities, then into money – this causes alienation.Commodities are treated as if they have their own life (commodity fetishism).Money motivation is like an illusion – drug theory.

oWeber: connected money accumulation with the Protestant

ethic of hard work and discipline; sought for its own sake  Drug Theory.Protestant work ethic = work is good, but spending is bad.

Result: people save and collect money for its own

sake.

oSimmel: Money turns goods into commodities and can even

become something people desire for its own sake; can be both a tool and an object of desire  both Tool and Drug Theory elements.Money creates more impersonal and abstract relations is society.

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