Money, if you ask an economist, is a medium of exchange. Without money, you’d get to eat only what you plant in your backyard. When a lady friend told me how many yams she had harvested from her small farm, I failed short of telling her that without money, she would be confined to roasting the yam on a charcoal fire and eating it without salt and oil.
Indeed, money is central to our lives. It is our measure of wealth. Not only that, it is also a factor for measuring personal performance, interpersonal relations and helping behavior. Money will continue to be like that.
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Cash Money Milliionaire! Credit: Flickr.com, Dust Mason.
Have you noticed that people want to live their lives, not thinking about or being reminded of money? If you want to sell yourself, or sell a product, make sure that you or your product possess the quality and quantity that is requisite before you start reminding them of money. They will rebel against you if you do so. Really, people dislike being reminded of money. It makes them think of you as an authority and the likelihood that they might lose their freedom. The concept that rich people should help poor people has not stood on its feet. If you or your product does not possess the qualities that can make it stand on its own, is not an authority in that area, then remind them of other social values. Otherwise, if the reverse if the case, if you ask them to perform tasks for you, they will follow your suggestions to the letter but will keep a distance when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Also, when you need help, it might be slow in coming.
In a series of studies, the authors found that reminders of money caused consumers to think more abstractly and focus on the primary features of a product instead of its secondary features. Also, they are more likely to evaluate a new product based on its brand name instead of its individual features. The authors found that reminders of money can also influence consumer’s decision making.
Why lemons do not remind people of money.
The reason for the above is that money is symbolic. It is linked to social resources such as security, status, power, confidence and freedom. People with lots of money and who flaunt it around usually send signals of confidence and strength and have better ability of exerting their influence on others. But money also has been used to dominate others.
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Another research found that reminding people of money makes them think of their freedom. Therefore, it has the ability to affect interpersonal communication, advertising and marketing. Therefore, people tend to rebel against someone who, whenever a conversation comes up, always reminds people of money. They feel insecure, weak and insignificant. So, don’t be surprised if you do not sell on the personal front or your products do not sell well because you keep reminding them of money.
Due to the symbolic nature of money, many are ready to marry for the sake of money. They are not marrying for love but for security, for the sake of acquiring societal status. Sometimes, against conventional wisdom.
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Sometimes at the risk of their personal happiness. When you remind them of money, they remember the sacrifice they made against other social values and would treat you badly if you are not a peer in monetary terms. That is the power of money. Money can inspire for good or bad.
So, when next you want to use money and reminders of your wealth as a sort of defense, think of what you would lose: your friends, social contacts and true love and affection from people, and weigh these against what you are likely to gain: power over people’s lives, the ability to make them do what you want.
Chose! Which is more worth it? Do choose wisely.
(Related Post:Forming blind trust for a pretty face might be influenced by gestures and nonverbal cues.)
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Money not at stake? Most people say the truth. Credit: Flickr, linkogecko.
Do you know that when doing business with people, if you push them into a corner, they usually lie? Sometimes, these are persons who pride themselves on honesty and integrity. Most people do not want to lose their money or their investment, so when nothing of material value is at stake, people always tend to tell the truth. It is unbelievable, but that is the truth. There are people who take their conscience as something more precious than all the gold in the world and would never lie even if they have the opportunity to do so. Why is it like that, in this materialistic world, where money is everyone’s concern?
We teach our children from infancy that it is wrong to lie. Yet, we find ourselves lying. This could be wrong, but people do it because what is materially at stake, either money or reputation, is considered much more important than whether one told a lie or not. David Xu, assistant professor in the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University found that when tempted with cash rewards, people are wont to lie when giving reports through text messaging than if asked face-to-face. Also, they are more likely to lie if asked to give a report through text messaging or face-to-face than if asked to make the report through an audio chat or video recording.
What David Xu’s research found out was corroborated by two psychological scientists, Advert
Shaul Shavi of the University of Amsterdam and Ori Eldar and Yoella Bereby-Meyer of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev that when something is at stake, if you push people into a corner, they will usually or are more likely to lie. To make them tell the truth when money or something of value is involved, give them more time. Also, you need to make them feel that they are in control of the situation and not being harassed or rushed to make a report.
It’s all about self-interest and justification.
It has been discovered that what is at play is that people have the first instinct to protect themselves, or to serve their own self-interest. Secondly, when they think it is justifiable, they are likely to lie although they know it is wrong, especially when they believe it was done for the common good. It was further discovered that when rushed, or prompted to act quickly, they tend to lie or bend ethical rules, in order to come out ahead of others. If they have more time to deliberate on an issue, they usually tend to tell the truth with a clause: when nothing is at stake. If something is at stake, they want to favor themselves and would even lie to do so.
You get it now?
So, where you want to choose a referee or judge for a case, give him all the time in the world and make sure he has no interest or stake in the matter at hand. Justice will always be served.
Where you want your employees to go out and make profits for the company, no matter the cost, give them no time, put them in a corner and tell them that their job is at stake. They’ll bend all the rules in the book to make that profit.
It is left for you to decide whether you want to tell a lie or not, but always remember, there is nothing like saying the truth. The truth will not only set you free, it gives you the experience needed to solving problems and overcoming obstacles.
(Related post:Don't expect your friends to cover-up for you, if they will lose something of value, 1 and 2.)
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Michael (names changed) doing dialysis. Credit: Flickr.com, Jimforest.
Michael (original name withheld) has a renal disease. The doctors say he would not live long without a kidney transplant. He has been surviving for long on dialysis. “You have to wait for longer time,” the doctors told him, because there is a shortage of available kidneys for people like him who need transplant. He has been waiting for a long time now and his parents and friends are getting worried. “We hope to find a compatible kidney from a deceased donor, although having a living donor donate you his kidney is not impossible.”
“Can we pay for someone to donate a kidney?”
“Why?”
“I heard it is possible,“ his father tells the doctor.
His father is ready to pay for the funeral expenses of any deceased donor. He is ready to help the child of anyone alive who would donate a kidney to Michael. He was ready to save the life of his son for anything.
The doctor is shy of accepting a black market for kidneys. The World Health Organization, (WHO), has acknowledged it though that one in every five kidneys transplanted per year comes from the black market.
The black market is an unethical alternative for a kidney.
The doctor consults his colleagues in Canada. A released Canadian study revealed that Canadians are not averse to financial incentives for kidney donations from a living or deceased donor. He was also referred to a 2010 University of Pennsylvania health study that found that if offered financial incentives for kidney donation while alive, most persons might not be influenced to risk their health for money, and that it would not crowd out the market for generous, altruistic kidney donations.
The doctor is skeptical about the University of Pennsylvania’s conclusions. He knows that a booming black market that exists in Asia and South Africa was pointing to the contrary, especially for the poor. He could remember the widely reported news that Serbians summarily executed their prisoners, selling their kidneys to waiting transplant surgeons for monetary benefits. The doctor is conscious that Michael has been waiting, like many others, for a kidney. He did not want Michael to die, but his conscience was disturbed applying for a kidney from black market sources. He did not understand the logic behind why a doctor should allow the use of kidneys from donors with risk factors for harboring transmittable infections. The strained supply did make some push ethics aside.
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In the evening he was supposed to check on Michael’s condition. How he envied this young man! He had struggled through medical school on loans! What Michael’s parents had spent on dialysis was staggering.
After every option is considered, a life is more important than money.
“I wish one of your relatives, or friends, had a compatible kidney. It would solve this brouhaha.”
Michael only sighed. The wait would have to continue.
“We are looking out for every avenue to save your life. Don’t worry, your wait will soon be over,” the doctor promised.
“We are considering doing what your father asked for. When we find someone that is ready to give his kidney so that we can pay his family to take care of themselves after that, your wait will be over. Just one of my options.”
“I hope it will not discomfort the family? I do not want to be seen as a heartless person.”
“It is better than having to go to the market to buy a kidney, any kidney. “
Michael sighed.
“It is illegal?”
“But not in Iran. Donors get about $2,000 to $4,000 for a kidney. They have literally eliminated the waiting list there. What I have not heard is how much of human body parts is being sold on the open market. Where money is involved, people do all sorts of deceptive things to get it, to the extent of making others slaves.”
He looks Michael straight in the eye. Michael did not flinch.
“There is so much poverty in the world, you know,” Michael said. He understood the doctor’s concerns like one does understand the difference between sunset and sunrise.
The doctor lowered his head. He thought Michael could read his mind.
“People have ways of making the impossible possible. What about these poor people? Some end up sick afterwards without realizing what they have put their signature to.”
“I understand.”
“I have applied for a kidney for you; from the black market.”
“I have absolute trust in you, doctor.”
He sighed. A big weight was off his shoulders.
“We will check and double check for every sort of disease, hepatitis and HIV. It is unfortunate, unless you have to wait longer. I did it to save your life, Michael.”
“Whatever you say, doc.”
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