Study: Rich May Be Less Motivated By Money

(WebMD)  The more money a person has to his or her name, the less motivated they may be by money, a British study shows.

The researchers included neurobiologist Philippe Tobler, PhD, of the University of Cambridge.

"The rich are different from you and me," write Tobler and colleagues, quoting novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Tobler's team studied 14 healthy adults who were 28 years old on average (age range: 20-44). All participants had completed college or were within two years of completing their college degree. They completed surveys in which they reported their financial assets and annual income.

Their average assets equal $1,691. Their average annual income translates to $20,238.

Participants saw a series of images on a computer screen. They could press a computer key to make some (but not all) of the images switch to a picture of a 20-pence British coin. The images kept changing and were shown for three seconds at a time. Participants had to quickly learn which images could switch to the picture of the 20-pence coin.

If they pressed the computer key when those images appeared, they earned a real 20-pence coin, which is worth 39 U.S. cents. If they goofed, they got no money.

The people with the most financial assets and highest incomes were slower to learn the money-making images than those who were less wealthy, according to financial surveys completed by participants.

During the test, the researchers scanned participants' brains with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The brain scans show that richer participants had slower reaction times in brain areas related to reward than those who had lower incomes and fewer financial assets.

Age and education level didn't explain the results, note Tobler and colleagues.

Tobler's team also asked participants how often they would pick up a 20-pence coin if they found one on the street.

The researchers reason that "once very rich, one would less readily pick up a coin from the street than at the start of a financial career."

The study didn't include any moguls. But the findings suggest that that theory may hold for people without oodles of money.

Participants answered on a five-point scale, in which 1 meant they would never pick up a 20-pence coin on the street and 5 meant they would always pick up the coin. Participants with lower incomes were more likely to say they would pick up the coin, compared with richer participants.

Participants weren't followed over time. So it's not clear if changes in their bank accounts over time affected their test scores or their appreciation of small change.

The study appears in Neuron.



By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D.
© 2007, WebMD Inc. All rights reserved

[truthword]

They have all the money, they have all the power, just what is it that they really want from us? Can you figure it out? What don't they have? It's called a SOUL.... this is why they practice spiritual warfare on a massive level against the common folks whom they've kept in the dark for eons. This is who runs the world folks right here...

Manifesto of the O.T.O.
Issued by Order:
BAPHOMET XI0 O.T.O.,
HIBERNIAE IONAE ET OMNIUM BRITANNIARUM,
REX SUMMUS SANCTISSIMUS
1. The O.T.O. is a body of initiates in whose hands are concentrated the wisdom and the knowledge of the following bodies:

The Gnostic Catholic Church.
The Order of the Knights of the Holy Ghost.
The Order of the Illuminati.
The Order of the Temple (Knights Templar).
The Order of the Knights of St. John.
The Order of the Knights of Malta.
The Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Hidden Church of the Holy Graal.
The Hermetic Brotherhood of Light.
The Holy Order of Rose Croix of Heredom.
The Order of the Holy Royal Arch of Enoch.
The Antient and Primitive Rite of Masonry (33 degrees).
The Rite of Memphis (97 degrees).
The Rite of Mizraim (90 degrees).
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry (33 degrees).
The Swedenborgian Rite of Masonry.
The Order of the Martinists.
The Order of the Sat Bhai, and many other orders of equal merit, if of less fame.

[truthword]

Matthew 19:24
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

[toolmangler-2009]

I can understand the rich not caring about more money. I don't want money, I just want what I want, when I want it. You can't eat money, wood burns longer and it makes a racket if you try to sleep on it. So, just keep your money and give me "STUFF".

[hypnotoad72]

One heck of a novelist, he means "you or I", surely...

Nor is life based on reason, or logic. For one thing, CEOs who screw up get 'fired' with a golden parachute. Not much of a punishment for somebody who gave the company and its customers a golden showe... you get the idea. Never mind the richest don't take pay cuts when their company does well, nor do they cut the prices so everybody can benefit.

There are exceptions to every rule, but this claim that the rich aren't out to get richer is phony. Last I read; the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing. Seems the rich aren't stopping to smell the roses... maybe they're stomping on the roses, but who knows.

This article was a waste of time, sorry.

[oleander8]

"Study: Rich May Be Less Motivated By Money"

Like so many studies - this is balderdash. If it were true rich execs wouldn't demand such outrageous salaries and perks. Money is how they measure their "success".

[edjohn66]

"The rich are different from you and me"

Now, if only people would remeber that when it comes time to vote, then the Republicans would never win another election.....