This Is Your Brain on Money
The Find: A fascinating article traces the brain chemistry behind why people make such irrational (and often times unethical) decisions when money is involved.- The Source: An article by Mark Buchanan entitled "Why Money Messes With Your Mind" in NewScientist.
Scientists are on the trail of understanding money's effect on the brain and have found that for some peoples' brains handling cash is like taking drugs, for others it's like seeing a friend. Outlining a raft of research the article offers a run-down of money's effects summarizing,
Simply thinking about words associated with money seems to makes us more self-reliant and less inclined to help others. And it gets weirder: just handling cash can take the sting out of social rejection and even diminish physical pain.One researcher mentioned discusses the two separate social norms people operate under â€" social and market norms â€" and argues that "even a passing contact with concepts linked to money puts us into a market-oriented mentality" which effects our behavior and makes us more self-reliant and less trusting. Another scientist's experiment revealed that study subjects who heard words associated with commerce were slower to ask for help, and a third showed money affecting some brains the same way drugs affect addicts.
For much more on the ways money warps our thinking, check out the lengthy but reader-friendly article. It also offers tips from the scientists on how to handle your irrational responses to cash.
(Image of brain scan by Patrick Denker, CC 2.0)