WWYD: Helping the Less Fortunate
Yesterday MSN Money published an article on the results of a psychological study I found extremely interesting, “Does Money Make You Mean“? from Bankrate.com. Over the course of nine experiments, the study found that “folks with money on their minds are less helpful, less considerate and less willing to ask for assistance or engage with others than those who have not been ‘preconditioned’ to money.”
One of the authors of the study, Kathleen Vohs, said, “Money may not be the root of all evil, but it might be the root of some indifference,” she says. “It does make you perhaps indifferent to others.”
“We didn’t find any animosity; it was more of a sense of social cluelessness. They’re not mindful of other people. We don’t have any indication that they were being rude to these people. It was more ‘I can’t help you’ or ‘I don’t know how to help you.’ Granted, being helpful would be a nicer thing to do, but the intention wasn’t to be selfish or mean; they just didn’t see that they had a role in this person’s life.”
Another fascinating tidbit I found online is research that shows the poor among us tend to be the most generous in charity, at least in terms of percentage of their income and assets. The very wealthy are behind them, giving a lot of money but a smaller percentage of their assets. The middle class are the least generous of all.
Does this mean that as you become more aware of money, you become less willing to part with it?
This question, of course, comes directly back to us, the readers and contributors of Queercents. If you’re reading this blog, then chances are you’re interested in frugal living and financial freedom. Meaning, in the terms of the study, we are “folks with money on their minds.”
So let me ask you: have you found that paying closer attention to your finances makes you less attentive to the needs of others? As you focus on your own financial health, using John’s nifty thermometer (which I love, by the way), are you becoming clueless to anyone’s situation other than your own?
Before you are too quick to answer, let me ask a different way: how does your charitable giving compare to last year, or 10 years ago? When a person (or an organization) asks you for money, do you give it to them? Why or why not?
I do find that paying attention to one goal makes me less attentive to competing goals. So the more I focus on goals such as saving toward retirement and fixing up my house, the less exciting it seems to save for charity.
However, long ago I decided to give 10% to charitable causes. This is a compromise between how much I wanted to give up (0%) and the maximum I could possibly give up without becoming needy myself (probably over 50%). When I first decided this, I started with less than 10%, but worked my way up to it with each new raise. Now, it’s just automatic, so that helps.
I decide at the beginning of the year how to donate the money and then say no to anyone else. Technically I am open to more ideas, but generally the pleas I get seem to be for lesser needs than my original choices.
I do spend less time volunteering than I used to, though: almost none. Paying close attention to my personal goals has made me less interested in volunteering.
Another item in the research you reviewed concerns asking others for help and having social skills. I’ve always had a lot of trouble with asking people for help. I just try to remember that my friends would be upset with me if there was some easy way they could have really helped me and I didn’t even bother to ask.
I’ve always had a high level of social cluelessness, too, but I’ve been working on that and it seems to be getting better.
Rich,
I’m glad you posted this on today of all days. I try to think of love less the way the romantic poets did and more in a more broadly ethical or theological sense.
Check this out: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/14/1646235
It’s a whole special on the often hidden but often horrendous human (and environmental) costs of things like the flower, diamond and chocolate industries. Being mindful of the conditions of production and of the global suffering that supports our consumer (and political) freedom is one way to cultivate empathy. It’s also necessarily humbling. A way to have “money on the mind” and be mindful of others and of the earth?
In case you and your readers don’t know about it, I’d like to let you know about the Center for a New American Dream. It was founded by Dr. Juliet Schor and is a grassroots consumer activism organization whose vision I think will resonate with many of your readers. Check out: http://www.newdream.org
Specifically, with respect to the issues you present in your post, check out this latest edition of the newsletter:
http://www.newdream.org/newsletter/gct_human.php
In this week’s Carnival of the Capitalist:
http://www.simplifythis.com/blog/2007/02/carnival-of-capitalists-feb-19-2007.html