In the Journal Science there was an article on a series of experiments that has shown that merely thinking about, or looking at money changes the way people behave, causing them to be more selfish and self sufficient.

Participants first rearranged several jumbled lists of words to form sentences. Some participants were given word lists that led to neutral sentences (e.g. ‘it is cold outside’), whereas other participants were given words that led to money-related sentences (e.g. ‘a high-paying salary’). Next, they all attempted to solve a difficult geometric puzzle. Those participants who had completed the money-related sentences worked significantly longer on the puzzle before asking for help (average of 314 seconds), compared with the participants who’d completed neutral sentences (average of 186 seconds – no different from controls who didn’t complete the earlier sentence task).

In another experiment, participants were again primed with either the neutral or money-related descrambling task. Afterwards they were asked to sit individually in a room to complete some irrelevant questionnaires. They were soon joined by an assistant of the researchers who was pretending to be another research participant, confused by the questionnaires. The participants primed by the money-related sentences spent only half as much time helping the confused person compared with the participants who’d completed the neutral sentences.

Further experiments showed participants who left with more money after a Monopoly game helped pick up fewer pencils dropped by a passer-by; participants primed with money-related sentences gave less money to charity; and participants placed in front of a money-themed computer screen-saver chose to sit further away from another participant they were due to chat with.

 Kathleen Vohs at the Carlson School of Management and colleagues, who completed the research, said their findings helped explain why historically, people have tended to view money as good and evil. ‘As countries and cultures developed, money may have allowed people to acquire goods and services that enabled the pursuit of cherished goals, which in turn diminished reliance on friends and family,’ they said. ‘In this way, money enhanced individualism but diminished communal motivations.’   

This week I read in the newspaper about the death of Matthew Courtney, a 27 year old London based lawyer. He fell to his death at the Tate Modern, and the assumption is that he jumped.

Matthew was an associate with a City law firm. The working life of a new associate is long hours, with the carrot of reaching partner with extremely high financial rewards, but would you sacrifice everything for money?

We all need so much money, but how much do you really need and are the sacrifices worth it?  What else is important to you? Family, friends, leisure activities, your health, etc. What impact does your career have in these areas. Many of my clients tell me how they turned to drink as their only way of relaxing after a long day working, and others tell me they gave up a social life as there was no time to maintain friendships when they job took priority and there was a need to be “present” at work.

Sometimes it can help to reflect on your values -the ones that are important in your career and also those in your life in general.   Is there some discrepency? WHat impact does this have on you and your career? 

Our careers are important - we want to have career satisfaction, but what is really important to you?