Okay, I’m back. At least until I’m gone again, in a few days anyway–and only for a few days.
After last week’s brief hiatus, I returned to an inbox populated with requests for posts on the money thing. While happy to delve into that area (hey, I’m always ready to ponder and postulate from atop my soapbox), I first want to emphasize that, while my upcoming book might say something about money, it says nothing about money itself.
And if that hasn’t intrigued you, consider this.
Most of us, I’m sure, have an unshakable belief that more money is a good thing. I mean, let’s face it, those are two mouth-watering words there. While ‘more’ and ‘money’ are pretty compelling in their own right, taken together, in one thought process–more money–well, who wouldn’t want some of that?
And yet, when put to the test, it turns out, funny enough, that the majority of people don’t want more money at all. No, that is not a typo and, no, you didn’t misread that. It’s both a documented fact and the honest truth. Let me explain.
About 10 years ago, Harvard economists Sara Solnick and David Hemenway conducted a study that asked this question; would you prefer an annual salary of $50,000 or $100,000? Believe it or not, the majority of participants (all of rational mind and sensible acuity) opted for the 50K.
You may well wonder, what sort of preposterous madness was that? Actually, it wasn’t madness at all, but rather something called positional concerns. And it’s also, on my part, a bit deceptive, because what I haven’t told you is there was a second part to the question. In fact, the offered choice went like this.
Choose whether you get a salary of;
$50,000 while other people got $25,000
OR
$100,000 while others got $250,000
That’s where the notion of positional concerns comes in. You see, it appears we all have a tendency to compare ourselves to our peers. And during that process of comparison, it also appears that we’re happiest when our perception tells us we’re better off than our peers (even if, in absolute terms, we may be even worse off). Which explains why most people chose option A.
When framed as such, do you think you’d also choose option A? Whether you would or wouldn’t isn’t really all that important. At least not to me. That’s because, to me, the Harvard survey wasn’t about money, but rather the perception of money.
And that, among other things, is what my book addresses.
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