Is Money Making You Mean?

In a recent article Money's Effect on Your Relationships with Others, I discussed a MSN news article that summarized a study on the effects of money and relationships. Nine experiments were published in "the Psychological Consequences of Money." The abstract to the article reads, " Even thinking about money changes behavior in reliable ways." The study revealed that people who frequently have money on their minds are less caring about the needs of others and are indifferent to interacting with other people. In fact, some people are "preconditioned to money," and these people are less helpful, less considerate, and less willing to involve themselves with other people.

When looking at the effects that money has on people and relationships, it may be a good idea to ask yourself how money is making you behave. Are you stressed, scared,or nervous? Are you taking your frustrations out on your husband? In other words, is money making you mean? There are a few things you can look for when trying to determine if money is the cause of tension between you and a friend or family member.

If you look at your roommate after waking up and before saying good morning, you remember that she was late with the rent ; money may be affecting your relationship with him or her. What you may want to do is write the money issue down on a piece of paper before you go to bed. Put the note aside and clear your head before you begin to sleep. Then, when you wake up, you should be able to clearly see your roommate for who she is rather than for what she owes you.

If you get annoyed when your husband does not pay for the entire bill at a restaurant and refuse to be romantic with him for an entire week, money may be affecting your relationship. What should you do about this one? You should stop sweating the small stuff and look at your husband for who he is rather than for how much money he has or how he chooses to spend it.

After reading the above paragraphs, it may seem obvious how money can affect relationships. However, most people do not notice what is really causing the tension between them and their friends. They believe that a certain bill is important, but they do not realize that they are making the bill seem more important than the person who owes them the money. If they do realize it, they do not care, and then that answers my question, money is making someone mean.