Money: What it Means to Children and Adults

The findings of three studies on money perceptions by Chinese subjects were reported. In Study 1, 378 kindergarten children (age five and six) were asked to give free associations to 86 Chinese words. The word money elicited a large number of associations (ranked ninth in five-year-olds and 21st in six year-olds), indicating that money was not an unfamiliar or uninteresting concept to children of very young age. Analysis also showed that the associations of money were primarily non-evaluative and functional in nature. In Study 2, 71 school teachers, 58 business people, and 338 high school students were asked to rate what money meant to them. Results showed that school teachers tended to perceive money as less good and honest than business people did. The student group was found to give lower goodness and power ratings than the two professional groups and lower honesty and interest ratings than the business group. The results thus showed that perceptions of money were very much related to one's social role. In Study 3, the relation of money attitudes and value orientation was examined in a sample of 1463 university students. Results showed that those who were high on preference for enjoyment, security, and achievement values, rated money more important than those low on these values. On the other hand, individuals who were high on the prosocial and maturity values rated money less important than those low on these values. The results thus indicated that the knowledge of people's value orientation would help to add to the understanding of their money perceptions.