Do Scarcity-Related Cues Affect the Sustained Attentional Performance of the Poor and the Rich Differently?

Résumé fourni par la source

Cues related to financial scarcity are commonly present in the daily environment shaping people’s mental lives. However, prior findings are mixed on whether such scarcity-related cues disproportionately deteriorate the cognitive performance of poorer versus of richer individuals. In our registered report, we collected a large study sample (N = 4,280) using targeted sampling strategies to reach a diverse group of people along education and financial status, and focused on attentional performance so – compared to prior studies – we could more sensitively assess the effect of even brief lapses of attention. Using words related to absolute scarcity (poverty) and relative scarcity (abundance) as cues, we found strong evidence against the existence of a different effect on the sustained attentional performance between poorer and richer participants. The findings were robust across various analytical choices, including the used outcome variable, exclusion criteria, outlier treatment and used socioeconomic indicators. Our results present a strong challenge to generalisability of scarcity theory.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.