With Friends Like These, Who Needs Money? Three Tests of the Substitutability Hypothesis of Money and Social Support

Rich people have fewer friends than the rest, according to a Gallup poll (2004). Respondents whose income was at the top of the scale reported having the fewest friends, while those making the least money reported having the most friends. There are many possible explanations for these stylized facts. One is that having or being around money creates a preference to be alone or an inability to make friends. Another is that having many friends weakens the desire or ability to obtain money. (Of course, there are third-variable explanations too.) Our theory is that there is something correct about the two direct association explanations. People seem to treat money and social support as interchangeable resources, a claim that we have termed the substitutability hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts that to the extent that one resource is seen as plentiful, people will act as if there is little need to pursue the other. There already exists evidence supporting one form of the substitutability hypothesis, that money can substitute for relationships with others (e.g., Vohs et al. 2006; Zhou et al. 2009). Therefore, our investigation tested the novel hypothesis that when people feel that they have ample support from others, defined as the perception that one is cared for by others (Wills, 1991), they have less desire for money, defined as the motivation to obtain and hold onto money. Three experiments supported this hypothesis.