Literature on the impacts of financial scarcity on cognition has demonstrated its detrimental effects in many areas related to executive functions. However, a better understanding of how financial...Show moreLiterature on the impacts of financial scarcity on cognition has demonstrated its detrimental effects in many areas related to executive functions. However, a better understanding of how financial scarcity impacts cognitive persistence in an adult sample is needed. This study investigated whether perceiving oneself in a scarcity situation impacts persistence levels when engaging in a cognitive task. It was hypothesized that the activation of financial scarcity feelings through an experimental task negatively influenced persistence levels in participants who were placed in a scarcity condition. Additionally, it was expected this effect to be stronger for participants who experienced actual financial stress, than for those who currently face no similar concerns. To test these hypotheses, two hundred and one participants engaged in an online study where financial scarcity was activated through an experimental paradigm, namely, the Household task. Persistence levels were assessed with a measure of time and endurance, the Anagram-Riddles task. The findings did not confirm the hypotheses. Although that difference in persistence levels between the groups did not reach statistical significance, the results highlight the importance of assuming the impacts of financial scarcity not only from a deficit model where negative impacts are expected but also from a strengths-based model where adaptive responses serve proximal functions in the context where they take place.Show less
This study aimed to investigate the effects of financial scarcity on cognitive persistence. A sample of 202 participants from the United Kingdom was recruited through Prolific (Mage = 40.29 years,...Show moreThis study aimed to investigate the effects of financial scarcity on cognitive persistence. A sample of 202 participants from the United Kingdom was recruited through Prolific (Mage = 40.29 years, 53.5% female). The participants were representative of income ranges between £10,000 and £159,000, with equal distribution across low-income, middle- income, and high-income segments. The SPSS version 28.0 was used to analyze the data. The association between the predictors (Condition, PIFS, and Interaction PIFS Condition) and the dependent variable, hard trial performance, was investigated using regression analysis. None of the predictors significantly predicted the variation in hard trials, according to the data (p >.05). Hard trial scores were not significantly explained by the Condition, PIFS, or the interaction of PIFS and Condition (R2 =.019, p =.289). Additionally, the conditional effects study showed that the interaction term (Interaction PIFS Condition) did not significantly contribute to the prediction of hard trials (p >.05). These results emphasize the complexity of the relationship between financial hardship and cognitive persistence and the pressing need for more research.Show less
Our current findings add to the literature into the effects of childhood scarcity and current scarcity on cognitive performance. We show that participants who experienced childhood scarcity...Show moreOur current findings add to the literature into the effects of childhood scarcity and current scarcity on cognitive performance. We show that participants who experienced childhood scarcity generally perform worse on executive functioning, as measured by the Hearts and Flowers task. This is in line with the general trend that childhood scarcity seems to impede cognitive functioning (Cermakova et al., 2018; Everson-Rose, 2003). For current scarcity we found no significant main effect of on cognitive performance. However, a interaction effect between childhood scarcity and current scarcity on cognitive performance was present. While childhood scarcity generally impedes cognitive functioning; our research shows that under conditions of high current scarcity people who experienced high levels of childhood scarcity show heightened performance on the HF-task compared to those who experienced lower levels of childhood scarcity. These findings imply that cognitive performance in people who experienced childhood scarcity might not simply be impeded, but rather adopted to specific environments of uncertainty.Show less
Childhood scarcity has long lasting effects that remain visible during adulthood. Much of the literature suggests that these effects are mostly negative, but some theories such as the Life History...Show moreChildhood scarcity has long lasting effects that remain visible during adulthood. Much of the literature suggests that these effects are mostly negative, but some theories such as the Life History Theory have inspired studies that show positive effects of childhood scarcity. The current work aims to highlight the effects of experiencing childhood scarcity on adult cognitive performance in a current financial scarcity situation. We hypothesized that people who experienced childhood scarcity performed better, on a memory and attention task during a situation of current financial scarcity, then people who had not experienced such scarcity. To test their memory we used a restaurant menu containing dishes with prices and calories that participants had to recall; further, to measure attentional shifting, the menu contained a discount code that participant could copy and paste in order to save money. In the experiment 190 participants were randomly assigned to two groups – respectively low budget and high budget condition. The hypotheses were not confirmed, however a significant effect of childhood scarcity on the memory of dishes’ prices and calories was found.Show less
In this study, we hypothesized that the financial scarcity mindset would lead to a lower working memory performance. Additionally, we also hypothesized that a sudden loss of money would lead to...Show moreIn this study, we hypothesized that the financial scarcity mindset would lead to a lower working memory performance. Additionally, we also hypothesized that a sudden loss of money would lead to lower working memory performance than it would a longer period of financial scarcity. We experimentally induced financial scarcity by a financial task - the Household task and we operationalized working memory performance as participants’ scores on the backwards Corsi task. In an online experiment, 187 adult British participants were randomly assigned to four groups, which varied both in the amount of income they received and whether they received or did not receive a wealth shock. Although none of our hypotheses were confirmed, significant experimental manipulation results proved this study design is valid to use when experimentally inducing financial scarcity. We discussed the results and proposed that incentivizing people should be taken into consideration in future research and practice, as an important factor that might diminish the negative effects of financial scarcity on working memory performance.Show less
People are less likely to show prosocial behavior upon being ostracized, unless bystanders are present and they have the opportunity to find social (re)inclusion. The current study tests if these...Show morePeople are less likely to show prosocial behavior upon being ostracized, unless bystanders are present and they have the opportunity to find social (re)inclusion. The current study tests if these assertions are also true for a specific type of prosocial behavior: green consumption. Based on former research we expected 1) ostracism and 2) the social identity of bystanders (pro- or anti-environmental) to influence green consumption. Furthermore, we expected an interaction effect between the two variables. After participation in a Cyberball experiment that induced ostracism, participants were to shop for three products – all in green and conventional form – in a simulated store. No effect of ostracism and bystander’s social identity on green consumption was found. Nor did an interaction effect occur.Show less
This work aims to research whether social inclusion levels and the presence of bystanders at a store affect “green” consumption - more accurately, whether participants choose sustainable over...Show moreThis work aims to research whether social inclusion levels and the presence of bystanders at a store affect “green” consumption - more accurately, whether participants choose sustainable over conventional versions of products. We expected ostracism, induced by a game of Cyberball, to negatively affect the choice of sustainable products. Furthermore, we predicted that the presence of bystanders influenced product choice depending on the bystanders' attitude towards “green” behaviour. In addition, an interaction between the two variables was anticipated. We expected that the effect of the social identity of bystanders on green consumption depends on the level of social inclusion. Hypotheses were not confirmed, however a significant interaction between the level of social inclusion and social identity of bystanders was found for male participants.Show less
About fifteen million children in the United States are living below the poverty threshold (NCCP, n.d.) and consequently cannot meet the basic needs. The effects of growing up in poverty are...Show moreAbout fifteen million children in the United States are living below the poverty threshold (NCCP, n.d.) and consequently cannot meet the basic needs. The effects of growing up in poverty are tremendous, since it is not only influencing current quality of life, but also has an effect on later cognitive performance. Previous research suggests that people growing up in poverty perform better on attentional shifting and visuospatial memory later in life. The current study continues on this and hypothesizes that early financial hardship will lead to better performance on shifting and visuospatial memory tasks under conditions of difficult monetary scenarios, compared to easy monetary scenarios. Results show marginally significant results indicating that people growing up in poverty are better at a combined visuospatial memory and attentional shifting task than people not growing up in poverty, but only when they were confronted with a difficult monetary scenario. Future research could focus on enhancing statistical power to get more significant results.Show less
Life History Theory is an evolutionary theory claiming that early life circumstances help us develop abilities and behaviors beneficial to those specific conditions. This study aimed to investigate...Show moreLife History Theory is an evolutionary theory claiming that early life circumstances help us develop abilities and behaviors beneficial to those specific conditions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of childhood poverty on cognitive abilities such as switching and visuospatial memory in current financially difficult situations. We hypothesized that people who grew up poor would score better on a task measuring switching and visuospatial memory, but only in current financially difficult situations. Conversely, their counterparts in the low financial difficulty situations would underperform due to the dissimilarity of the circumstances the cognitive abilities adapted to in childhood. Our results provided support for the hypothesis as participants who grew up poor performed better at switching and visuospatial memory in current financially difficult situations compared to their peers in the low difficulty situation. These findings indicate that difficult circumstances in childhood could improve cognitive abilities needed to persist in those circumstances.Show less
Growing up in financial scarcity can have a destructive influence on someone’s cognition, effects that could even last into adulthood. However, some studies about childhood scarcity show that in...Show moreGrowing up in financial scarcity can have a destructive influence on someone’s cognition, effects that could even last into adulthood. However, some studies about childhood scarcity show that in specific situations cognitive improvements of attention and memory encoding may occur. Based on the life history theory, we proposed that people who experienced childhood scarcity are better able to adapt to a comparable situation, such as experiencing financial scarcity again, and, thus, outperform those who did not experience childhood scarcity on attention and memory encoding skills. We also expected that people who experienced childhood scarcity but are not currently feeling financially scarce will perform worse on attention and memory encoding compared to people who did not experience childhood scarcity. Our hypotheses were tested in an experimental setting in which people were instructed to order food online from a menu. Current financial scarcity was manipulated by randomly assigning half of the participants to a low budget ($12.50) and the other half to a high budget ($100). The findings suggest that childhood scarcity can enhance memory encoding for prices and calories from the menu, regardless of current feelings of financial scarcity. Furthermore, current financial scarcity causes people to make fewer mistakes when remembering prices but also to remember fewer dishes. Accordingly, although our findings do not support the expected adaptational effect, it does show that people who grew up in financial scarcity or are in current financial scarcity can outperform those who experienced less (childhood) financial scarcity.Show less
The present study examines the effect of financial scarcity on cognitive performance by not only measuring the objective, but also the subjective aspect of scarcity, contrary to earlier research in...Show moreThe present study examines the effect of financial scarcity on cognitive performance by not only measuring the objective, but also the subjective aspect of scarcity, contrary to earlier research in this field. Cognitive performance was measured by means of a cognitive control task and a working memory task. A moderating effect of cognitive load was tested by randomly assigning participants into either a ‘difficult’ or ‘easy’ condition, determining the level of difficulty of the financial scenarios they had to solve. This effect could not be rejected, nor supported. By use of the Psychological Inventory of Financial Scarcity (PIFS), this study finds support for the relationship between subjective financial scarcity and cognitive performance. More specifically, we demonstrate an effect on cognitive control, while no support was found an effect on working memory. This study underwrites the importance of a measurement of subjective financial scarcity and encourages future research to uncover the true impact of the cognitive load in the minds of the poor.Show less
