Investigating the Effects of Monetary Ethics on Life Satisfaction
Journal Title: Journal of Applied Sociology - Year 2022, Vol 32, Issue 4
Abstract
Introduction Today, research on people's attitudes towards money and its effects on individual and social life has more been taken into consideration. The concept of attitude towards money evaluates different aspects and multi-dimensional structures of money meanings and indicates a value people give to money and consider money an important part of their life (Marwah & Anim, 2015). Studying the attitude towards money is important because it requires making decisions about money and financial behaviors (Henchoz et al., 2019). People in daily life always deal with money. Money changes everything; some people adjust their life level, expectations, tastes, preferences, and consumption based on their money. Money as a useful tool in satisfying psychological and environmental needs motivates an individual to change his/her life direction by doing acts actively. Therefore, money can be seen as an efficient stimulus for internal motivations (Bandura et al., 2011). Attitudes in this study are defined as the meanings, feelings, and beliefs that individuals attach to money. Money attitudes are acquired through socialization and are established early in childhood (Tang et al. 2005). The present study aimed to investigate the effects of dimensions of monetary ethics (budget, evil, equity, success, and motivation) on life satisfaction. Materials and Methods The present research is applied and descriptive-correlational in terms of purpose and method. The statistical population consisted of all scientific board members and university employees including 815 participants in the 2018-2019 academic year. Since the population size of professors (54%) and employees (46%) were not identical, 261 were selected based on the Cochran sampling formula using the stratified random sampling method fit to size (in terms of professors and employees). Then, 300 questionnaires were distributed. Among the returned questionnaires, only 220 were usable (125 professors and 95 employees). The questionnaires consisted of two parts of questions: demographic questions and professional questions. To evaluate life satisfaction, the SWLS measure (Diener et al., 1985) was used. To assess attitudes towards money, the Money Ethic Scale (Tang, Luna-Arocas, & Whiteside, 1997) was used. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS24 and Pls2 statistical software. Discussion of Results and Conclusions The results of the present study showed that the motivation factor with a high score predicts changes in life satisfaction in both groups: in other words, people who are more motivated by money are more satisfied with their lives. The coefficients of the effect of motivation dimension for professors and employees’ life satisfaction were 0.652 and 0.662, respectively. For employees, in addition to the motivation factor, the equity factor (0.173) and the success factor (-0.153) were predictors of life satisfaction, so that the success factor with a high score caused less life satisfaction and the justice factor with a high score caused more satisfaction with life. The results of the study for both groups (professors and employees) are compatible with previous results. For example, the results of a study by Tang, Luna-Arocas, and Whiteside’s (2002) indicate that people who budget their money more and have higher monetary tend to have high self-esteem and more satisfaction with their lives. Baker and Hagedorn’s (2008) study results indicated that people who had lower scores in the power factor and achievement and higher scores in the budgeting factor had more satisfaction with their lives. Jhang’s (2018) study indicated that people who saw money as the power symbol had less satisfaction with their lives while a positive relationship with life satisfaction was found for the motivation factor. Based on previous research, it can be concluded that different understandings of the importance of money and monetary attitudes could have a different effects on life satisfaction. The results of the present study could have implications for researchers and practitioners in the fields of psychology, human and organizational relationships, and managements. For example, to enhance employee’s motivation and understand factors affecting it, managers have an interest in reducing work costs and increasing the employee’s productivity. The results can also guide employees in providing a basis for making business decisions in organizations and for everyday life in the society. Considering the significance of the topic and the lack of sufficient research inside the country, it is recommended to do wider studies on this issue. It is also recommended to use financial counselors and trainers to teach applications to help people and families to improve their financial satisfaction. Life satisfaction could lead to improving intelligence, capability, motivation, and increasing productivity.
Authors and Affiliations
Donya Shajirat MA Student, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Management, and Accounting, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran Donya. sh926@gmail. com Habib Ansari Samani* Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Management, and Accounting, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran h. samani@yazd. ac. ir Seyed Nezamodin Makian Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Management, and Accounting, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran nmakiyan@yazd. ac. ir
Keywords
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- EP ID EP704800
- DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.22108/jas.2021.123194.1910
- Views 77
- Downloads 0
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