Exposure to reminders of money — images of currency, a stack of bills, even Monopoly money — has been shown to measurably shift people toward self-reliance and away from social connection: less willing to help others, less willing to ask for help, and physically inclined to sit farther away from a new acquaintance. None of this requires actually possessing more money; the mere visual reminder of the concept is enough to nudge behavior in an individualist direction.
This matters for anyone designing an environment meant to encourage cooperation or connection — a workplace, a classroom, a negotiation room — since unconsidered visual cues (a prominently displayed price list, financial imagery, cash registers in view) can be quietly working against exactly the kind of collaborative behavior the space is meant to encourage.
Vohs and her research team briefly exposed study participants to reminders of money — images of currency, or a stack of Monopoly bills placed nearby — before having them engage in a series of social and problem-solving tasks. Compared to participants exposed to neutral images, the money-primed group was measurably more self-reliant and less willing to help a struggling confederate or ask for help themselves, and when asked to set up two chairs for a conversation with a new acquaintance, they positioned the chairs farther apart.