My New Reaction to “Your Craving for Money May Be an Attachment Disorder”
~ Wednesday, November 2, 2022 Blog Post ~
Source: https://mappalicious.com/2016/05/24/your-craving-for-money-may-be-an-attachment-disorder/
In 2019, I commented on the interesting article titled, “Your Craving for Money May Be an Attachment Disorder.” I said:
I agree. A person’s deep attachment or love for money is just a form of displacement. Since he has a massive need for a secure, warm, and affirming relationship with a compassionate human being but could not get it, he displaces his feelings to achieving his first $1 million instead.
One thought on “Your Craving for Money May Be an Attachment Disorder” — Sheena Ricarte (@poshpisces84) 06/15/2019
Three years later, my viewpoint has absolutely changed. A lot of grave global events that emphasized how important money is have happened, such as the lingering coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine armed conflict.
These two tragic events relating to geopolitics and socioeconomics have led to skyrocketing inflation rates and cost-of-living and energy crises in many countries, and signaled a possible global recession.
Thus, I have a new viewpoint for the article, “Your Craving for Money May Be an Attachment Disorder”:
I don’t think my constant craving for money is an attachment disorder. After all, MONEY IS LIFE. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war that have led to serious economic problems in many countries have cemented my position of becoming MORE PRACTICAL, personal finance-wise. Again, MONEY IS LIFE. For me, MONEY IS EVERYTHING.
Here is the article:
Your Craving for Money May Be an Attachment Disorder
By Dr. Nico Rose, 05/24/2016, 1 Comment
This certainly is a strong proposition. It was coined by Prof. Dr. Eva Walther from the University of Trier as part of lecture on “Money & Love” during the first Conference of the German Association for Research in Positive Psychology. Yet, it may grounded in solid research. Here´s the story:
First, there’s some research that both social support and money can act as a buffer for pain — or the anticipation of pain. So, when people expect to experience painful life events, they will draw on social support (= their friends and loved ones) to guard themselves against or alleviate this unpleasant emotion. Yet, while social capital is the more natural (primary) defense mechanism, money is seen as a secondary one that mainly comes into play when the primary one doesn’t work. Here’s a quote from the Zhou/Gao article listed below:
First, anticipation of pain heightens the desire for social support as well as the desire for money. Second, both social support and money reminders alleviate pain, whereas social exclusion and monetary loss result in an upsurge of pain awareness. In our view, social support is the primary defense against pain and the reliance on money may result from the failure of social support to accomplish its pain-buffering goal.
In short, and a bit overgeneralized: When people cannot lean on social support to fulfill their emotional needs, they will turn to money to do the job.
Second, research finds that money-seeking may be linked to having an avoidant attachment orientation (using the Bowlby typology). This finding lends some credibility to the idea that money acts as a substitute for human bonding — as people with an avoidant attachment style may find it harder to attain all the emotional comfort they need in stressful situations.
So, just in case you’re striving for that first million $: It could very well be you’re just looking for a friend…
References:
Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2008). “Can’t buy me love”: An attachment perspective on social support and money as psychological buffers. Psychological Inquiry, 19(3–4), 167–173.
Zhou, X., & Gao, D. G. (2008). Social support and money as pain management mechanisms. Psychological Inquiry, 19(3–4), 127–144.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_theory
https://mappalicious.com/2016/05/21/power-work-x-wellbeing-time/
https://mappalicious.com/2016/05/24/your-craving-for-money-may-be-an-attachment-disorder/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10478400802587679#.V0RLyMuxJCo
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10478400802631295?journalCode=hpli20
