We all like to believe that love is not tainted by monetary considerations, but the truth is there is an undeniable link between the two – a connection that behavioural economists and psychologists have recently been researching with greater interest.
The research
Marina Adshade, Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia, in her provocative work entitled Dirty Money: The Economics of Sex and Love considers how all-romantic behaviour can be understood along economic lines. Based on research she compiled over three years, Adshade shows that we usually behave in our best economic interests, and challenges the common belief that humans have developed socially over time.
Looking at her findings dispassionately, one may come to agree with Adshade, because in our society money is power and we cannot deny the frenzied pursuit for all things material.
Economic principles
The economics of love is serious business. In 2006 and 2007, leading global analytics firm Gallup carried out a survey in 136 countries asking people how and when they experienced love. The results of the survey showed that those with higher household incomes were more likely to experience love; and the correlation occurs because individuals with more money are perceived as being more desirable.
As economists study a pragmatic view of love and relationships that strips away any emotion and solely focuses on the economic transaction, we may ask; why we are ashamed of acknowledging this association between love and money?
We do not like to think of love and money in combination with each other, but consider these:
- Going out on a date involves an economic question: who is going to pay?
- The person that pays for the date may influence the dynamic of the relationship because it is part of an economic underlined structure.
- We also find that in any relationship – whether romantic or otherwise, we prefer to give gifts in kind rather than cash. We prefer to show our appreciation without a direct monetary transaction, as money is perceived to nullify the underlying social motivation driving transactions within relationship. Therefore, we are always so careful about introducing economic activity into (romantic) relationships.
But, at the very core of it, the love for money and true love based on mutual respect and affection rarely co-exists. The obsessive quest for material acquisitions often blind us to those things that really matter in life as it makes us oblivious to the joy that may be gained from true and genuine relationships.