The Power To Know What You Have: Feeling Powerful Increases Money Monitoring

Does the feeling of power affect individuals’ money management? And if so, how? Ten studies (all included in a meta-analysis) demonstrate that feeling powerful increases intent to monitor, as well as actual monitoring, of one’s money. Both mediation and moderation methods reveal that this effect is driven by an increase in the perceived instrumentality of one’s money (i.e., the feeling that one can do a lot more with the money one owns). When individuals perceive low money instrumentality, the effect of feeling powerful on money monitoring is attenuated. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the understanding of power and financial decision making.