Wealth And The Cultural/Psychological Impact

Wealth can be defined as “the abundance of valuable possessions or money. ” In the context of this essay, we will go with the abundance of money. In the United States, there is a growing disparity of wealth between socioeconomical groups. The abundance of money has significance impact on the psyche of individuals with or without it. Those with more money (the wealthy) have access to better healthcare, education, and better living conditions, while those without money (the poor) do not have access to these facilities. How we deal with this disparity is influenced by how individuals vote on economic policies in the government. That is, the government, through economical policies, will determine how to spread the wealth. This can influence how individuals vote, such as the stereotype of Republicans being wealthy and voting for the wealthy people, while the Democrats are either poor or sympathize the poor.

Furthermore, wealth can affect education. The rich students are able to have access to tutors, teachers, better books, and much more using their financial resources, while the impoverished children have to go hungry in class, deal with family at home, and go to work to earn more money instead of focusing on education. One key idea in education is language. For countries outside of the U. S. , learning English can be a gateway to becoming wealthy. However, this is also reciprocated as more Americans are learning Mandarin. This can be due to the cultural influence and the economic growth China has been seeing in recent years. For example, one can see how the tariffs of 2018 are affecting the U. S. Economy. Another example is that Chinese New Years has been becoming more exposed and celebrated in the U. S. (compared to 10 years ago). Therefore, we will be focusing on how wealth influences not only education, but language as well. Finally, wealth can affect religion. Poor nations seem to be more involved with religion, while wealthier nations seemed to be more secular. Thus, wealth has a significant influence on the cultural aspects of language, religion, government, and economics, as well as a psychological effect on people.

Language

Wealth and how much an individual has can affect many aspects of everyday life, from what you eat to how you live. Most times it is easy to notice these differences and compare how much money each person has and is worth. One of the less noticeable effects of income difference is how wealth affects language and learning abilities in children as early as infancy. This can be explored in the Article, “Research by Stanford psychologists reveals that 2-year-old children of lower-income families may already be six months behind in language development” (Carey pg. 1). Half a century worth of research shows that many kids of parents who were less educated due to being of a lower socioeconomic standing were more than a year behind other children with a higher socioeconomic background. Professor Anne Fernald, whose specialty is psychology, conducted a study to see the difference in vocabulary and linguistic processing speed of children with different socioeconomic backgrounds. The toddlers were given two images to choose from and then were told to look at only one of the images, then the speed at which they looked at the correct object was then carefully recorded. These tests conducted by professor Fernald showed that the children 18 months of age who came from a lower income class processed about two-hundred milliseconds less than the children of a higher income class, with a speed of around seven-hundred milliseconds.

The difference between the two groups of children isn’t too noticeable at first but as time passes and the children age the difference in processing speed increases significantly. “Both groups of children got faster with age, but at 24 months the lower SES children just barely reached the level of processing efficiency that the higher SES children had achieved at 18 months” (Carey paragraph 2). If a parent must work longer hours to support their child, then that means they spend less time with said child. The parent is unable to speak with their child and has less time to teach them new vocabulary. The more vocabulary a child learns from their parent at an early age allows for them to advance more quickly in their language processing skills. “Where do such early differences among children come from? One important factor is that parents differ in the amount of language stimulation they provide to their infants. Several studies show that parents who talk more with their children in an engaging and supportive way have kids who are more likely to develop their full intellectual potential than kids who hear very little child-directed speech” (Carey paragraph 9). Thus, those who are wealthy can spend more time with their children or hire nannies that can spend time with the baby. When I was a child my mother could not afford very much, and my siblings and I went to a public school. My cousins on the other hand attended very highly esteemed private schools. They received extra lessons from tutors whom made them read and practice vocabulary regularly from a very young age. The difference in wealth made a huge difference in my education and effected my linguistic skills from an early age. I struggled with reading and speaking at a young age, but my mother could not afford to hire any tutors to help me with my struggles. I did not notice the difference in my cousins and my own education until I was older.

When I entered middle school, I was learning what I believed to be the proper level of math, science and language for my age, along with all my other peers. My cousin came over for a visit and we started to discuss school and what we were learning. I soon realized that my cousin was learning material that was at least two grade levels above me even though he was 3 years younger than me. Psychologically this was a blow to my confidence and it made me feel stupid.

Religion

Religion and wealth have been linked closely together since the beginning of mankind’s awakening to spirituality. Most religions have temples, churches, or some form of structure for its followers to go to and worship, such as the temple of Ishtar, the temple of Zeus, or even ancient Vikings and their worship of Odin. Many of these ancient religions require some form of payment. Whether it was coin or animal sacrifices, theses place of worship have always been compensated in the currency of its followers. Of course, the wealthier an individual was the more likely they would be saved from the underworld and sent to a better afterlife. This is especially true for the ancient Egyptians, who thought that they could bring their belongings with them in the afterlife.

The result of this belief is the pyramids of Giza and the ancient treasures that are inside of it. The people of more impoverished countries tend to turn to religion in hopes of a better tomorrow. While the people of impoverished countries turn to religion for guidance, the wealthier countries are more secular in their beliefs because life is generally better in these wealthier nations. As Dr. Barber mentions, “The most religious countries of the world are desperately poor suggesting that religion serves as a balm for the miseries of life. In wealthy developed countries, the quality of life is better and religion declines” (Barber pg. 1). Thus, impoverished countries have a significant number of religious followers, while in wealthy countries people are becoming more secular. There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as countries where there is a lot of poor people, but it is very secular because communism and dictatorship has predominantly banned the use of religious symbols and practices (such as Vietnam).

As well as wealthier nations, who have better living conditions and are also very religious. This happens because even though the nation and its inhabitants are considered wealthy, the ratio of poor to wealthy is unbalanced. “a lot of money is concentrated in the hands of a wealthy elite. At the same time, (about one person in six) is desperately poor” (Barber pg. 1). This kind of imbalance in wealth distribution causes an increase in social and health problems as well as crime which are major contributors to religious belief. Wealth is affected directly by religion because of the belief systems held by these institutions. It is also dependent upon the religion being practiced, for instance, Professor Keister states “results from analyses of the National Longitudinal Survey, the Health and Retirement Study and the Economic Values Survey suggest that Conservative Protestant and Jewish families tend to be polar opposites on most measures of wealth” (Keister pg. 1).

Many religions state that it is important to bring as many children into the world as possible and that women are meant to stay at home and take care of them. Conservative protestants are a prime example of this belief system. A large amount of this community has many children and only believes that the man should work. Without an extra income coming in from the mother there is only one source of income to support both the parents and the children. However, in secular countries women are entering the workforce more and more, such as the island nation of Japan (who has no religion and is considered wealthy). Another group that has similar practices as this was the Catholics but as time has progressed many people from the Catholic religion are changing their beliefs and having less children and encouraging the mothers to start working. With less children to support and more income because both parents are working these religious families are struggling less and becoming more financially secure. “religion affects wealth indirectly through its very strong effect on important processes such as educational attainment, marriage, decisions to have kids, how many kids people have and women’s decisions to work or stay home with their kids” (Keister paragraph 3).

As one can imagine, kids take up a lot of time, money, and energy and do not lead to an increase of wealth. Furthermore, impoverished families tend to have many children, while wealthier families may have 1 or 2 children, if any. Government. Many things can influence and shape people’s political beliefs and how they choose their government. Wealth and family are culturally significant factors in political values. For instance, family can greatly affect how an individual view the world around them. Many people watch their parents and attempt to act, move and think like them. If a father or mother like a specific sports team that child will likely choose that team over the others because that is what is acceptable within their household. One example of this is how my family was obviously a lower level of socioeconomic class and as such are all democrats. As I became older and was able to understand the difference between Republicans and Democrats I always identified as democratic. If a father and mother are wealthy, they are more than likely going to be Republican and be open about their political views. “What research suggests is that each of these agents plays an important role in shaping our political identities, but it is the family that appears to trump the others. Indeed, the greatest amount of influence in the political socialization process occurs within the family, and the most long-lasting influence of the family is party affiliation” (Hoffman paragraph 4).

For instance, all my friends are from the same neighborhood as myself and lean more towards the Democratic party. Whereas my coworkers who grew up in higher socioeconomic environments tended to lean more towards the Republican party. Socioeconomic status plays a significant role in political stance and beliefs of an individual in my opinion. Economics. Culture plays a large part in economics and how countries develop due in it. “Acknowledging that cultural attitudes can influence economic decisions raises a question: Which attitudes? Over the years, the bulk of Sapienza’s own research has focused on trust. ‘My view has always been that trust is one variable that is highly cultural, often transmitted from parents to kids’” (Sapienza paragraph 8). Trust is essential to any nation’s economic development and growth. For instance, many people who are suspicious of a person they are having a transaction with will more than likely back out of the deal, especially if culturally they were taught by their parents to be wary of people. It happens all the time trade agreements fall through because one of the parties did not trust the other fully and believed that they were being duped. In my experiences, my fiancée came from a higher socioeconomical status and at times is too optimistic and has too much faith in people. This has led him to getting mugged in the past (he is book smart, but not street smart). While, I came from a lower socioeconomical background and was taught to not trust people and to be aware of my surroundings (I hope to become book smart, but I am street smart).

Finally, lower socioeconomical people are great at bartering, while higher socioeconomical people do not know the true value of a hard-earned dollar. Furthermore, they may not want to haggle and just pay the price out of convenience. For example, a lot of people end up buying coffee from Starbucks (easily $4 to $5 a drink), while they can make their own coffee at home for less than a dollar a drink. Thus, wealth affects economics through trust, bargaining, and convenience.

Psychological

Wealth can have a psychological impact on people in many ways. It can affect children and cause them to feel less than their wealthier peers because their parents could not work more with them or hire someone to help them advance in their studies. It can cause children to have low self esteem and possibly not pursue a higher education which can lead to more financial difficulties later in life. Religions being affected by wealth can have psychological impacts such as people who believe that they will not have a good afterlife if they do not give enough money. It can also lead to being fixated with obeying religious laws and perhaps think their religion is the one true religion and look down upon others. Another impact would be the fact that people who are in a lower socioeconomic nation are more likely to have similar thought processes and from these thought processes turn to religion for emotional relief and mental escape from their situations. The idea of an all knowing, all loving creator who may, at a whim, turn their luck around provides them hope for the future. As for the psychological impacts of wealth on economics, people of lower socioeconomical backgrounds are often less trusting of other individuals and may turn a great deal, while people of higher socioeconomical backgrounds are often too trusting and may make great deals. This cultural aspect of trust also plays a vital role in international trade between nations all over the world.

For instance, the United States of America trades more with China than they do with Russia. The main reason for this is because for many generations culturally the citizens of the U. S have been taught to not trust the Russians and to treat them as if they were our enemies. Because of this many people who are now government leaders grew up having these beliefs and simply do not trust and will not trade with the Russians. Whereas we have never really had a significant conflict with China and therefore have established trust between our two nations. Therefore, without trust amongst our neighbors’ tensions would become heightened and trade would then become difficult amongst different nations. Trust is needed for economic growth to occur within a nation and for it to prosper.

Conclusion

Overall, the cultural aspects of language, religion, government and economy are influenced greatly be wealth and have significant psychological impact upon people and their environments. The abundance of money has significance impact on the psyche of individuals with or without it. How we deal with this disparity is influenced by how individuals vote on economic policies in the government. Furthermore, wealth can affect education and how well the youth of each nation develops in educational institutions. Finally, wealth can affect religion and the people who believe in that religion. Poor nations seem to be more involved with religion, while wealthier nations seemed to be more secular. Thus, wealth has a significant influence on the cultural aspects of language, religion, government, and economics, as well as a psychological effect on people and their children and how they raise their children to think, behave and treat other people around them. Wealth affects language and learning abilities in many young children. Research shows that many kids of parents who were less educated due to being of a lower socioeconomic standing were more than a year behind other children with a higher socioeconomic background. Parents must work longer hours to support their child and up spending less time with their child. The more vocabulary a child learns from their parent at an early age allows for them to advance more quickly in their language processing skills. Those who are wealthy can spend more time with their children or hire nannies that can spend time with the baby. Religion and wealth go hand in hand ever since the creation of religion.

Whether it was coin or animal sacrifices, theses place of worship have always been compensated in the currency of its followers. The people of more impoverished countries tend to turn to religion for hope, as well as retribution. While the people of impoverished countries turn to religion for guidance, the wealthier countries are more secular in their beliefs because life is generally better in these wealthier nations. Thus, impoverished countries have a significant number of religious followers, while in wealthy countries people are becoming more secular. Wealth is affected directly by religion because of the belief systems held by these institutions. Many religions state that it is important to bring as many children into the world as possible and that women are meant to stay at home and take care of them. Without an extra income coming in from the mother there is only one source of income to support both the parents and the children.

However, in secular countries women are entering the workforce more and more. Children use up time, money, and energy and are not considered good investments. Impoverished families tend to have many children, while wealthier families may have 1 or 2 children, allowing them to spend more money on leisurely activities. Many things can influence and shape people’s political beliefs and how they choose their government. Wealth and family are culturally significant factors in political values, as children take on their parent’s ideologies. Culture plays a large part in economics and how countries develop due in it. Trust is essential to any nation’s economic development and growth. Also, lower income people are great at bartering, while higher income people tend not to barter because there is no need for it since they are financially fit. Therefore, wealth affects economics through trust and bargaining.

Wealth can have a psychological impact on people in many ways. It can affect children and cause them to feel less than their wealthier peers, have low self-esteem, and possibly not pursue a higher education which can lead to more financial difficulties later in life. Religions being affected by wealth can have psychological impacts such as people believing that their religion is the one true religion and look down upon others. Another impact would be the fact that people who are in a lower socioeconomic nation are more likely to have similar thought processes and from these thought processes turn to religion for emotional relief and mental escape from their situations. As for the psychological impacts of wealth on economics, people of lower socioeconomical backgrounds are often less trusting of other individuals and may turn a great deal, while people of higher socioeconomical backgrounds are often too trusting and may make great deals. Without culture many countries and nations would not be able to differentiate themselves from each other and many of the people of these nations would suffer and not experience any growth.