O significado do dinheiro: validação de escala e relacionamento com dados sociodemográficos em uma amostra de Uberlândia-MG

Abstract

Money is so essential to people's daily lives that it is difficult to imagine a society without it. Accordingly, since the 1970s, researchers in the fields of psychology and economics have sought to understand people's meanings, behaviors and attitudes towards money throughout their lives. Although studies on the topic are justified, Brazilian research still needs to be deepened. In this sense, this work initially sought to validate, by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (AFC), the Money Meaning Scale (ESD II) built by Moreira (2000), considering the levels of adjustment and reliability of the scale in order to facilitate application, and consequently, foster new research. Secondly, the objective was to understand whether sociodemographic variables, such as gender, age, race, religion, income, marital status and education, influence the meaning attributed to money. The results of the first objective showed that the original scale (ESD II) of 6 factors and 60 items by Moreira (2000) has a validated, reduced version, with better adjustment and reliability criteria than the original model. The second objective demonstrated that the variables gender and life cycle did not differ between groups in relation to the meaning of money. However, the variables race, religion and their practice, income, marital status and education showed a relationship with the feelings and perceptions that people attribute to money. As for future research, it is recommended that the scale proposed in this study be applied in all regions of Brazil to detect possible differences in results to the detriment of regionality, since this study was mostly applied in the city of Uberlândia. In addition, it is suggested to collect a sample with a greater variability in life cycles in order to reassess the impact of age on the meaning of money.