Money matters: an empirical investigation of money, face and Confucian work ethic

Abstract With rapid globalization, where Western businesses are increasingly setting up operations in various Asian countries, it has become more crucial to understand the effects of Asian traditions and values on people's attitudes towards the most basic of motivation tools—money. This study thus seeks to examine the effects of (a) Confucian work ethic (CWE), and (b) face concerns on the money attitudes of Singaporean Chinese. Data were collected via questionnaire surveys from 305 working adults. Results of hierarchical regression analyses suggested that (a) CWE was positively associated with the budget dimension and negatively associated with the retention dimension of the money scale, and (b) face concerns were positively associated with the obsession, power, achievement, evaluation and anxiety dimensions. Face concerns were found to be significantly and positively associated with the retention dimension of the money scale. Implications of our findings for research and practice are discussed.

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