Empirical Examination of the Effect of Dirty Money on Human Greed and Moral Behavior in a Sample of Nigerian University Students

Abstract

This study examined the effect of dirty money on dispositional human greed and ethical moral behavior. This study was the first attempt to explicitly explain the mechanism associated with dirty money, human greed and ethical behaviour in Nigerian corrupt society. The participants comprised of 60 young people, 33 male (55.0%) and 27 female (45%) within the age range of 18 to 26 with a mean age of 22, drawn from the population frame of 154 psychology undergraduate students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Based on money pathology model dialectics, the proposed problem of study guided the formation of two hypotheses .Hypothesis 1 stated that dirty money minders will differ significantly from clean money minders on dispositional human greed. Hypothesis 2 stated that clean paper minders will differ significantly from dirty paper minders on ethically moral behavior. Dispositional greed scale and ethical moral self-inventory instruments were employed. Between subject experimental design ensured participants were primed with money (dirty Vs clean). ANOVA statistics were applied to the data. The result of data analysis indicated that dirty money minders did not differ significantly from clean money minders on dispositional human greed ;whereas clean paper minders do differ significantly from dirty paper minders on ethically moral behavior. As individuals in society, one must honor and value our currency and handle our money with maximum respect. Cognitive thought and belief about cleanness of non-monetary objects was more implicated in ethically moral behavior but not in dispositional human greed. Government must evolve new policies that encourage activation of laws and legal frameworks, that envision moral financial behaviour, transparent economic easy- of –doing- business, and sustain E-money business, regulated online cashless financial transactions, in a society that adhere to consumer ethical behaviour. Our aptness to value cleanness reflects strong adherence to ethical behaviour at the individual level. Thus purity, be it in objects we use, or in our immediate environment, is a reflection of adherence to ethical values standard and cherished moral behavior in contemporary Nigerian society.