The social representation of money and the economic crisis: differences by life cycle

Changes taking place in the last years have required Italian citizens to revise\r\nhabits and behaviors to adapt to an increasingly uncertain and volatile environment.\r\nIn such a scenario, transformations may have occurred in the shared\r\nrepresentations of two social objects, key to everyday life: money and the\r\neconomic crisis. The present study aims to investigate how the vision of these\r\ntwo objects differs between social groups that are facing different moments of\r\nthe life cycle, distinguishing between young adults in a phase of stabilization of\r\ntheir professional and family life, and more mature individuals, who can count\r\non greater stability. From a methodological perspective, an online questionnaire\r\nwas designed to investigate social representations about these two objects,\r\nusing free association tasks. 305 responses were collected and then analyzed\r\nthrough prototype analysis and correspondence analysis. The results revealed\r\ndifferences in the two groups’ representations of money: a pragmatic view of\r\nmoney emerges for young people, while more mature individuals demonstrate\r\nto hold a more symbolic perspective. Regarding the economic crisis, although\r\nno significant differences in the representational structure are depicted, results\r\nhighlight that younger people’s view of the crisis is markedly more pessimistic.\r\nThese results are discussed considering the existing literature, offering insights\r\nabout the practical and methodological implications, and providing directions\r\nfor future research