Money attitudes and characteristics of empathy in students of economics and psychology and teacher education

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative analysis of money attitudes and empathy in students on the educational programmes in economics (36 people) and psychology and teacher education (44 people). Money attitudes were measured by A. Furnham’s method. Thus, we distinguished five scales: 1) A positive and rational attitude towards money. 2) The art of managing money; fixation on money. 3) Savings motive; anxiety about money. 4) Financial security motive; negative emotions in relation to money. 5) Tension due to money; the therapeutic function of money, money as pleasure or medicine. The characteristics of empathy were studied using I.M. Yusupov’s method. It is based on six scales of empathy. i.e., parents; animals; elderly people; children; characters of works of art; strangers. A preliminary analysis of the results showed that students, regardless of the educational programme, tend to have a positive attitude towards money, however, they also tend to experience money-related anxiety and stress. Besides, they may underestimate the importance of money, do not tend to save money, may ignore their financial capabilities and miss opportunities to improve their financial affairs. It was found that students of psychology and teacher education, compared with students of economics, are more inclined to overestimate the importance of money at the trend level. At the same time, students of economics are more likely to empathize with children, strangers, and animals. In addition, it is shown that the relationship between money attitudes and students' empathy differs depending on the field of study. In students of economics, empathy with fictional characters is directly related to anxiety about money, while for students of psychology and teacher education, empathy with the elderly and strangers is directly related to the therapeutic function of money.