On the Psychological and Behavioral Consequences of Resource Scarcity

Consumers often encounter reminders of resource scarcity. However, relatively little is known about the psychological processes that such reminders instantiate. In the first essay, we posit that reminders of resource scarcity activate a scarcity mindset, which induces an underlying shift towards a competitive orientation. We demonstrate that this competitive orientation guides consumers' decision making towards advancing their own welfare. Further, we reveal that this tendency can manifest in behaviors that appear selfish, but also in behaviors that appear generous, in conditions where generosity allows for personal gains. The first essay thus offers a more nuanced understanding of why resource scarcity may promote behaviors that appear either selfish or generous in different contexts, and provides one way to reconcile seemingly conflicting prior findings. The second essay explores how exposure to scarcity-related cues affects the way in which people construe and categorize stimuli. We posit that because resource scarcity presents an obstacle to pursuing one's needs and desires in the most straightforward manner, scarcity-related cues will prompt people to think more abstractly and broaden their categorizations. In support of this, we find that people who are primed with scarcity are more likely to construe behaviors at a higher-level, to classify objects into broader, more inclusive categories, and to include atypical exemplars into a given category than those exposed to a neutral prime. These findings offer a meaningful advancement for understanding the psychology of resource scarcity and its implications.