Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much

by Sendhil Mullainathan

Could we re-create this in Family Feud as well? As before, subjects were asked to play several rounds. Once again, some were rich (they had many seconds per round to play) and some were poor (they had only a few seconds). But now we gave subjects a chance to look ahead a little, to prepare for future rounds. Half were given a preview of the next round’s question. They could think about that question in parallel to thinking about the current one. They could look at it and decide to save or borrow because they think they ought to spend more or less time on it. The previews helped. To be more accurate, they helped the rich, who looked ahead, took advantage of the information, and scored more points. The poor, on the other hand, did no better with the previews. They were so focused on the current round that they did not expend the mental resources required to look ahead. Scarcity kept them tied to the present, unable to benefit from a glimpse of what the future might hold.