Management College
Resume:
Springer ****
Journal of Business Ethics (****) *9: 281 293
DOI 10.1007/s10551-004-6395-4
Measurement Invariance Across
Gender and Major: The Love of
Money Among University Students in Linzhi Du
People s Republic of China Thomas Li-Ping Tang
ABSTRACT. This study investigates measurement tant) across gender and college major among university
invariance of the 17-item-4-factor Love of Money students in People s Republic of China. Results
Scale (LOMS) (Rich, Motivator, Success, and Impor- revealed con gural (factor structures) invariance across
gender. Metric (factor loadings) invariance across gen-
der was not achieved based on chi-square change, but
achieved based on t indices change between uncon-
Linzhi Du is an Associate Professor of management in the De-
strained and constrained multi-group con rmatory fac-
partment of Management, Business School, Hohai University,
tor analysis (MGCFA). Both con gural invariance and
in Nanjing, People s Republic of China. Currently, he is
metric invariance (chi-square change and t indices
conducting his post-doctoral research at Nanjing University in
change) were achieved across college major (law,
Nanjing. He received his Ph.D., degree in Social Psychology
sociology, and political science). Results of this study
from Nankai University in Tianjin, China. His primary re-
suggest that the Love of Money Scale, developed in the
search interests are in the areas of organizational behavior, re-
U.S., has achieved measurement invariance in this
search method, measurement and evaluation, money attitudes,
student sample in China. Future researchers will have
social psychology, and cross-cultural issues. He has published
some con dence in using this measurement when they
more than 10 journal articles and presented many papers at
examine the love of money in Chinese management
several international conferences around the world. He received
and organizational studies.
the First Place Award of Research Excellence from the Ministry
of Personnel, Jiangsu Province, China (2004).
KEY WORDS: con gural invariance, metric invariance,
Thomas Li-Ping Tang (Ph.D., Case Western Reserve Uni-
the love of money scale, the money ethic scale, gender,
versity) is a Full Professor of Management in the Department of
college major, university students, China
Management and Marketing, Jennings A. Jones College of
Business, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in
Murfreesboro, TN USA. He has taught Industrial and Or-
The mechanic, who wishes to do his work well,
ganizational Psychology at National Taiwan University and
must rst sharpen his tools.
at MTSU. His primary research interests are in organizational
Confucius
behavior, the love of money, unethical behaviors in the nancial
domain, work motivation, compensation decisions, satisfaction,
turnover, OCB, and cross-cultural issues. He has published Management researchers de ne measurement as the
more than 93 journal articles (e.g., Journal of Applied systematic assignment of numbers on variables to
Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Human Relations, represent characteristics of persons, objects, or events
Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Man-
(James et al., 1982; Stevens, 1951; Vandenberg and
agement, Journal of Business Ethics, etc.), presented more
Lance, 2000). Researchers use dierent kinds of
than 160 papers in many countries, and reviewed papers for 24
measures to describe characteristics of individuals,
journals around the world. He has received two Outstanding
groups, or organizations. Measurement has become a
Research Awards (1991, 1999) and the Distinguished In-
pivotal issue in management research because it
ternational Service Award (1999) at MTSU and the Best
de nes the links between organizational theories and
Reviewer Award from the International Management Division
the data used to test them. Historically, classical test
of the Academy of Management in Seattle, WA (2003).
Linzhi Du and Thomas Li-Ping Tang
282
theory (CTT) examines the quality of a measure- training in the society, people, even within the same
ment by evaluating measurement properties such as culture, may not perceive the measurement in the
reliability and validity. exact, same manner. The main purse of this paper is
Over the years, management researchers have to examine the following issue: Are there differences
become increasingly interested in measurement in gender and college major among college students
invariance. There are several major reasons for this regarding the love of money in China?
important change in research. First, recent advances Recently, in the measurement invariance litera-
in analytic tools and measurement theories allow ture, Vandenberg and Lance (2000) have provided a
researchers to address the issue of measurement summary of recommended practices of measurement
equivalence, or measurement invariance across invariance. We will brie y list the nine steps below:
populations. For example, numerous books, jour- (1) an omnibus test of equality of covariance matrices
nals, journal articles, and papers presented in con- across groups, (2) a test of con gural invariance,
ferences have provided suggestions, guidelines, and (3) a test of metric invariance, (4) a test of scalar
examples to improve research in many elds (e.g. invariance, (5) a test of the null hypothesis that like
Cheung, 2002; Cheung and Rensvold, 1999, 2002; items unique variances are invariant across groups,
Epitropaki and Martin, 2004; Rensvold, 2002; (6) a test of the null hypothesis that factor variances
Rensvold and Cheung, 1999; Riordan and were invariant across groups, (7) a test of the null
Vandenberg, 1994; Schriesheim and Neider, 2001; hypothesis that factor covariances were invariant
Steenkamp and Baumgartner, 1998; Tang et al., in across groups, (8) a test of the null hypothesis of
press, 2002, 2003b, Vandenberg and Lance, 2000). invariant factor means across groups, and (9) other
Second, researchers test management theories more speci c test (Vandenberg and Lance, 2000, pp.
using psychological measurements in cross-cultural 12 13). Most researchers, in practice, focus on the
studies. Management scholars have been concerned two most fundamental steps: the test of con gural
about whether survey instruments that have been invariance and the test of metric invariance.
developed in one culture can be used to measure Con gural invariance exists when the same factor
subjects in another culture (Cheung, 2002). The structures are identi ed across all groups. Metric
following statement summarizes the most critical invariance is achieved when all factor-loading
point regarding measurement invariance in research: parameters are equal across groups. Multi-group
It does little good to test a theoretical and con- con rmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) examines the
ceptual relationship across cultures unless there is change in the goodness-of- t index (GFI) when
con dence that the measures operationalizing the cross-group constraints are imposed on a measure-
constructs of that relationship exhibit both concep- ment model (Cheung and Rensvold, 2002). Since
tual and measurement equivalence across the metric invariance is very dif cult to achieve, based
comparison groups (Riordan and Vandenberg, on the chi-square change between the unconstrained
1994, p. 645). and constrained MGCFA, many management
Further, the issue of measurement invariance is not researchers have identi ed the application of change
limited to only cross-cultural studies. In fact, in t indices (Cheung, 2002; Cheung and Rensvold,
researchers and scholars have examined measurement 1999, 2002; Vandenberg and Lance, 2000).
invariance across gender (Eagle et al., 2001; Tang
et al., in press), income level (Tang et al., 2002b),
employment status (full-time versus part-time)
The present study
(Tang, et al., 2002a), profession (Idaszak et al., 1988;
Tang et al., 2002b), experimental treatments (Chan
People s Republic of China has a piece of land that is
and Schmitt, 1997), sources of performance ratings
slightly smaller than the U.S. and has more than 1.2
(Maurer et al., 1998), and different time periods in
billion people. It has experienced signi cant eco-
longitudinal research (Epitropaki and Martin, 2004;
nomic developments and changes for the last decade
Riordan et al., 2001). Due to different demographic
and is the world s largest single market. With respect
variables (e.g. sex, age, income, and profession),
to foreign investments in China, the psychology that
values, experiences, socialization processes, and
The love of Money in China 283
seems to drive major corporations is that the risk of been a signi cant increase regarding the importance
not being a part of the Chinese market is much of money in the U.S. and around the world (e.g.
greater than the current risks (Tang and Tang, 2001). Chiu et al., 2001; Harpaz, 1990; Mitchell and
Research also suggests that Chinese people also seem Mickel, 1999; Rynes and Gerhart, 2000). In a lon-
to value money very highly and have a strong cash gitudinal study, the lack of money has become the
mentality (Chiu et al., 2001). People s money number one cause of dissatisfaction among university
attitudes may change when China changes from a students on campus (out of 10 causes) in the U.S. for
controlled economy to the developing free market the past 7 years (1997 2003), up from the third and
economy (Tang et al., 2000a). Thus, Chinese the second place of two earlier periods (1990 1996,
people s money attitudes, the love of money in 1981 1987, respectively) (Bryan, 2004). Over the
particular, will be of particular interests to researchers years, students and employees in the U.S. and
and managers. around the world are keenly aware of the impor-
The major purpose of this study is to establish tance of money (Chiu et al., 2001). This is an
con gural and metric invariance (a modest attempt important management topic because pay dissatis-
of achieving measurement invariance) of the Love of faction has numerous undesirable consequences
Money Scale (LOMS) across gender and college (Heneman and Judge, 2000), such as: low commit-
major among university students in People s ment, turnover (Hom and Griffeth, 1995), counter-
Republic of China. We will provide a brief review productive behaviors, (Cohen-Charash and Spector,
of the literature regarding the Money Ethic Scale 2001), and unethical behavior (Tang and Chiu,
(MES), LOMS, and related variables below. 2003).
Money is the instrument of commerce and the
measure of value (Smith, 1937). There is a spirited
debate: On the one hand, money is a hygiene factor
The meaning of money
(Herzberg, 1987). People do work for money but
China s accession to WTO, economic developments they work even more for meaning in their lives
of Paci c Rim countries, the adaptation of a (Pfeffer, 1998, p. 112). On the other hand, money is
common currency, the Euro, on January 1, 2002 in a motivator (Gupta and Shaw, 1998; Kohn, 1993).
European Union (EU) countries involving 305 No other incentive or motivational technique
million people with diverse cultures, the expansion comes even close to money (Locke et al., 1980,
of the EU from 15 to 25 countries in 2004, the cre- p. 381). Money has been examined directly in some
ation of an economic superpower (415 million people motivation theories (Herzberg, 1987) but not in
and a 9 trillion dollar economy), the provisions of the others. Individual difference has been emphasized in
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), some models but not in others. One construct that
reuni cation of Germany, and the restructuring of should not be overlooked is the meaning of money
the former Soviet Union have removed many trade (Barber and Bretz, 2000, p. 45).
barriers around the world. The growing integration It is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss all
of the world economy into a single, huge free market different meanings of money and measures of money
increases the intensity of competition. Organizations attitudes (see Furnham and Argyle, 1998; Tang
in the U.S. and around the world are increasingly et al., 2002a). Among many perspectives in the
interested in reducing labor costs and increasing current literature on money, the one consistent
worker productivity and pro ts. thread in this body of work is the emphasis on its
Managers use money to attract, retain, and importance (Mitchell and Mickel, 1999, p. 569).
motivate employees and achieve organizational goals Learning more about the relative importance of pay
(Milkovich and Newman, 2002). Money has been to people is an imperative (Heneman and Judge,
used around the world for a long period of time. 2000, p. 96). In a recent Academy of Management
The meaning of money, however, is in the eye of Review article, Mitchell and Mickel have considered
the beholder (McClelland, 1967, p. 10) and serves the Money Ethic Scale as one of the most
as a frame of reference in which they examine well-developed and systematically used measures
their everyday lives (Tang, 1992, p. 201). There has of money attitude (1999, p. 571).
Linzhi Du and Thomas Li-Ping Tang
284
and Gerhart, 2000; Wernimont and Fitzpatrick,
The love of money scale (LOMS)
1972). Further, as mentioned, the lack of money
Tang and his associates have developed several ver- has become the number one cause of dissatisfac-
sions of the MES (Luna-Arocas and Tang, 2004; tion among university students for the past 7 years
Tang, 1992, 1995; Tang and Chiu, 2003; Tang and (1997 2003) in the U.S. (Bryan, 2004).
Kim, 1999; Tang and Tang, 2002; Tang et al., 2003a; Fifth, researchers have used the MES and the
Tang et al., 2003b), according to the ABC model of LOMS in many geopolitical entities around the
attitudes (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1977). De nition of world and cited MES in Chinese, English, French,
factors, test retest reliability, Cronbach s alpha, the Italian, Romania, Russian, Spanish, and other
nomological network of correlations, and validity of languages (see Luna-Arocas and Tang, 2004; Tang
the MES can be found in the literature (e.g. Furnham and Chiu, 2003). For example, Tang and Chiu
and Argyle, 1998; Mitchell and Mickel, 1999; Tang, (2003) have developed a model of unethical
1993; Tang et al., 2000b). behavior and found that the love of money (as
Although the MES has been well-developed and measured by Factors Rich, Motivator, Success, and
systematically used, the factors of MES examine the Important) is the root of evil (unethical behavior
meaning of money in general. For example, Tang in an organizational setting), but money (self-
and Tang (2002) identi ed 14 factors for the 58-item reported income) is not, among Hong Kong
MES. Thus, the coverage of MES is too broad and employees. Further, the indirect paths of that
too general for speci c research purposes. More model suggest that the love of money causes low
recently, Tang and his associates (Tang and Chiu, pay satisfaction that, in turn, leads to high
2003; Tang et al., 2003b) have developed the unethical behavior (evil). Thus, money is not the
LOMS based on selected factors of the MES (Tang root of evil. The love of money is directly related
and Tang, 2002) for the following reasons. to evil and also indirectly related to evil through
First, Tang and Chiu (2003) trace the inspiration pay dissatisfaction. Thereby, the love of money is
for studying the love of money to a Western signi cantly related to many important work-re-
and Judea Christian construct: The love of money lated attitudes and behaviors and may have
is the root of evil (Bible: 1 Timothy, 6: 10). Those important implications for researchers and manag-
who want to be rich are falling into temptation ers in the management eld.
(Bible: 1 Timothy, 6: 9). Although the love of Sixth, in order to manage human resources across
money construct (unobservable) has been used in cultures effectively, researchers and managers need
everyday expression and popular literature, there is to understand the meaning of money, the love of
no measurement of the love of money, operation- money, in particular, across cultures. In order to
alized empirically, in the management and pay sat- study the love of money in a new culture (e.g.
isfaction literature. The LOMS will ll the void. China), we must know, rst of all, the properties of
Second, the love of money construct is a ne- the measurement instrument. This study will
glected area and is an important topic in man- examine the 17-item-4-factor LOMS (Tang and
agement and management spirituality and Chiu, 2003) and apply that to a sample of university
religion, compensation, and pay satisfaction, in students in People s Republic of China (see
particular. Third, the love of money assesses the Figure 1). Further, we speculate that money may
meaning of money (Barber and Bretz, 2000, p. also become very important to university students in
45), the importance of money (Mitchell and China. This is the very rst attempt, to the best of
Mickel, 1999, p. 569), and the individual dif- our knowledge, to investigate the love of money
ference of one s own personal attitudes toward among Chinese students.
money (Mitchell and Mickel, 1999). Fourth, there
is a signi cant increase in the importance of
money as a career goal (Harpaz, 1990; Jurgensen, Gender differences
1978; Lawler, 1971) and as a research topic in the
U.S. and around the world (e.g. Mitchell and Research suggests that equity for males and equality
Mickel, 1999; Opsahl and Dunnette, 1966; Rynes for females do exist across cultures (Tang et al.,
The love of Money in China 285
self-control (Tang et al., 2000a). Masculinity, a
The Love of Money
related concept, refers to materialism, money, pos-
Measurement Model
sessions, and advancement. Materialism is a devotion
0,
1
to material needs, desires, and the importance a
M1 1
e1
0, 0,
1
consumer attaches to worldly possessions. The
M2
e2
0, Rich importance of money is indirectly related to these
1
M3
e3
two constructs.
0,
1
e4 M4
Very little or no research has been done in the
0,
1
1
M5
e5
Chinese context regarding the gender differences in
0,
0,
1
the love of money. People in China may be con-
M6
e6
Motivator
0,
sidered as more collectivistic than individualistic,
1
M7
e7
relatively speaking. On the one hand, it is plausible
0,
1
M8
e8
that male Chinese students may value money more
0,
1
1
e9 M9 than their female counterparts, following the U.S.
0,
1
literature. On the other hand, Chinese may consider
e10 M10 0,
0,
money-related topics as a taboo and try not to reveal
1
M11 Success
e11
0,
their true feelings regarding money. Thus, very little
1
M12
e12
difference in the love of money may be detected.
0,
1
M13
e13
We will explore this issue on an exploratory basis in
0,
1
1 this study.
In the U.S.A., Bok (1993), former president of
Figure 1. The 17-item-4-factor love of money scale.
Harvard University and Dean of the Harvard Law
2000a). In the U.S. literature, women tend to rate School, asserts: The lucrative rewards of Wall
social needs as more important than do men, while Street, the elite law rms, and the medical spe-
men tend to consider pay more important than do cialties act as a magnet to deprive poorly paid but
women (Lawler, 1971). Women are subjectively vitally important teaching and public service pro-
satis ed with their pay in spite of objective fessions of desperately needed talent. The primary
underpayment, i.e. the paradox of the contented motivation for going on to higher education in
female worker. Women have lower pay expecta- the past two decades has been the expectation of
tions than men and have a tendency to be equally individual economic return (Lecht, 1977, p. 25).
as satis ed as men with lower pay or more satis ed Even after controlling for selection eects (e.g. the
than men with equivalent pay (Major and Konar, average SATs of entering freshmen), strong evi-
1984). dence emerges of a signi cant economic return to
Concepts shared in one culture may not be attending an elite private institution, and some
acceptable in another. There is no exception when evidence suggests this premium has increased over
we examine the love of money across cultures. time (Brewer et al., 1999). Thus, in the U.S.,
Collectivistic cultures value strong and cohesive in- some students enter the elds of business, law, and
groups, whereas individualistic societies emphasize medicine in order to make more money.
individual freedom (Hofstede and Bond, 1988). The skills that recent college graduates bring to
Research suggests that in a collectivistic culture, the labor market are likely to depend on the dis-
people pay attention to interactions with their fellow tribution of elds of study (Eide, 1994, p. 55).
humans and membership within groups or com- Between mid-1970s and mid-1980s, the major
munities, consider group welfare over their own distribution moved away from education and social
individual welfare, and are expected to exercise science and toward business and engineering (U.S.
modesty in describing achievements and to maintain Department of Education, 1989). The proportion
Linzhi Du and Thomas Li-Ping Tang
286
of males (females) graduating in education and so- Methods
cial science fell from 27% (42%) to 18% (27%), and
the proportion of males (females) graduating in Participants
business and engineering increased from 34% (9%)
to 49% (27%). Student career decisions are strongly Research data were collected from students of a large
related to inter-occupational differences in tuition university in Tianjin, located in the northern part of
and expected incomes. People attending high-skill People s Republic of China. The university has 1086
elds (e.g. business) expect to yield a greater eco- faculty members with 9193 undergraduate students,
nomic payoff. All these studies have been done in 2582 Master s students, and 1028 Ph.D. students. A
the US. short survey questionnaire was distributed to 500
On the one hand, Chinese students, in a col- randomly selected students through the undergradu-
lectivist, group-oriented culture, may have a lower ate and graduate student associations of the university.
concern for the love of money than their American We obtained 385 returned survey questionnaires and
319 of which (female: n 196, male: n 123) were
counterparts. Lawyers in the Chinese society may
complete and usable (return rate 63.8%). These
not make as much as their counterparts in the U.S.
It is plausible that students studying law are similar students were 20.78 years old and had 14.29 years of
to other students in colleges and universities. On education. There were 267 undergraduate students
the other hand, people in developing countries and 52 graduate students. Students majored in law
place high value toward money due to the new- (124), sociology (106), and political science (89). We
ness of having money (Tang et al., 2000a; Tang do not claim that this small sample represents the
et al., 2002c). It is plausible that Chinese students population of these speci c disciplines in colleges and
with different majors may or may not differ sig- universities or the average citizens in China.
ni cantly regarding the importance of money. We
will explore this issue on an exploratory basis in this Measures
study due to the lack of clear and direct evidence in
the literature. The love of money scale (LOMS). In this research,
we adopted the 17-item-4-factor LOMS developed
TABLE I
The love of money across gender and college major
Female Male
Factor
M SD M SD
Rich 3.73 0.65 3.68 0.81
Motivator 2.85 0.60 2.96 0.61
Success 2.77 0.78 2.91 0.94
Important 4.11 0.54 4.02 0.75
Female, n = 196, Male, n = 123. MANOVA results: F (4, 314) = 2.12, p = 0.078, Wilks Lambda = 0.974, Partial Eta
Squared = 0.026.
Factor Law Sociology Political Science
M SD M SD M SD
Rich 3.71 0.70 3.68 0.66 3.74 0.80
Motivator 2.92 0.68 2.86 0.56 2.90 0.54
Success 2.82 0.89 2.86 0.84 2.79 0.77
Important 4.08 0.68 4.07 0.63 4.07 0.56
Law, n = 124, Sociology, n = 106, Political Science, n = 89. MANOVA results: F (8, 626) = 0.28, p = 0.974, Wilks
Lambda = 0.993, Partial Eta Squared = 0.004.
The love of Money in China 287
by Tang and Chiu (2003) with the following four cognitive component) stresses the importance of
factors: Factors Rich, Motivator, Success, and money (Mitchell and Mickel, 1999, p. 569).
Important. We will describe each factor brie y be- We examined the four factors of LOMS in a
low: (1) Factor Rich (an aective component) re ects multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).
that most people want to be rich and have a lot of Results suggested that there were no signi cant dif-
ferences between males and females (F (4, 314)
money (i.e. Richins and Rudmin, 1994). Factor
2.12, p 0.078, Wilks Lambda 0.974, partial Eta
Rich is the aective component of an attitude that
squared 0.026). Results of our second MANOVA
deals with one s love and hate relationship with the
object. Rich is better than poor. No one wants to be suggested that there were no signi cant differences
poor. Please see Table II for all the items. Here is a among students in law, sociology, and political sci-
ence (F (8, 626) 0.28, p 0.974, Wilks
sample item for Factor Rich: I want to be rich. Factor
Lambda 0.993, partial Eta squared 0.004).
Rich is the most important factor of the LOMS and
has the highest factor loadings among the four factors Thus, these Chinese law students may be quite dif-
(Tang and Chiu, 2003). (2) Factor Motivator (a ferent from American law students regarding per-
behavioral component) taps on the notion that ceptions of money (cf. Bok, 1993). Means and
money is a motivator (Gupta and Shaw, 1998). Here standard deviations of these measures across gender
is a sample item for Factor Motivator: I am motivated and college major are presented in Table I.
to work hard for money. (3) Factor Success (a cog-
nitive component) represents people s obsession
with money as a sign of success (Furnham and Ar- Data analysis
gyle, 1998, p. 148). In America, money is how we
keep score and income is used to judge success We examine the psychometric equivalence of the
(Rubenstein, 1981, p. 34). (4) Factor Important (a LOMS across gender and college major in two
TABLE II
Items of the love of money scale
Factor loading
Item
Male Female
Factor 1: Rich
1. I want to be rich 0.76 0.70
2. It would be nice to be rich 0.93 0.81
3. My life will be more enjoyable, if I am rich and have more money 0.64 0.56
4. Having a lot of money (being rich) is good 0.88 0.81
Factor 2: Motivator
5. Money is a motivator 0.65 0.74
6. Money reinforces me to work harder 0.65 0.79
7. I am highly motivated by money 0.17 0.25
8. I am motivated to work hard for money 0.57 0.62
Factor 3: Success
9. Money is a symbol of my success 0.80 0.72
10. Money represents my achievement 0.89 0.88
11. Money re ects my accomplishments 0.72 0.76
12. Money is how we compare each other 0.49 0.46
Factor 4: Important
13. Money is important 0.71 0.72
14. Money is valuable 0.72 0.63
15. Money is good 0.87 0.72
16. Money is an important factor in the lives of all of us 0.73 0.60
17. Money is attractive 0.69 0.58
Linzhi Du and Thomas Li-Ping Tang
288
TABLE III
Con gural invariance across gender and college major
v2
n df p TLI CFI RMSEA
Gender
1. Female 196 220.85 113 0.00 0.99 0.99 0.07
2. Male 123 249.07 113 0.00 0.97 0.98 0.10
Unconstrained MGCFA 470.12 226 0.00 0.97 0.98 0.09
Constrained MGCFA 499.97 239 0.00 0.98 0.98 0.06
College major
3. Law 124 292.58 113 0.00 0.96 0.97 0.11
4. Sociology 106 156.31 113 0.00 0.99 0.99 0.06
5. Political science 89 187.46 113 0.00 0.98 0.99 0.09
Unconstrained MGCFA (3 groups) 636.30 339 0.00 0.98 0.98 0.05
Constrained MGCFA (3 groups) 672.79 365 0.00 0.98 0.98 0.05
Unconstrained MGCFA (2 groups) 343.82 226 0.00 0.98 0.98 0.05
Constrained MGCFA (2 groups) 349.98 239 0.00 0.99 0.99 0.05
Dv2 Ddf DTLI DCFI DRMSEA
*
Gender 29.85 13 0.01 0.00 0.03
College major (3 groups) 36.49 26 0.00 0.00 0.00
College Major (2 groups) 6.16 13 0.01 0.01 0.00
p
phases: (1) con gural invariance (factor structures) 1) are presented in Table II. Table III shows the
and (2) metric invariance (factor loadings) using results of the con gural invariance: female students:
v2 = 220.85, df 113, p 0.00, TLI 0.99,
multi-group con rmatory factor analysis (MGCFA).
CFI 0.99, RMSEA 0.07; male students:
We focus mainly on TLI and CFI because they
v2 249.07, df 113, p 0.00, TLI 0.97,
prevent the underestimation of t likely to occur in
CFI 0.98, RMSEA 0.10. On the basis of the
small samples. We examined the overall model t by
using practical t indices and the following criteria criteria of practical t indices (i.e. CFI > 0.90,
(i.e. CFI > 0.90, TLI > 0.90, RMSEA 0.90, RMSEA 0.90, TLI > 0.90, model (developed in the U.S.) and the Chinese data.
RMSEA 0.05). Further, other t indices of formal education. They have not been formally
change (DTLI, DCFI, DRMSEA 0.00) also failed socialized into the world of work or have worked on
to reach signi cance. These results suggest that full-time jobs in an organizational setting. As these
metric invariance does exist across college majors students graduate from the university and enter the
based on both insigni cant chi-square change and labor market, we speculate that their work experi-
insigni cant change of t indices. ence and money (income) earned from their full-
We then deleted the law student sample in the time jobs will, in some way, modify the meaning of
second metric invariance test (i.e. we examined money and the importance of money in their lives.
sociology and political science simultaneously). In a study of employees in the U.S., Tang (2005,
Results of metric invariance provided similar results submitted) has found that the importance of money
(unconstrained MGCFA: v2 343.82, df 226, will have different impacts on pay satisfaction and life
p 0.00, TLI 0.98, CFI 0.98, RMSEA satisfaction for full-time and part-time employees. It
0.05; constrained MGCFA: v2 349.98, df 239, is plausible that people s love of money may also
p 0.00, TLI 0.99, CFI 0.99, RMSEA change over time.
0.05). The difference between unconstrained and In a recent study of university students in the
constrained MGCFA again failed to reach signi - U.S., Tang and Chen (2005, submitted) have
cance based on chi-square change (Dv2 6.16, investigated a model of the love of money (Factors
Ddf 13, p > 0.05) and on t indices change Rich, Motivator, and Important) and evil (Factors
Linzhi Du and Thomas Li-Ping Tang
290
Abuse Resources, Non-Whistle-Blower, Theft, out and thus have a low propensity to engage in
Corruption, and Deception, as measured by the unethical behavior eventually. Moreover, the Love
propensity to engage in unethical behavior, PUB, of Money is not directly related to Evil for Psy-
see Luna-Arocas and Tang, 2004) that involves (1) a chology students. Thus, college major is a moderator
direct path (the Love of Money Evil), (2) an of the indirect path. Machiavellianism is a mediator
indirect path (the Love of Money Machiavellia- of the Love of Money to Evil relationship for
nism Evil), and (3) three additional paths (In- Business students, but not for Psychology students.
come the Love of Money, Income In that study, Tang and Chen (2004, submitted)
Machiavellianism, and Income Evil). They treat have used a shorter version of the scale, i.e. the
Machiavellianism as a mediator and university 9-item-3-factor LOMS (see Factor Rich: Items 1, 2,
student s major (business versus psychology) as a and 4, Factor Motivator: Items 6 8, and Factor
moderator in the model. Important: 13 15 of Table II of the present study). It
Results of the whole sample supported the indi- appears that both the 17-item-4-factor scale, exam-
rect path: The love of money was positively related ined in this study and in Tang and Chiu (2003), and
to Machiavellianism (Time 1 measures) that, in turn, the 9-item-3-factor scale, examined in the U.S.
was positively related to evil (Time 2 measure). The (Tang and Chen, 2004, submitted) and across 26
direct path (the Love of Money Evil) was not geopolitical entities (Tang et al., 2003b), are valid
signi cant. Therefore, the love of money is indi- measures that are suitable for future research.
rectly related to evil through Machiavellianism. It appears that there are important implications
Next, Tang and Chen (2005, submitted) have tested regarding the love of money measure for researchers
the model across college major (Business versus and managers. In our present study, we do not in-
Psychology) and found that the love of money was clude Business students or business managers in our
signi cantly related to Machiavellianism for both sample. Future researchers may want to examine
Business and Psychology students. Machiavellianism business students and business managers in Chinese
was signi cantly related to evil for Business students management studies.
but not for Psychology students. When the direct As China continues its economic development
path is examined alone, the Love of Money is and becomes the world s largest market and econ-
directly related to Evil for Business students, but not omy, people will have the opportunity to earn more
for Psychology students. money than before. These economic forces will
One plausible explanation of this nding is that continue to shape the importance of money, or the
Business students have a signi cantly higher ten- love of money in the society. Future research should
dency to consider money as a Motivator than Psy- test this hypothesis directly in the Chinese context.
chology students. Factor Motivator, in fact, is the The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI),
behavioral component of the LOMS. With a much published by Transparency International (TI), a
stronger behavioral orientation, Business students are non-governmental organization ghting corrup-
more likely to take actions regarding money than tion, re ects the degree to which corruption is
Psychology students. Money is the primary driving perceived to exist among public of cials and poli-
force for many actions. This may enhance Business ticians. It ranks 91 countries around the world.
students tendency to use the manipulative strategies According to the Corruption Perceptions Index
that, in turn, may lead to a strong propensity to (CPI) 2001, the new Index illustrates once more
engage in unethical behavior (i.e. Evil). Psychology the vicious circle of poverty and corruption
students, on the other hand, have a low behavioral (http://www.transparency.org/documents/cpi/2001/
tendency and are less likely to take actions than cpi2001.html). Peter Eigen, Chairman of Trans-
Business students regarding money. Therefore, parency International, asserts: There is a world-
Psychology students with a high love of money wide corruption crisis. There is no end in sight
orientation may think strongly regarding the possible to the misuse of power by those in public of ce
use of manipulative strategies (Machiavellianism). and corruption levels are perceived to be as high as
They failed to take actions and purposefully trying to ever in both the developed and developing
make money. Thereby, they do not actually carry it worlds . According to the CPI, the richest coun-
The love of Money in China 291
Annual Convention of the American Psychological
tries in the world (e.g. Finland, Denmark, New
Association (Honolulu, HI).
Zealand, Iceland, Singapore, and Sweden) scored 9
Chan, D. and N. Schmitt: 1997, Video Based Versus
or higher, indicating very low levels of perceived
Paper-and-Pencil Method of Assessment in Situational
corruption, whereas the world s poorest scored less
Judgment Tests: Subgroup Differences in Test Per-
than 5, indicating high levels of corruption. This
formance and Face Validity Perceptions, Journal of
literature on poverty and corruption suggests that at
Applied Psychology 42, 143 159.
the national level, low income may be directly Cheung, G. W.: 2002, August. The Identi cation of a
related to high corruption. Partial Metric Invariance Model for Multi-Group Studies.
Many researchers and managers are aware of the Paper presented at the Academy of Management An-
fact that the most dif cult aspect of doing business nual Meeting (Denver, CO).
in China is corruption . Chinese employees have, Cheung, G. W., and R. B. Rensvold, 1999. Testing
relatively speaking, low income (GDP per Cap- Factorial Invariance Across Groups: A Reconceptual-
ita U.S.$3600) and China has a high level of ization and Proposed New Method, Journal of Man-
agement 25(1), 1 27.
corruption (CPI Rank 57, Score 3.5). In
Cheung, G. W. and R. B. Rensvold: 2002, Evaluating
China, the rule of man is much more powerful
Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement
than the rule of law and many business transac-
Invariance, Structural Equation Modeling 9(2), 233 255.
tions are results of under the Table dealings and
Chiu, R. K., V. W. M. Luk and T. L. P. Tang: 2001,
guanxi (Dunfee and Warren, 2001). The love of
Hong Kong and China: The Cash Mentality Revis-
money is the root of evil, whereas money is not ited, Compensation and Bene ts Review 33(3), 66 72.
(Tang and Chiu, 2003). Thus, the love of money Cohen-Charash, Y. and P. E. Spector: 2002, The Role
may play a pivotal role and may be important to of Justice in Organizations: A Meta-Analysis, Organi-
Chinese researchers and managers, as China has zational Behavior and Human Decision Process 86(2),
become a member of WTO and is one of the 278 321.
major forces in the competitive world economy. Corruption Perception Index. http://www.transparency.
org/documents/cpi/2001/cpi2001.html.
More research is needed in this direction.
Dunfee, T. W. and D. E. Warren: 2001, Is Guanxi
Ethical? A Normative Analysis of Doing Business in
Acknowledgements
China, Journal of Business Ethics 32(1), 191 204.
Eagle, B. W., E. W. Miles and M. L. Icenogle: 2001,
Both authors contributed to this research project
Male and Female Interpretations of Bi-Directional
equally. The authors would like to thank James Van Work-Family Con ict Scales: Testing for Measure-
Buren for his valuable assistance. ment Equivalence, in C. A. Schriesheim and L. L.
Neider, (eds.), Equivalence in Measurement, (Information
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