Does a Lottery Win prove Money can buy Friends?

Winning a big lottery prize might not just see you receive a lot of money. A Vietnamese study has shown that all that extra money can buy friends.

The study was carried out by Nguyen Viet Cuong who is a development economist at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi. 5,000 people in five cities and provinces in the country took part and it came up with this finding. After the ‘income shock’ of a big lottery win, more long-term friends were made.

Increased Socialising

One reason this is the case is because the lottery winner has more money to spend on social activities. If they for example went to the theatre (best seats of course), they would be meeting more people and making more friends.

There is the problem though that although money can buy friends, they may be more in love with the cash than the person.

The data came from a 2015 Household Registration System Survey. Respondents were asked how many friends they had and how many of those were co-workers. They were also asked how much money they spent socialising.

The survey also wanted to know how much was being spent on buying lottery tickets, how many wins they’d had and how much has been won.

Dr Coung said of the findings: “We find a positive effect from lottery winnings on the number of friends,People tend to increase the number of their non-colleague and long-term friends, rather than the number of friends among colleagues or new friends.'Money can buy friends and according to the report, “the income shock needed to purchase one additional friend is nearly 5,000 USD.”

Negative Income Shock

Now he wants to take his studies a step forward. Plans include exploring the impact of a ‘negative’ income shock such as pay cut or an unexpected expense occurring. Would that result in their social circle being reduced?

He believes that might not be the case. It would though cause to “a decrease in consumption” and possibly depression. If that was to be the case then studies have shown it may increase the contacts made with friends and relatives.

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