Replication of Schuler & Wanke (2016)

Findings that money priming increases support for status quo and system-supporting beliefs have proven difficult to replicate. Schuler and Wänke (2016) found that Subjective SES moderates money priming effects on system justification and belief in a just world. We conducted three preregistered replication of this research, with sample sizes three times those of the original studies. Replication 1 combined elements from the original two studies, and Replications 2 and 3 were close replications of Schuler and Wänke’s (2016) Studies 1 and 2, respectively. Across eight tests of the original effect, one was significant and consistent with the original effect, one was significant and opposite the original effect, and six were not significant. We conclude that the original findings may have been the result of sampling error, and the findings of “small telescopes” analyses are consistent with this conclusion. We discuss implications for money priming effects, and replication attempts in general.