Citation

Seuntjens TG, Zeelenberg M, Breugelmans SM, van de Ven N. Br. J. Psychol. (1953) 2014; 106(3): 505-525.

Affiliation

TIBER (Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research) and Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, British Psychological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/bjop.12100

PMID

25315060

Abstract

Although greed is both hailed as the motor of economic growth and blamed as the cause of economic crises, very little is known about its psychological underpinnings. Five studies explored lay conceptualizations of greed among US and Dutch participants using a prototype analysis. Study 1 identified features related to greed. Study 2 determined the importance of these features; the most important features were classified as central (e.g., self-interested, never satisfied), whereas less important features were classified as peripheral (e.g., ambition, addiction). Subsequently, we found that, compared to peripheral features, participants recalled central features better (Study 3), faster (Study 4), and these central features were more present in real-life episodes of greed (Study 5). These findings provide a better understanding of the elements that make up the experience of greed and provide insights into how greed can be manipulated and measured in future research.

Language: en