Dispositional greed
Seuntjens,T.G. Zeelenberg,M. van de Ven,N. Breugelmans,S.M.
Seuntjens,T.G.
Zeelenberg,M.
van de Ven,N.
Breugelmans,S.M.
Abstract
Greed is an important motive: it is seen as both productive (a source of ambition; the motor of the economy) and destructive (undermining social relationships; the cause of the late 2000s financial crisis). However, relatively little is known about what greed is and does. This article reports on 5 studies that develop and test the 7-item Dispositional Greed Scale (DGS). Study 1 (including 4 separate samples from 2 different countries, total N = 6092) provides evidence for the construct and discriminant validity of the DGS in terms of positive correlations with maximization, self-interest, envy, materialism, and impulsiveness, and negative correlations with self-control and life satisfaction. Study 2 (N = 290) presents further evidence for discriminant validity, finding that the DGS predicts greedy behavioral tendencies over and above materialism. Furthermore, the DGS predicts economic behavior: greedy people allocate more money to themselves in dictator games (Study 3, N = 300) and ultimatum games (Study 4, N = 603), and take more in a resource dilemma (Study 5, N = 305). These findings shed light on what greed is and does, how people differ in greed, and how greed can be measured. In addition, they show the importance of greed in economic behavior and provide directions for future studies.
Description
Date
2015
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
Citation
Seuntjens, T G, Zeelenberg, M, van de Ven, N & Breugelmans, S M 2015, 'Dispositional greed', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 108, no. 6, pp. 917-933. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000031
License
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess