In a line of work we study greed, the tendency to always want more and never be satisfied with what you have. We developed a measure for dispositional greed, the individual tendency to be more (or less) greedy, and test how it relates to a variety of factors.
Seuntjens, T., Zeelenberg, M., Breugelmans, S. M., & Van de Ven, N. (2015). Defining greed. British Journal of Psychology, 106(3), 505-525. doi: 10.1111/bjop.12100
[despite the importance of greed for economic behavior and economic theory, little is known about what greed actually is. we explore how people see greed, and come up with a definition that hopefully helps to further study greed: the desire to acquire more and the dissatisfaction of never having enough]
[despite the importance of greed for economic behavior and economic theory, little is known about what greed actually is. we explore how people see greed, and come up with a definition that hopefully helps to further study greed: the desire to acquire more and the dissatisfaction of never having enough]
Seuntjens, T., Zeelenberg, M., Van de Ven, N., & Breugelmans, S. M. (2015). Dispositional greed. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(6), 917-933. doi: 10.1037/pspp0000031
[we created a dispositional greed scale, to measure someone's tendency to be greedy. we test validity and reliability, and how greed relates to other personality constructs. Dispositional greed predicts behavior in economic games such as the ultimatum game and the tragedy of the commons. we also explore who is likely to be more greedy. full scale (and known translations0 at the end of this blog post]
[we created a dispositional greed scale, to measure someone's tendency to be greedy. we test validity and reliability, and how greed relates to other personality constructs. Dispositional greed predicts behavior in economic games such as the ultimatum game and the tragedy of the commons. we also explore who is likely to be more greedy. full scale (and known translations0 at the end of this blog post]
Seuntjens, T., Van de Ven, N., Zeelenberg, M., Van der Schors, A. (2016). Greed and adolescent financial behavior. Journal of Economic Psychology, 57, 1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.09.002
[in a large survey (N = 3899) with adolescents, we find that more greedy young people have more income, spend more, save less often, and are more likely to have a (small) debt. this paper also validates a three-item version of the Dispositional Greed Scale]
[in a large survey (N = 3899) with adolescents, we find that more greedy young people have more income, spend more, save less often, and are more likely to have a (small) debt. this paper also validates a three-item version of the Dispositional Greed Scale]
Seuntjens, T. G., Zeelenberg, M., Van de Ven, N., & Breugelmans, S. M. (2019). Greedy Bastards: Testing the Relationship Between Wanting More and Unethical Behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 138, 147-156. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2018.09.027
[greed seems immoral, and many people assume it leads to unethical behavior. hit had, however, not been tested and we indeed find that the dispositionally greedy tend to find morally questionable behavior more acceptable, they engages in them more in the past, and were more willing to take a briber in an incentivized corruption game. More greedy people do not have less willpower, they just find the potential reward more attractive and therefore become more likely to engage in the questionable behavior]
[greed seems immoral, and many people assume it leads to unethical behavior. hit had, however, not been tested and we indeed find that the dispositionally greedy tend to find morally questionable behavior more acceptable, they engages in them more in the past, and were more willing to take a briber in an incentivized corruption game. More greedy people do not have less willpower, they just find the potential reward more attractive and therefore become more likely to engage in the questionable behavior]
Zeelenberg, M., Seuntjens, T. G., Van de Ven, N., & Breugelmans, S. (2020). When Enough Is Not Enough: Overearning as a Manifestation of Dispositional Greed. Personality and Individual Differences, 165, article 110155. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110155
[greedy people tend to work harder and earn more, but they earn so much more that they actually overearn; they gather more than they need. In a incentivized behavioral experimental game we document this overearning and it’s relation to greed]
[greedy people tend to work harder and earn more, but they earn so much more that they actually overearn; they gather more than they need. In a incentivized behavioral experimental game we document this overearning and it’s relation to greed]
Zeelenberg, M., Seuntjens, T. G., Van de Ven, N., & Breugelmans, S. M. (2022). Dispositional Greed Scales, European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 38, 91-100. doi: 10.1027/1015-5759/a000647
[in the past years a few scale for dispositional greed were developed. we compare the psychometric properties of the scales, and find that they all converge on the same factor]
[in the past years a few scale for dispositional greed were developed. we compare the psychometric properties of the scales, and find that they all converge on the same factor]
Items from the Dispositional Greed Scale
The full scale as developed by Seuntjens, Zeelenberg, Breugelmans, & Van de Ven (2015) consists of 7 items:
The full scale as developed by Seuntjens, Zeelenberg, Breugelmans, & Van de Ven (2015) consists of 7 items:
· I always want more.*
· Actually, I’m kind of greedy. *
· One can never have too much money.
· As soon as I have acquired something, I start to think about the next thing I want. *
· It doesn’t matter how much I have, I’m never completely satisfied.
· My life motto is: ‘more is better’.
· I can’t imagine having too many things.
· Actually, I’m kind of greedy. *
· One can never have too much money.
· As soon as I have acquired something, I start to think about the next thing I want. *
· It doesn’t matter how much I have, I’m never completely satisfied.
· My life motto is: ‘more is better’.
· I can’t imagine having too many things.
(answer options on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 labelled as completely disagree and 5 as completely agree).
The three items that are marked with the asterisk* are the ones used in the 3-item version, for validation see Seuntjens, Van de Ven, Zeelenberg, & Van der Schors (2016)
Know translations:
Dutch
Ik wil altijd meer. *
Eigenlijk ben ik best wel hebberig. *
Geld heb je nooit genoeg.
Zodra ik iets heb denk ik alweer aan het volgende dat ik wil hebben. *
Het maakt niet uit hoeveel ik heb, ik ben nooit echt tevreden.
Mijn levensmotto is: ‘meer is beter’.
Je kunt nooit teveel spullen hebben.
Ik wil altijd meer. *
Eigenlijk ben ik best wel hebberig. *
Geld heb je nooit genoeg.
Zodra ik iets heb denk ik alweer aan het volgende dat ik wil hebben. *
Het maakt niet uit hoeveel ik heb, ik ben nooit echt tevreden.
Mijn levensmotto is: ‘meer is beter’.
Je kunt nooit teveel spullen hebben.
(antwoordschaal: 1, helemaal oneens, tot 5, helemaal eens)
Japanese
A Japanese translation was created by Keita Masui, Tadahiro Shimotsukasa, Masato Sawada, and Atsushi Oshio, published in the Japanese Journal of Psychology, 10.4992/jjpsy.88.16240.
A Japanese translation was created by Keita Masui, Tadahiro Shimotsukasa, Masato Sawada, and Atsushi Oshio, published in the Japanese Journal of Psychology, 10.4992/jjpsy.88.16240.
Chinese (Mandarin)
A Chinese Mandarin translation was created by Zhenzhen Liu, Xiaomin Su, Xuechen Ding, Xinyan Hu, Zhenqi Xu, & Ze Fu , published in Personality and Individual Differences, 10.1016/j.paid.2018.08.012.
A Chinese Mandarin translation was created by Zhenzhen Liu, Xiaomin Su, Xuechen Ding, Xinyan Hu, Zhenqi Xu, & Ze Fu , published in Personality and Individual Differences, 10.1016/j.paid.2018.08.012.
Portuguese (Brazilian)
A Portuguese translation was created by Leogildo Alves Freires, Gleidson Diego Lopes Loureto, Maria Gabriela Costa Ribeiro, Layrtthon Carlos de Oliveira Santos, and Valdiney Veloso Gouveia, published in Psico-USF, 10.1590/1413-82712019240307.
A Portuguese translation was created by Leogildo Alves Freires, Gleidson Diego Lopes Loureto, Maria Gabriela Costa Ribeiro, Layrtthon Carlos de Oliveira Santos, and Valdiney Veloso Gouveia, published in Psico-USF, 10.1590/1413-82712019240307.
Spanish
A Spanish translation was created by Catalina Estrada-Mejia, Marcel Zeelenberg, & Seger Breugelmans, published in Psychological Test Adaptation and Development, 10.1027/2698-1866/a000053
A Spanish translation was created by Catalina Estrada-Mejia, Marcel Zeelenberg, & Seger Breugelmans, published in Psychological Test Adaptation and Development, 10.1027/2698-1866/a000053
If you have a translation into another language, please email it and I will happily add it here!
