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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–4Cite as

Greed

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Synonyms

Avarice; Insatiability

Definition

Greed is a stable permanent personality trait or situational-induced temporary state that entails an insatiable self-centered desire to acquire more resources coupled with a dissatisfaction of never having enough.

Introduction

Most people can easily recognize greed, whether it is in others’ acquisitive behavior or in their own wanting desires. It is used to label common everyday behaviors, such as complaining about one’s salary, cutting oneself a larger portion of birthday cake, always needing to upgrade to the newest version of the iPhone, or being the first in line at a buffet to ensure taking as many items of your favorite as possible. On a larger scale, media and public opinion attributed the recent global financial crisis mainly to the greediness of bankers and stockbrokers, and the excessive use of nonrenewable resources is often credited to the greediness of international corporations that put profit margins ahead of society’s welfare....

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. HEC Lauranne, Lauranne, Switzerland

    Goedele Krekels

Authors
  1. Goedele Krekels
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Goedele Krekels .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Lakehead University, Orillia, ON, Canada

    Beth A. Visser

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Cite this entry

Krekels, G. (2017). Greed. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1078-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1078-1

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  • Accepted:

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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