10 Subtle Traits of Greedy People that You Should Know, According to Psychology

The word ‘greed’ has a different meaning for everyone. For some, greed might be the driving force that motivates you to do better, while for some greed is immoral, wrong, and comes at the expense of other people’s needs and emotions. The word ‘greed’ has its origin in the German language. It means eager or voracious. As per its various definitions, greed can be described as ‘the excessive need or desire for something (like wealth, food, possessions, etc.) more than it is actually required’.

From a psychological point of view, greed can be described as a maladaptive behaviour that is associated with a lack of empathy for others. Greedy people may frequently experience feelings of inadequacy, jealousy, anger, unhappiness, and overall life dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction also leads to lower self-esteem and a negative emotional state. The negative emotional state later manifests into angry outbursts, emotional dysregulation, and nervousness.

Why are People Greedy?

Before we look at the traits of a greedy person, we need to understand why people act the way they do. Why do people feel the need to want more than they need? And most importantly, why do they push themselves to do so? Some reasons for people being greedy are

• Discontentment: Discontent people are never satisfied with what they have and constantly have the urge to obtain more than they deserve. This drive might also lead them to crave for things that are not theirs. When one assumes that they lack in aspects possessions, wealth, power, or attention, the discontentment increases, and so does the greed.
• Lack of Possessions: While discontentment is a perceived lack of possessions or wealth, the actual lack makes a person earn as much as they can from numerous sources. These needs accelerate faster than one thinks. For example, one might borrow money from a person to repay a loan or debt. After that debt is paid off, they now owe this person money. Hence, it becomes an unending cycle of needs.
• Unmet Needs: Now that we have discussed the lack of possessions, we are aware of what unmet physical needs do to a person. Unmet emotional needs tend to have the same outcome. When an individual has unmet emotional needs, they turn to materialistic possessions to find comfort.
• Feelings of Insecurity: Insecure people always feel the need to compare themselves with others. Usually, this comparison is done with someone who has more than they do. Due to this constant comparison and the need to do better, they develop greedy traits and what they have is never viewed as enough.

Read More: The Psychology Behind Insecurity

Traits of a Greedy Person

Greed Personality Trait (GPT), as mentioned before, is characterized by the excessive need or desire to acquire something more than required. According to research, greedy people show negative characteristics like loss of interest, depression, aggression, and loss of well-being. Some of the traits of greedy people are

1. Lack of Empathy: Empathy can be described as viewing things from someone else’s point of view or putting yourself in their shoes. A greedy person fails to understand other people’s perspective. Since greed can sometimes come at the expense of other people, a lack of empathy makes the person feel that what they have done is not wrong in any way.
2. Entitlement: A greedy person feels like they deserve whatever they are demanding and they deserve more than people around them. This sense of entitlement leads to unethical and exploitative behaviour. It also makes the living situation of the people around them very unpleasant.
3. Hyper-Competitiveness: These people are overly competitive and will go to great lengths to be superior to someone else. This hyper-competitiveness makes them unfit to be a part of the team. They can be unnecessarily competitive even with their teammates. They feel that they ‘must-win’ at all costs, even when teamwork or collaboration can be more fruitful.
4. Immediate Fulfillment: At times, people want their needs to be fulfilled immediately or as soon as possible. Hence they prefer to take the shortest and quickest route which might not always be ethical. This leads to other people dealing with the consequences of their actions. For example, when an office manager is more concerned with the bonus or appreciation from their boss, they tend to put extra workload on their team to achieve a selfish personal goal.
5. Materialistic Needs: Greedy people have unlimited materialistic needs and they want it to be fulfilled by hook or by crook. For this, they will employ all sorts of unethical or immoral strategies and get what they want without the fear of the consequences it might have on them as well as on others.
6. Lack of Boundaries: A greedy person does not care for other people’s boundaries and neither has any of their own. They are completely fine with violating their values and ethics to get what they want. Moreover, they also do not care about what other people think or are comfortable with.
7. Not Following the Rules: They do not care about the set rules and regulations and are constantly on the lookout for loopholes they can exploit. They want to outsmart everyone and feel the need to reach the goal as soon as possible.
8. Cynicism: Cynicism makes people believe that everyone around us is self-centred and people have selfish reasons for all their actions. They feel that everyone is motivated by self-interest and nothing else. It makes a person justify their greedy actions without feeling guilty about it since they believe that everyone else is like this too.
9. Lack of Generosity: Greedy people are very uncomfortable with sharing even though they have abundant resources. They feel that sharing reduces or diminishes their resources (money, food, etc.) and they will be left with almost nothing. They might justify this lack of generosity by preservation for the future.
10. Paranoia: These people might feel constant anxiety and paranoia due to the ways they apply to get what they want and the fear that it might all be taken away from them. They view other people in the world as they are. They also fear that someone might take advantage of them and their resources and they will be left with nothing.

Social and Environmental Influence

The traits mentioned above might be acquired or cultivated in some way. The question one might ask is, ‘Where does this greed come from?’ The most common way is through social and environmental influence. This environment could be their home, educational institute, workplace, or community.

Childhood Experiences

Greed tendencies have a high chance of developing from early childhood experiences. When a child is constantly ignored or disregarded, they do the most to gain any attention they can. This can develop their urge to obtain as much as possible to gain attention. Moreover, if a child does not receive adequate security and love, they might attach themselves to materialistic possessions. Constant collection of these materials manifests into greed progressively. The scarcity of affection in their life is then filled by these possessions. This is why it is very important to teach kids to ‘share’. According to research, greed tendencies are seen more in children with no siblings as compared to children who grow up with siblings.

Social Comparison

We are always in constant comparison with people in our surroundings. These people could be our siblings, our friends, our classmates, or our colleagues. While healthy comparison has its fair share of advantages, excessive and obsessive comparison can lead to greed. One might always feel pressured to do better and become fixated on bridging this perceived gap between their achievements and the achievements of the person they are comparing themselves with. There is a theory called the ‘relative deprivation theory’ given by Sociologist Samuel Stouffer. This theory states that people always feel that they have relatively less than the compared standard. For example, you scored 90% in an examination and you feel happy about it, but only until you find out that one of your classmates has scored 92%.

Cultural Values

There are a few cultures that emphasize material possessions and individuality more than anything else. People who come from societal norms like these are more likely to exhibit greedy behaviour from a young age. It is because when people are tied to materials to determine their self-worth, it drives them to obtain more and more by any means necessary without worrying about the consequences for themselves and others.

Personality Traits Linked with Greed

Personality traits can be described as how a person thinks, feels, and behaves in certain situations. It highlights their thought processes and the course of action that follows due to it. While greed itself is a personality trait, there are some more personality factors that are linked to it. These personality traits are also known as ‘The dark triad’.

Narcissism

A narcissistic person tends to have an exaggerated sense of self and views everything in terms of ‘winning’ or ‘losing’ only. There is no middle ground for them. This inflated sense of self-importance makes empathy and care for other people diminish. They may view other people as mere stepping stones to obtain what they want and exhibit excessive greed-driven behaviour.

Read More: How To Deal With A Narcissist?

Machiavellianism

Machiavellianism can be described as the person’s ability to manipulate and take advantage of others. These are the people who will go to any lengths to achieve what they want without caring for others and their well-being. They cannot be trusted and deceit others using cunning and influential tactics.

Psychopathy

Psychopathy, in the context of greed, can be described with traits like the reckless pursuit of their goals and the use of superficial charm to manipulate others to trust them. Psychopaths are specifically characterized differently from others because of their lack of empathy. They feel no remorse or guilt for any of their actions. It even pushes them to pursue unethical or illegal routes.

Psychological Effects of Greed on Oneself

Greed has various effects on a person’s mental health and as we all know by now, physical health and mental health are related to each other. If your mental well-being is hindered in any way, it can manifest into physical symptoms too. Some of these psychological effects are

• Emotional Distress: Consciously or unconsciously, greed leads to emotional distress in a person. This distress can be exhaustion from constantly pursuing higher goals, stress, depression, and despair.
• Maladaptive Behavior: Maladaptive behaviour can be described as behaviour that hinders the normal living situation of an individual. This maladaptive behaviour can be seen in the form of adjustment problems or illegal behaviour (theft, trickery, gambling, etc.)
• Overall Well-Being: Greed affects the mental and physical well-being of an individual. The constant hunger for getting more by any means necessary severely affects both due to low satisfaction from life.
• Loss of Identity: This constant pursuit makes them forget their morals, values, and true goals. They become so consumed by their greed that they forget what their true vision is. Since their self-worth is tied only to their excessive possessions, they develop a shallow sense of self which might later manifest into existential crisis.
• Chronic Dissatisfaction: Dissatisfaction with what you currently have is where it all starts. This is where the seed of greed is being cultivated. Greedy individuals never appear satisfied with their lives, possessions, and resources they have. They might always feel unfulfilled or temporary satisfaction.

Is Greed Always Necessarily Bad?

Until now, we have talked about how greed affects an individual negatively and how it is a problem for everyone around them as well. But is greed always a villain? Or is there another side to this coin? The answer is ‘Yes’. Just like everything else, greed also has both advantages and disadvantages. Now, let us see the positive side of this trait.

According to research, greedy people tend to work harder, perform better, and earn more than their peers. They also exhibit more productivity and a goal-oriented approach to problems. Moreover, they are also able to work towards self-improvement, enhancement, personal growth, and achievement faster. No matter how much we say that ‘money does not matter’, at the end of the day we all know that it most definitely does. Altruism can give you satisfaction, a feeling of fulfilment, and praise from others, but it cannot give you economic growth. This is where greed comes into the picture.

Every successful person today was greedy once. That was what drove them to be better and motivated them to work harder. Greed is also argued to be a very salient feature for human welfare as well as for an individual’s overall well-being. All of us exhibit greedy behaviour at some point in our lives and if we don’t, we should. While being greedy and selfish is almost always portrayed in a negative light, it can keep us from being taken advantage of. There are a few advantages of being greedy

• Self-Improvement: They continuously work on themselves and change themselves for the better to gain more success. This self-improvement might be adopting healthy habits, utilizing their potential to the fullest, and learning more skills.
• Balancing Greed: Now that we are well aware that greed has both positive and negative effects, it is important to maintain a balance and know when to stop. Constructive greed can lead to self-improvement, innovation, and holistic growth while excessive guilt can lead to distress, impaired social relationships, and loss of overall well-being.
• Awareness: Be aware of the impact it has on you, but more importantly on others. Greedy people usually do not care about other people’s feelings. This awareness makes it possible for you to positively contribute to society and maintain good social relationships.
• Motivation: Greedy people always have high motivation. They are always driven to achieve their goals and work harder if required. This determination to achieve goals has proven to be very useful in academic and professional settings.
• Encouragement: This pursuit for more can encourage an individual to innovate and think out of the box to be the best. This drive for excellence shows better and enhanced results with improved quality of life.
• Economic Growth: As discussed previously, according to research, greedy people have more economic growth since they are also driven because of their ambition for financial success.
• Values: Do not compromise with your or someone else’s values and ethics. Never harm anyone in pursuit of your selfish goals. Be mindful of people’s boundaries.
• Moderation: Recognize when your desires are excessive and unnecessary and take the required measures to stop them. Reassess your goals.
• Healthy Competition: Greediness can foster competitiveness and when this competitiveness is healthy, it leads to progress, improvement, and excellence.

Greed can be defined as the excessive desire for something. This desire is more than what is required. The greediness trait has its fair share of advantages, like self-improvement, healthy competition, encouragement, etc, and disadvantages like emotional distress, maladaptive behaviour, loss of identity, etc. Some common traits of a greedy person include lack of empathy, cynicism, materialism, hyper-competitiveness, and more.