Psychology of greed: causes and consequences

There is no single, widely accepted definition of greed in psychology.

In religion, two separate components are usually considered - greed and stinginess. The greedy seeks to get as much as possible, he is insatiable. The stingy person wants not to give away anything he already has.

We become acquainted with greed early, at a tender age, listening to our first fairy tales and watching cartoons. Already in kindergarten we know: being greedy is bad, they don’t like greedy people, no one wants to be friends with them. In adult language, the main feature of greed is the fear of being left in a losing position without a resource that is associated with a sense of security. This is one of the reasons why a person begins to struggle with this feeling.

What do greedy people want?

The problem is that such people are blinded by greed and only dream of a level of well-being that is not justified by real needs. His love for money becomes pathological. For a greedy person, having wealth matters, but not for a specific goal in one’s life or achieving a high level of family well-being, but simply for the sake of money.

Greedy people do nothing without selfish motives. They measure everything in terms of money. They are overcome by greed and stinginess.

In addition, a greedy person may strive to become famous and discover new experiences. Young dreamers and adventurous individuals are consumed by this feeling. And there is nothing reprehensible here.

Consequences

Greed is an entirely losing strategy. A greedy person, be it a man or a woman, cannot enjoy happiness. His joy of owning things is fleeting. He is tormented by the desire to have more.

The main companion of greed is fear. A greedy person is afraid to share resources: if he gives something away, then the other will have an advantage over him.

Other common companions of vice are envy and depression . Often the victim of greed resorts to theft and deception.

The main facets of greed:

• the desire to hoard;
• dissatisfaction with what is;
• fear of being worse than others;
• a feeling of emotional emptiness that needs to be filled.

Greed, as a character trait, affects all areas of life. A tight-fisted person is reluctant to part with not only things and money. He is also reluctant to show feelings and saves his strength.

By stopping the flow of matter and energy, the greedy person also falls into other stagnant phenomena:

• dogmatism, avoidance of change;
• patterned thinking, lack of creativity;
• psychosomatics;
• cluttering of the home.

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What is the sin of a greedy person?

Covetousness or so-called greed has always been considered and condemned by everyone as a sin. Often, it was precisely this feeling that motivated the commission of serious illegal acts and became the cause of tragic incidents.

In Christianity, a greedy person is considered a great sinner because he has no nobility and easily becomes a slave to envy and anger. And one’s own well-being and benefit may be more important than human life. For this he is ready to do anything, even commit a crime. Wealth is worshiped like an idol. And idolaters are not welcome in Christianity.

Greedy individuals in religious circles are considered to be those who substitute material things for each of the spiritual and moral values. It is the norm when a person becomes satisfied with his life with the help of money. This way he achieves the desired level of comfort, various benefits are available to him, etc. But greedy people just need to have a lot of money. If we are dealing with greed, then it knows no limits and turns into a real disease. A greedy person is considered mentally unhealthy.

For Catholics, a greedy person is also vicious, since such a trait provokes an increase in troubles with worries, internal embitterment and unsociability. And also such a vice causes him to easily fall into the trap of fear of loss and anger.

Why do they become greedy?

The fact is that self-sufficient people who live for money and wealth do not turn into greedy people.

individuals who define adequate goals for themselves. Such people are always clearly motivated in every action and decision. They understand the true purpose of money, so tight-fistedness is alien to them. They earn and spend money on what they need and invest wisely.

Often a person becomes greedy due to:

• Dissatisfaction or feelings of inferiority. Greed in this case is generated by gaps in upbringing, serious failures, psychological trauma or complexes, and the presence of physiological flaws. Therefore, a person will begin to look for how to compensate for these gaps and shortcomings. Those who find nothing else but money turn into greedy individuals with a mindset focused on their own enrichment;
• Competition. The fact that a person has this trait is to a certain extent the fault of parents and school teachers, who from childhood demand to be better, to achieve more, etc. In other words, the child is taught that he must constantly compete with other people, that he must become a winner, an excellent student, a champion, only occupy a high position and earn a lot of money.

This worldview is reinforced by natural competition caused by severe resource scarcity. Despite the fact that we have ample opportunities today to unlock our potential and provide ourselves and our loved ones with everything we need, the world is full of greedy, stingy, greedy individuals for the reasons stated above.

Greed and its consequences

The desire to get rich manifests itself in everyone’s own way. A stingy person tries to save money, demonstrating stinginess in everything and not spending money even on the most necessary things. A greedy person boasts publicly about small generous deeds (constantly reminds them of them as something very important and meaningful). Especially from them you can often hear about big expenses.

We can safely say that greed leads to negative consequences in relationships with others. Selfishness and stinginess cannot be called pleasant traits. And those closest to us (wife or husband, children, parents) suffer from this more than others. Saving money for a specific purpose is considered quite normal. But when they save on everything and simply add up money without having any plans, then such individuals cannot be called anything other than greedy.

And this negatively affects family relationships. Greed leads to constant cuts in the expenditure side of the family budget. Saving on almost everything cannot but cause displeasure and conflict situations with other family members. Stingy individuals have no goal on what to spend the funds accumulated by saving on the essentials, recreation, entertainment, etc. In this case, the money is simply kept and not spent, leaving oneself and loved ones deprived of any benefits.

It is not comfortable to live next to a person who suffers from greed. Such people are not liked and condemned in society. They constantly have bad relationships with their environment. It’s just that no one wants to deal with stingy people. And even close friends sooner or later turn away from them. At work, greed also prevents you from joining the team normally, because on all holidays you need to “throw in” money. However, this does not prevent stingy individuals from attending events at someone else’s expense, for which their colleagues do not like them. But other people's dislike and condemnation simply go unnoticed.

However, the main problem of individuals is their degradation. Although they simply live with the desire for happiness and prosperity at the expense of accumulated finances and material wealth. It is wrong to think that big money guarantees a happy, cloudless life. The more money accumulates, the less pleasure they get in their lives.

The problem is the propaganda of modern society. Greedy individuals are ready to take action for material well-being, and this can help progress. The search for new methods in solving problems is based on the desire to get the desired result without effort, to have everything you need without difficulty. This is the essence of progress.

It is no secret that society promotes a prosperous future, achieved with a lot of money. We hear about the wealth and successes of the rich at every step to stimulate the desire to achieve the same by any means. And all spiritual values ​​become unimportant. Friendship and sympathy are replaced by money. Additionally, greedy people have a problem with internal imbalance. They cannot solve it even with money. In the world of spirituality, completely different laws and principles work. There, money and everything material have absolutely no influence on the state of the soul.

As we have already said, it is impossible to build adequate relationships with others around greed. Sincerity and love often simply cannot exist in such conditions. Selfishness and greed settle nearby. And their carriers are prone to envy and betrayal. They are just waiting for the right opportunity to profit from the suffering, grief, and problems of others.

Fear of loss and other manifestations

Greedy individuals experience internal experiences, are well acquainted with fear and greed, as well as anger and

anger. Having achieved material wealth through hard work, each of us values ​​​​them. And this is considered a completely normal phenomenon if you didn’t have to go over your head and also use your surroundings to your advantage. Otherwise, participating in such games is very risky and dangerous. But this is not a hindrance for a greedy person, because we are talking about money and enrichment. And they are actually very afraid of losing their wealth. This feeling follows you around and is the reason for frequent checks of your savings. People's greed forces them to keep everything under personal control.

The desire of an individual to make money and get rich provokes other negative manifestations:

• A greedy person has a limitless desire for possession or consumption, generated in conditions of rivalry and competition. At the same time, competition can be carried out consciously and unconsciously;
• The feeling of envy and the pattern of behavior it generates is expressed by the desire to have the benefits and wealth that others have;
• Self-interest is the focus of the way of thinking and behavior on obtaining material values, wealth, and personal benefit. This trait manifests itself openly in some, while others often disguise it under the guise of noble intentions;
• Unprincipled people can easily abandon their own opinions and beliefs for the sake of money, profit, neglecting moral standards;
• The phobia of losing savings or missing out on benefits grows with increasing levels of income.

Compassion and pity are alien to greedy individuals. They are unable to understand the problems of others. There may be exceptions, but they are few. But if there is a choice between one’s own enrichment and helping those in need who are in trouble, then the first option always wins.

Causes of the disease

This vice manifests itself in relation to all types of resources: information, attention, money, things, products, emotions.

Greed in food is somewhat different from others. It can have physiological (endocrine system disorders and central nervous system diseases) and psychological causes:

• stress, anxiety;
• fear of the outside world;
• habit of variety of tastes;
• difficult relationship with mother.

That greed, familiar from childhood, is not associated with physiological reasons. It arises in two ways.

1. Vaccinated

Some parents, caring for their child, tell him when he takes food to school or to the yard: “Don’t share it. Eat it yourself." Greedy parents, by their example and direct conviction, teach their children selfishness.

1. Traumatic greed

When a person is disappointed or let down by people he trusted, his mechanisms of communication with society are affected. He says: “You can only count on yourself,” “What do I care about others?”

The same thing happens with aging. A person sees that his energy and ability to earn money decreases. No growth is expected. Supplies and property seem to be the last resource. This becomes the reason for the “savings”.

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