Project in LISS Call 2018
Researchers: S. M. Breugelmans (TiU), M. Zeelenberg (TiU), K. Hoyer (TiU)

Self-interest and greed are important economic motives that only recently have been studied as individual differences at the psychological level. The extent to which these two motives are distinct as well as related to socioeconomic success is not well understood. Greed appears to be related to a variety of measures of economic success, which might explain why it persists to exist, even in the face of general negative evaluations. Other studies show that prosocial (i.e. less self-interested) individuals tended to have more children and also a higher income than selfish individuals.

In this study the researchers try to disentangle the relationships between self-interest, greed and economic behaviour. The researchers will use a 12-minute study in a representative sample of the general population (N = 2500). Based on well-established measures and studies, they’ll systematically compare these two motives in relation to a range of socioeconomic indicators.

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