Economics courses create greed

Filed in archive Ethics on January 17, 2010

Researchers have found that people who study economics are greedier than others.

Greed is typically viewed as negative and reprehensible but the reality is it's been around forever. And why are some people more greedy than others? Is it just about upbringing? Does it come with the job? With Wall Street encouraging firms to maximize profits, lift stock prices and provide better returns for investors, are there parts of society that are simply more greedy than others?

Some fascinating insights on these questions in a study Economics and Greed

The researchers studied 166 university students. Students were offered $5 to participate and were made aware that the study was focusing on greed. Students were paid $5 to participate in an online survey. Of the sample, 60% were female, 44% were white, they were aged 20 years and 34% were economics majors. Participants were asked to tell two personal stories, one when they had been tempted by greed and succumbed and one when they had been tempted and resisted. After each story, their behaviors in the story were evaluated. Participants then rated greed, generally, as good/bad, moral/immoral, and correct/incorrect on 7-point scales. Two open-ended questions were then asked for them to identify factors that made it difficult for them to resist greed and factors that made it easy for them to resist greed. Next, they were asked to write down as many positive things about greed that they could. Finally, they were asked about their academic majors.

The researchers found that taking an economics degree made you more inclined to greed. Women seemed more likely to feel bad about their greed than men. Taking economics courses reduced negative emotions toward greed. Taking a second economics course had a big impact for women; taking a third economics course had a big impact for men.

Greed might have been around for a long time. But it's being fueled by the dismal science.