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Liu Z, Sun X, Bao R, Ma R. Why do people always want more? Perceived economic inequality leads people to be greedy by enhancing relative deprivation. Br J Psychol 2024. [PMID: 38635309 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Greedy phenomena have dramatically increased in societies. However, despite the universality of greedy behaviour, empirical research on the causes of greed is scarce. In this context, we propose that perceived economic inequality may be an important factor influencing greed. Study 1 provided primary evidence of a positive relationship between perceived economic inequality and greed, based on data from a large-scale social survey (CFPS 2018, N = 14,317). Employing well-established questionnaires, Study 2A (N = 200) and Study 2B (N = 399) revealed that perceived economic inequality positively predicts greed, with relative deprivation playing a mediating role. Study 3A (N = 200) and Study 3B (N = 200) manipulated perceived economic inequality to provide causal evidence of its effects on greed and to replicate the mediating effect of relative deprivation. Finally, Study 4 (N = 372), using a blockage manipulation design, showed that the effect of perceived economic inequality on greed significantly decreases when relative deprivation is suppressed. In summary, the results of these six studies consistently suggest that perceived economic inequality positively affects greed and that this effect is mediated by relative deprivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenzhen Liu
- School of Psychology, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Xiaomin Sun
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Ruiji Bao
- Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Rongzi Ma
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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2
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Hoyer K, Zeelenberg M, Breugelmans SM. Greed: What Is It Good for? PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2024; 50:597-612. [PMID: 36575964 PMCID: PMC10903135 DOI: 10.1177/01461672221140355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
What is greed good for? Greed is ubiquitous, suggesting that it must have some benefits, but it is also often condemned. In a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 2,367, 51.3% female, Mage = 54.06, SD = 17.90), we examined two questions. First, inspired by Eriksson et al., we studied whether greedy people generate more personal and household income (economic outcomes), have more sexual partners, longer relationships, and more offspring (evolutionary outcomes), and are more satisfied in life (psychological outcomes). We found that greedy individuals had higher economic outcomes, mixed evolutionary outcomes, and lower psychological outcomes. Second, we compared greed and self-interest. We found that they differed in terms of economic outcomes, and partly in terms of evolutionary outcomes, but that they were similar in terms of psychological outcomes. This research provides insights into what greed is and does. Directions for further research are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marcel Zeelenberg
- Tilburg University, The Netherlands
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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de Lira MDNS, Loureto GDL, Alexandrino KE, Freires LA, da Costa JCA, Vione KC. Dispositional greed and life satisfaction: the role of social comparison for well-being. PSYCHOL HEALTH MED 2024:1-12. [PMID: 38498980 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2024.2331494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024]
Abstract
There is a lack of studies addressing the psychological mechanisms underlying the association between individual differences in greed and well-being. This study tested the relationship between dispositional greed, and satisfaction with life, as well as the moderating effect of social comparison orientation on this association (N = 373). As expected for hypothesis 1, we found that greed correlated negatively with satisfaction with life, and positively with social comparison orientation, even after controlling for individuals' mental health index (anxiety and depression), supporting the hypothesis 2. Further, the moderating effect of social comparison strengthened the relationship between high levels of dispositional greed and dissatisfaction with life, failing to support hypothesis 3. As such, individuals high on dispositional greed were less satisfied with life if they also showed lower (vs. medium level) levels of social comparison orientation. These findings add to the psychological literature on greed by showing that social comparison is not only positively related to it but can also be a vital mechanism for boosting psychological well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Katia C Vione
- Department of Psychology, University of Derby, Derby, UK
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Wei S, Jin W, Zhu W, Chen S, Feng J, Wang P, Im H, Deng K, Zhang B, Zhang M, Yang S, Peng M, Wang Q. Greed personality trait links to negative psychopathology and underlying neural substrates. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:6646951. [PMID: 35856605 PMCID: PMC10036871 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsac046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Greed personality trait (GPT), characterized by the desire to acquire more and the dissatisfaction of never having enough, has been hypothesized to link with negative emotion/affect characteristics and aggressive behaviors. To describe its emotion-related features, we utilized a series of scales to measure corresponding emotion/affect and aggression (n = 411) and collected their neuroimaging data (n = 330) to explore underlying morphological substrates. Correlational analyses revealed that greedy individuals show more negative symptoms (e.g. depression, loss of interest, negative affect), lower psychological well-being and more aggression. Mediation analyses further demonstrated that negative symptoms and psychological well-being mediated greedy individuals' aggression. Moreover, exploratory factor analysis extracted factor scores across three factors (negative psychopathology, happiness, and motivation) from the measures scales. Negative psychopathology and happiness remained robust mediators. Importantly, these findings were replicated in an independent sample (n = 68). Voxel-based morphometry analysis also revealed that gray matter volumes (GMVs) in the prefrontal-parietal-occipital system were associated with negative psychopathology and happiness, and GMVs in the frontal pole and middle frontal cortex mediated the relationships between GPT and aggressions. These findings provide novel insights into the negative characteristics of dispositional greed, and suggest their mediating roles on greedy individuals' aggression and underlying neuroanatomical substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyu Wei
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Weipeng Jin
- Department of Neurosurgery, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin 300060, China
| | - Wenwei Zhu
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Shuning Chen
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Jie Feng
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Pinchun Wang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Hohjin Im
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine 92697-7085 CA, USA
| | - Kun Deng
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Bin Zhang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Manman Zhang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
- Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Shaofeng Yang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
- Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Maomiao Peng
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721 AZ, USA
| | - Qiang Wang
- Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
- Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education, Academy of Psychology and Behavior, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
- Tianjin Social Science Laboratory of Students' Mental Development and Learning, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China
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Diferenças de sexo no endosso de valores humanos. PSICO 2022. [DOI: 10.15448/1980-8623.2022.1.38863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
No Brasil, inexistem investigações dos correlatos psicológicos e sociodemográficos da ganância. Este estudo investigou a relação entre a ganância e os valores humanos. Ainda, testou-se o efeito mediador da ganância na diferença entre sexos no endosso dos valores humanos. Os participantes responderam a Dispositional Greed Scale, o Questionário dos Valores Básicos e perguntas demográficas. Os correlatos valorativos indicaram que pessoas gananciosas, embora materialmente motivadas (valores de existência), possuem necessidades estéticas (valores suprapessoais). Entretanto, a ganância predisse em maior magnitude os valores pessoais. Houve diferenças entre os sexos apenas frente à ganância e aos valores pessoais, sendo que os homens apresentaram maiores pontuações. Por fim, observou-se que a ganância mediou parcialmente a diferença entre sexos no endosso de valores pessoais, sugerindo que homens são mais egocêntricos porque são mais gananciosos. Tais achados são discutidos à luz da Teoria Funcionalista dos Valores Humanos, da personalidade das diferenças individuais e da psicologia evolutiva.
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Xie S, Meng X, Li C. The Insubordination Scale Among Full-Time Chinese Employees: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study. JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/10690727221125132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The present study aimed to translate the insubordination scale into the Chinese version (ISBD-C) and to test its reliability and validity among 994 full-time Chinese employees. In Study 1 ( N = 551), the insubordination scale was translated, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted, which revealed a single factor structure of insubordination. In Study 2 ( N = 443), the scale’s convergent validity and discriminant validity were supported by confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Further, measurement invariance was tested and indicated that the ISBD-C was equivalent across gender, age, education level and job position. Finally, the scale’s concurrent validity was demonstrated by positive correlations with general counterproductive workplace behavior and procrastination, and negative correlations with workplace well-being, work engagement, and affective commitment. These findings provide strong evidence that ISBD-C is a useful measure in the Chinese context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songke Xie
- School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Xue Meng
- School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
| | - Chaoping Li
- School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
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Dispositional greed inhibits prosocial behaviors: an emotive - social cognitive dual-process model. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-020-00928-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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The relationship between adolescents' materialism and cooperative propensity: The mediating role of greed and the moderating role of awe. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Zeelenberg M, Breugelmans SM. The Good, Bad and Ugly of Dispositional Greed. Curr Opin Psychol 2022; 46:101323. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Lambie GW, Stickl Haugen J, Tabet SM. Development and initial validation of the multidimensional dispositional greed assessment (MDGA) with adults. COGENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/23311908.2021.2019654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Glenn W. Lambie
- Department of Counselor Education & School Psychology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
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Further tests of the scarcity and luxury hypotheses in dispositional greed: Evidence from two large-scale Dutch and American samples. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02467-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
AbstractA recent, large-scale study among Chinese adolescents found that childhood socioeconomic status (CSES) was positively related to dispositional greed (i.e., the “luxury hypothesis”), instead of negatively related (i.e., the “scarcity hypothesis”; Liu et al., 2019c). This relationship was found for only-children, not for children with siblings. The generalizability of these findings may be limited, due to China’s one-child policy and socioeconomic policies which may have led to fewer differences in wealth. We replicated this research in two other cultural contexts that represent markedly different socioeconomic policies in order to test its generalizability: the Netherlands (Study 1, N = 2367, 51.3% female, Mage = 54.06, SD = 17.90), and the USA (Study 2, N = 999, 50.1% female, Mage = 33.44, SD = 12.28). Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to test the association between CSES and greed. We mostly replicated the findings by Liu et al. (2019c): CSES was positively related to greed in both studies (“luxury hypothesis”) and there was a moderating effect of siblings in Study 1, but not in Study 2. Implications for theories on greed as well as future research on the association between CSES and greed are discussed.
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Zeelenberg M, Seuntjens TG, van de Ven N, Breugelmans SM. Dispositional Greed Scales. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1027/1015-5759/a000647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. In recent years, different scales have been developed to assess individual differences in dispositional greed. We report two studies ( N1 = 300, N2 = 1,000) on the comparative psychometric properties of these scales. We find that all scales are reliable and that they correlate highly, suggesting that all can be used to assess dispositional greed. Exploratory factor analyses, using the Empirical Kaiser Criterion, the Hull method, and Parallel Analysis as extraction methods, were done on the separate scales and all items together. These analyses reveal that there is quite some consistency in the scales, as in both studies a one-factor solution seems to describe the data best. These results imply that these different scales all assess dispositional greed, although the results also suggest that some items may be deleted from the scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcel Zeelenberg
- Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research (TIBER) and Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
- Department of Marketing, VU Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Niels van de Ven
- Department of Marketing and TIBER, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
| | - Seger M. Breugelmans
- Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research (TIBER) and Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands
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Zhang W, Xiang Y. Reliability, validity and invariance of the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire in the China General Social Survey. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-020-01246-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Jiang X, Hu X, Liu Z, Sun X, Xue G. Greed as an adaptation to anomie: The mediating role of belief in a zero-sum game and the buffering effect of internal locus of control. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2019.109566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Liu Z, Sun X, Guo Y, Luo F. Mindful parenting inhibits adolescents from being greedy: The mediating role of adolescent core self-evaluations. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-019-00577-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Scarcity or luxury: Which leads to adolescent greed? Evidence from a large-scale Chinese adolescent sample. J Adolesc 2019; 77:32-40. [PMID: 31605887 DOI: 10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2018] [Revised: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 10/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Because greed is associated with various destructive outcomes, understanding the developmental precursors to dispositional greed in adolescence is of great importance. However, there are few empirical studies on this topic. The current study aimed to examine the relationship between childhood socioeconomic status (CSES) and adolescent greed and the moderating effect of family size. Two competing hypotheses were proposed. One is the scarcity hypothesis, which claims that CSES may be negatively related to adolescent greed. Another is the luxury hypothesis, which proposes that the richer the environment one grew up in, the more likely one is to develop dispositional greed. METHOD A cross-sectional sample of 3,200 adolescents (11-19 years old, 1,712 females, 1,356 males, and 132 of unknown gender) from North, Northwest, Middle and South China completed the questionnaire sets. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS CSES was positively correlated with dispositional greed, and the moderating effect of family size was significant. CONCLUSION The current study provides evidence supporting the luxury hypothesis over the scarcity hypothesis. In addition, adolescent dispositional greed increases with an increase in CSES when there is only one child in the family, while this is not the case for children with siblings. The theoretical and practical implications of the current study results as well as future research directions are discussed.
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Zhu Y, Sun X, Liu S, Xue G. Is Greed a Double-Edged Sword? The Roles of the Need for Social Status and Perceived Distributive Justice in the Relationship Between Greed and Job Performance. Front Psychol 2019; 10:2021. [PMID: 31555186 PMCID: PMC6722203 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Greed is one of the most common features of human nature, and it has recently attracted increasing research interest. The aims of this paper are to provide one of the first empirical investigations of the effects of greed on job performance and to explore the mediating role of the need for social status and perceived distributive justice. Using a working sample (N = 315) from China, the current study found that greed promoted both task and contextual performance through the intermediary effect of the need for social status. At the same time, greed inhibited both types of performance through perceived distributive justice. These results confirmed our hypothesis that greed is a double-edged sword with opposite effects on one's performance. The findings suggest that organizations should both address greedy employees' social status concerns and ensure that they are treated fairly so that organizations can fully utilize the talents of greedy people and channel their energy in a beneficial direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiming Zhu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaomin Sun
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Sijia Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Gang Xue
- Department of Public Administration, Chinese Academy of Governance, Beijing, China
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Seuntjens TG, Zeelenberg M, van de Ven N, Breugelmans SM. Greedy bastards: Testing the relationship between wanting more and unethical behavior. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2018.09.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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