Friends as Tools: Exploring the Role of Dispositional Greed in Social Relationships

Abstract

Greed is the insatiable desire for more. Greed research has mainly focused on economic decisions, and little is known about greed in the realm of social relationships, despite these being essential to people’s well-being. We explored in four studies how dispositional greed is associated with various aspects of social relationships. We analyzed survey data from the Dutch Representative LISS-panel (2013-wave, N = 2,299–4,943; 2019-wave, N = 694–892) and ran two additional studies (Lab, N = 205; Prolific, N = 503). Together, these studies revealed that people higher in greed are lonelier and objectify friends more. Even more, some Studies showed that people higher in greed are less satisfied with and less close to their contacts, while other Studies showed no effect of greed. These findings shed light on how greed affects people’s social lives. We address potential mechanisms and expound avenues for future research.