The Neuroscience of Greed.

Seems like an appropriate time to review the science behind the greedy personality trait and what we can do to guard against it.

Jan 12, 2025

I will cut to the chase. The answer is no. At least, in my opinion. It is true that those with a high disposition for greed do have less developed brains (see below) and probably did have some form of emotional or psychological abuse/neglect during their childhood - greedy people are damaged people, surprise surprise. However, the evidence suggests that their brains (generally speaking) are developed enough to be responsible for the consequences of their greedy ways.

If you took functional MRI scans of a healthy ‘normal’ person, a person with a personality disorder, and a business tycoon with a track record of exploitation, chances are you would find that the MRI scan of the tycoon was more closely matched with the MRI scan of the personality disorder than that of a ‘typical’ person.

Indeed, so consistent are the findings of neuropathology, that some in the field have sought to classify ‘greed personality trait’, when severe, as a mental illness. After reviewing (some of) the evidence, I can certainly see their point.

Perhaps the question is then more about whether Dispositional Greed (being “set” towards taking more and more) is a mental illness along the lines of personality disorder or PTSD, or is it more along the lines of narcism and psychopathies generally? The distinction is important.

There has been clear evidence that those who display a dominant personality trait of greed in adulthood have developed the brain for it during childhood. Dispositional Greed is more likely to occur in wealthy households, where the number of siblings is fewer, and where there are either “less mindful parenting styles” or high maternal anxiety. Given its proximity to other personality and psychopathic disorders, it is also likely associated with varying degrees of childhood emotional or psychological abuse/neglect.

They tend to have a negative (depressive) psychopathology, and this can be apparent before their teenage years. Typically, those with Dispositional Greed display depression, loss of interest, and negative affect. Basically, they tend to look and feel miserable. There is also a strong correlation with anger, both verbal and physical aggression, indirect aggression, and reactive aggression. Essentially, they tend to be mean and miserable.

There are also both structural and functional brain abnormalities in those with Dispositional Greed.

Below is a diagrammatic representation of the brain. The pink area is related to emotional reactivity. As we develop, the yellow area (ACC) starts to regulate the pink, emotional area - kind of like, feeling hungry and throwing a tantrum (pink area) versus feeling hungry and taking the time to look for something to eat (yellow area regulating pink area). As we develop further, the blue area starts to give input into the regulation and activation of both the yellow and pink areas. So, instead of searching for food, you tell your body to park the feeling of hunger and you plan what you will have for dinner later that day. Indeed, this is the same area where you may find your flare in the kitchen. It is a more complex expression of the self.

Anyway, this is the normal development that most healthy adults have attained to a greater or lesser degree.

Those who score highly on greed personality trait ratings, seem to have achieved the pink to yellow development (i.e. they have some higher regulation over their emotions), but instead of using their prefrontal cortex (blue area), they seem to be using the more primitive prefrontal-parietal-occipital system (the name is largely irrelevant, it is more primitive).

Notably, these abnormally activated areas found in those with Dispositional Greed are physically larger than control groups (i.e. these areas are overgrown in comparison to normal). That is, this more primitive area has been identified to be both functionally and structurally abnormal. These findings are similar to those found in people with long-standing depression, bipolar, and PTSD, and there is also some overlap with psychopathies.

These overactive areas are considered to be above the limbic brain (the emotional reactivity part) but below the higher-brain functioning part (reason, empathy, etc…). As such, it would appear that while the greedy have attained some regulation over the basic emotional reactivity of the amygdala (pink), they have only managed a lower-order regulation and this regulation seems to be based, at least in part, on a depressive or negative setting.

Wei et al, sums it up well:

“Taken together, greedy individuals may be more prone to aggress against others due to higher experience of negative emotions and low happiness from the pervasive dissatisfaction of not having enough.”

Or, as most of us would say, greedy people are never satisfied and that makes them depressed and/or angry.

Causation

To take this a step further. Notably, the aggression and depression come from the dissatisfaction with not having enough, and probably not the other way around. That raises the question of causation - what started the insatiable appetite to have more?

Few in the field would question the importance of parenting and upbringing on the eventual output of a greedy adult. There is certainly evidence that shows greedy tendencies from the age of 4 years, and these are linked with the child’s upbringing. But there are also likely to be factors external to the family that will contribute.

Misery likes company; so too does greed

There has been a growing body of evidence and opinion relating to the “commercial determinants of health”. That is, how does the constant exposure to environmental stimuli that are solely concerned with profit-making affect brain development? I must be clear here, I am not saying profit-making is wrong. Indeed, in some ways, my view would be the opposite, in that those who produce something good for society and promote human civilisation should be empowered to do so and rewarded for having done so. The issue here is that when there is an overabundance of environmental stimulation that is singularly focused on profit-making then it is inevitable that our impressionable children and adolescents (and some adults) will suffer from impaired cognitive development and/or altered brain function.

This is a long-winded way of saying that being surrounded by consumerism all the time will make you shallow, greedy, miserable, and more likely to be aggressive. And when I say ‘make you’, I don’t mean a temporary psychological state, I mean it will alter the structure and function of the brain itself.

It is not just consumerism via adverts, T.V. and film. Disproportionate exposure to the ‘celeb-lifestyle’ and ‘fashion-based ideals’ is also likely to have a detrimental effect on the developing brain. The issue is the excessive exposure to the example that constantly wanting more is a normal setting for one’s brain. Indeed, I would go further than this.

Unfettered consumerism is bad for civilisation.

Yes, we can argue about the negative effect on the environment of a consumption industry or the redistribution of wealth towards those who contribute less. But from a pure neuroscience (or more accurately, a neuropsychosocial) perspective, excessive exposure to consumerism and materialism is damaging to both the individual brain and the civility that binds society together.

Civility is a higher-order brain development (e.g. the blue area). The danger is that if we allow this ‘want more’ sentiment to be the predominant stimulation our brains are exposed to then we will end up with, as Logan et al., so succinctly put it ‘a collective narcism’.

My view is that there is undoubtedly a risk that children exposed to advertising and the ‘want more’ industries will be more likely to regulate their emotional state using the more primitive aspect of the brain, and in effect, fail to develop the higher-cortical areas of civility. I think this is likely (albeit, less so) even with ‘good’ parenting and ‘good’ schooling.

Adults are not exempt either.

One hopes that by the time one is well into adulthood much of the higher cortical development is well underway. This is true for those who have had a ‘good’ upbringing. And by ‘good’, I mean secure, nurtured, without excessive fear or abuse, and with parents who proactively develop their child’s emotional state. Such an upbringing facilitates higher-cortical development (e.g. the blue area). This type of ‘good’ upbringing will lead to a better-developed adult with established higher-cortical functioning (reasoning, empathy, etc..) and therefore provide some protection from the adverse influence of the ‘want more’ industries.

But what of those who don’t have a ‘good’ upbringing?

I suspect they are the first to, in effect, regress their development. The more the ‘want more’ industries predominate our daily stimulation the more ‘good’ your upbringing has to be to achieve protection against regressing your development, and ultimately becoming less and less civil-minded. I think you can see where I am going here.

The Antidote

Discussion about this post