Can you recognize if the greed In this article, we will talk about this concept in order to explain what it means, how psychology deals with this issue, and the difference between greed and ambition. Check it out!

To start the conversation, what is the meaning of greed?

If you don't yet know what greed means, we will tell you in advance that it is a noun that denotes human behavior.

Since behavioral trends are a topic of interest to psychology, it makes perfect sense for us to address it here.

This characteristic, usually understood as something negative, has a reason to exist. That is, there are motivations for it to manifest itself as a trait in someone's personality. But, what would this trait be?

Meaning of greed: Priberam Dictionary

According to the Priberam Dictionary, greed means:

• profit,
• gain,
• illicit gain.

Moreover, by extension, it is the greed for gain and profit.

Because greed has in its definition both greed for profit and illicit gain, its meaning takes on a generally very negative aspect. We use the word to denote evil, unscrupulous, power-hungry people.

The difference between greed and ambition

We also usually associate greed with ambition, but the two terms do not have the same meaning.

Ambition can be the strong desire for power or riches, but it also implies the vehement desire to achieve a goal.

In this context ambition is a broader term, which can serve as a motivation for the development of greed. However, while the greedy person is ambitious, not every ambitious person is greedy It can aspire to things other than profit and gain.

Greed in psychology: how to explain the exacerbated desire to have more goods than others?

In psychology, we have that greed is a response to marked experiences of restriction. It represents a mistake in the substitution of moral and ethical concepts, because for the greedy person the appetite for money would, in theory, lead to a life of happiness.

Moreover, greed functions as a primitive way of detecting danger. This is because the more you accumulate gains, the more you protect yourself against the constraint from which you are fleeing.

To further the discussion, we present some disorders and diseases in which greed is at the center of the definition. Check it out!

Plyushkin or Plyushkina Syndrome

In that case, greed manifests itself in an urge to accumulate things However, these things are not always valuable.

The name of the syndrome is a reference to the book Dead Souls, by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, which has a number of standard characters, that is, characters that represent standard behavior. In the story, Plyushkin is a character who accumulates a lot of unnecessary things, so the relationship with the name of the syndrome we are describing is evident.

In short, we are talking about accumulators, people who usually live alone among junk and trinkets, always giving in to the temptation to accumulate more and more.

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Oniomania

In the case of omniomaniacs, compulsive behavior is impulse buying This is because the act of buying brings a strong sense of pleasure.

This is a mental disorder that leads to unimaginable losses of money. In turn, the spending can affect interpersonal relationships, as family finances suffer from the addiction as well.

And Freud, what did he discuss about greed in psychoanalysis?

Freud argues that man is born with a predisposition to pleasure instincts, In turn, the superego would be a moral and social development that is later in our mind, instructing us to give up certain pleasures for the sake of collective coexistence.

Our unconscious, when we are born and develop, is full of harmful desires and impulses. Examples of these are aggressive and sexual behavior.

Therefore, As we grow up, ideally these desires are socialized, greed being one of them.

Another of Freud's ideas is the phase of sexuality called anal phase Psychoanalysts usually associate that if the person is still connected to facts of this period of childhood, he/she will tend to be a hoarder. And this hoarding bias can be the basis of greedy behavior.

Regardless of the concept of the anal phase, life situations that generate insecurity or fear of abandonment can lead the subject to compensate in extreme ways, such as greed.

Melanie Klein's proposal

Another psychoanalyst who contributed studies on greed was Melanie Klein.

For her, human beings are self-destructive, which means that we have the impulse to project this destructiveness onto our social and cultural reality.

Still on greed, Klein proposes "death anxiety", derived from the proposal of death drive already elaborated by Freud - that is, the tendency to eliminate existence.

In this context, The consciousness of death drives people to become greedy about what they will accumulate in life.

Some practical tips to keep ambition active and greed under control

Now that you know what psychology and psychoanalysis say about greed and its manifestations, you should keep in mind that it is a behavior that needs to be controlled in order not to become harmful.

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So, with that in mind, we have separated 5 tips for you to differentiate greed from ambition in order to stick to the virtues of ambition and get rid of the traps of greed. Check it out!

1 - Set realistic goals, in detail and with criteria

Greed, as we have seen, is the eagerness for gain and profit. Therefore, ambition can also manifest itself in this type of desire.

However, In order not to become a person who strives for gains at any cost, defeating his own ethics and morals, set goals that you can conquer considering the criteria relevant to you.

2 - Always be in touch with your values

Another way to guard against the evils of greed is to define very clearly what your values are.

Therefore, given that you have in mind what is inviolable, moral and immoral for you, respecting your own values will be easier.

3 - Have trustworthy and authoritative people to discuss your actions

Avoid acting unsupervised Have mentors and confidants to talk sincerely about your motivations and get outside perspectives on them.

4 - Don't be afraid to seek guidance to achieve your goals

The role of mentors is fundamental to walking a successful path. Walking alone and not communicating your victories can be an invitation to attitudes based on ignorance or to choose the dark paths that seem easier.

5 - If you feel you are getting sick and going beyond your limits, seek professional help

An excellent way to treat one's own greed is with a treatment with a psychologist or psychoanalyst.

6 - Get analytical type therapy, such as psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a form of analytical therapy, that is, it does not work with behavioral task ideas. Psychoanalysis seeks to think about being: strengthen the ego so that the subject can deal with his psyche, with other people, and with external reality.

As you have seen above, the behavior of the greedy person may stem from restrictive experiences in childhood or youth, or a compensation for anxieties and anxieties, such as the fear of need or being abandoned. Discovering what these experiences were is relevant for dealing with the present and redefining values.

Final thoughts on what greed is

In this article you have learned about what greed is, the difference between greed and ambition, and how to prevent greed from getting out of control.

For those who work studying and analyzing human behavior, It is always interesting to see that destructive behavior has its roots in the way we learn to look at the world and position ourselves in it. This comes from both childhood and adolescence, and our memories are key to redefining beliefs that hurt us.

To learn more about greed In it, besides learning how to practice the psychoanalyst's craft, you take advantage of content that will be useful both to the profession you already practice and to your own personal development. In addition, take advantage of our excellent payment conditions!