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Just the mere thought of money can turn a person selfish, so that he helps others less often and prefers to play alone, a new study shows. In a series of nine experiments, researchers found that money enhanced people’s motivation to achieve their own goals and degraded their behavior toward others. The concept of money, they suggest, makes a person feel more self-sufficient and thus more apt to stand alone [source].
If people think that cooperating with others will promote their self-interest in a better manner then they will do so. This can be extrapolated to imply that all altruistic acts are selfish to some extent. Doing a favor generally carries the weight of its expected return either in equal or greater measure. We would like to believe that people are inherently charitable but they will not be unless it promotes some self-interest. And that is not a bad thing.
by Patrix | on Friday, November 17th, 2006 at 11:16 am | 
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November 17th, 2006 at 12:04 pm reply
[...] Money makes you selfish? [...]