The Seven Deadly Sins have provided gossip, amusement and plots for nearly fifteen centuries. The Seven Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, have always been popular. However, the number seven and the dubious “deadly” have caused many speculations (Solomon, 1999 p.7 preface). Pope Gregory the First instituted the classic certification. His list of seven was confirmed and reasserted by Saint Thomas Aquinas and has been reproduced ever since. The list survived several centuries and now consists of the following seven sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony (Solomon, 1999 p.2).

Although The Seven Sins have long existed, a recent study concluded that The Sins are still encountered in our daily lives. Mainly because they are so deeply rooted in our human nature, that not only they are almost completely unavoidable but people can never seem to limit their selves (Frank, 2001). To reinforce these statements Frank used an example of sloth which is pretty recognizable. One fabulous late night with your family and there it is. At 07.00 a.m. your best friends presents itself, the alarm clock. Now, who doesn’t press the snooze button once or twice before dragging yourself out of bed? This is only a harmless example, but sins can also have more substantial consequences. Currently parliamentarians, journalists and prominent business men have been presenting greed as one of the main causes for the current credit crunch (Bernasek, 2010; Trouw: department Economics, 2009; Staps, 2008). Another study even argues that greed is the primary motivating factor behind civil wars (De Soysa, 2002).

Despite the fact that these unwanted situations, like credit crunch and civil wars, still tend to re-occur, relatively little time is devoted to this subject in academic research. Hereby one of my main questions is: why do people always want more? Because ultimately, humans are responsible for causing these unwanted situations. According to Wenzel (1968), greed arises due to the nature of earth. He stated that the earth is cold and dry and therefore people whom lack heat and humidity are exceedingly greedy. Though, also other definitions are known. When we take a look at ancient time, greed was known as a form of self-deception and it was mainly focused on material wealth (Wachtel, 2003). While for economists, greed is the engine of social progress and a form of enlightened self-interest (Wachtel, 2003).

In order to classify the many meanings of greed, the following definition will be utilized throughout this thesis. Greed is an excessive desire to acquire or possess more than one needs or deserves .

1.2 Problem statement

Wachtel’s psychoanalytic research (2003) is one of the few clues within the subject of greed. He tries to understand the difference between the individual who strives restlessly but does experience satisfactions and the individual for whom insatiability is a curse and where the desire for money and wealth is a hunger that cannot be slaked (Wachtel, 2003). According to his theory greed is only driven by the desire for material wealth and money but Frank (1999) concluded that “mutual influence” is another important dimension as well. Mutual influence means that our choices and purchases are influenced by neighbors and family (Frank, 1999). In order to explain this concept, Frank uses an example. He suggested to consider the perception of what “looks right” in clothing. Simply by living in the society, people come to have an automatic sense about how wide a jacket should be. But when fashion changes over time, their perception changes as well. Wachtel (2003) made a similar comparison. He said that the envy towards the bigger boat is not reduced by increasing the average size of the vessels. Because when all boats get larger, the average person’s assets still feels like “just a boat”.

So, apparently people continuously compare their possessions with others and seek for approval from family, friends and their environment. But why is “status” important for people? And what kind of effects does it have? In a ancient study, Veblen (1899) concluded that the concern for social status induces people to engage in conspicuous consumption only in order to signal wealth and there a more studies who concluded the same kind of thing. Similarly, Duesenberry (1949) argued that a concern for status causes people to imitate the consumption standard of those above them in the income hierarchy. But why is this “status thing” important? And what kind of effects does it have on greed? In hopes of finding, the problem definition is stated as follows:

What is the effect of status on greed?

1.3 Research questions

In order to answer the problem definition three research questions have been formulated:

What is greed?

What is status?

Does status influence greed?

1.4 Conceptual model

After the problem definition and the research questions the following conceptual model has been made:

Greed

Status