Greed is not a vice

Almost half of Russians are ready to forgive stinginess

Despite the fact that in Russian society there is still a strong attitude towards condemning such a shortcoming as greed, our compatriots are becoming more tolerant of manifestations of stinginess in modern economic conditions. At least, according to a survey conducted by sociologists from the Public Opinion Foundation in mid-June in 100 localities in 46 regions of the country, 44% of Russians consider this one of the most common character traits to be an “excusable flaw.”

The fact that they somehow have to deal with the stinginess of others was stated by 77% of respondents (39% of them, although rarely, had noticed this lack in their environment). At the same time, 76% of respondents believe that rich people are more prone to greed. Only 15% believe that this trait does not depend on a person’s financial condition.

And it is possible that it is with this feature traditionally attributed to wealthy people that ordinary people associate their success. Thus, an impressive number of respondents (33%) believe that greed largely contributes to success in life. In particular, in pathological stinginess, these survey participants noted such positive attitudes as a rational and practical attitude towards money, frugality (7%), directly related to the growth of personal well-being (4%) and family well-being (2%), a more attentive attitude to to oneself in the form of “reasonable egoism” (2%).

According to the survey, young people over 18 years of age and middle-aged people up to 35 years old, living in large cities, having a higher education and earning more than 6 thousand rubles are more loyal to stinginess, according to the survey. per month. There were more people with these characteristics in the groups of those who noted that there is still something good in greed and that it often contributes to success in life. And it is not surprising, because some modern economic theories teach that greed, if you know how to manage it in order to make decisions quickly enough, can become a completely rational motivation for concluding profitable deals.

However, as FOM sociologists note, this character trait is still condemned by society on an emotional level, which apparently is associated with the reluctance to admit manifestations of one’s own stinginess. “We asked respondents an open-ended question about what feelings and emotions greedy people evoke in them. The majority (56%) naturally express antipathy towards such people, hostility, contempt, condemnation, and indignation,” notes sociologist Elena Vasilyeva. And although 21% of respondents still allow the manifestation of greed towards strangers, subject to absolute generosity towards family and friends, the overwhelming majority - two thirds of respondents (65%) - consider it unacceptable to refuse help to anyone.

Despite the fact that only 10% of the population of our country have never encountered stinginess on the part of others, 65% of Russians categorically do not notice this unpleasant character trait. The majority of respondents are convinced that they have never made decisions or committed any actions under the influence of greed. Only 19% admitted to themselves, although rare, a desire to pinch something, and 2% admitted that they are real greedy.

Among the actions committed out of greed, most often, according to the most self-critical respondents, there are both a simple desire to save money on purchases and an outright reluctance to part with one’s own valuables by lending them to friends. But greed in its purest form, when a person is ready to tighten his pocket in a difficult situation or for some small reason not to “buy his grandmother a crossword puzzle and flowers for his wife,” according to research data, is characteristic of only 1% of the population.

Yulia KHOMCHENKO