The study of how humans think about, feel about, and behave with money—a substance that has no intrinsic value but shapes almost every aspect of our lives. Money is a psychological phenomenon: it's worth only what we agree it's worth, yet we kill for it, die for it, organize our entire lives around it. The psychology of money examines why we're never satisfied (hedonic adaptation), why we make irrational financial decisions (loss aversion, mental accounting), why money doesn't buy happiness (beyond a point), and why the pursuit of money can become a psychological disorder (workaholism, greed, miserliness). It also examines the deep emotional meanings money carries—security, status, freedom, love, power—that have little to do with what money can actually buy.
Example: "He studied the psychology of money after winning the lottery and feeling nothing. The money hadn't changed him because his psychology hadn't changed—he still felt insecure, still compared himself to others, still wanted more. The problem wasn't his bank account; it was his relationship with money. Therapy helped more than the millions had."
by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026
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