Money Madness - The Psychology of Saving, Spending, Loving, and Hating Money

270 Pages·1978·34.611 MB·English

by  Herb Goldberg, Robert T. Lewis

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$8.95
Money
Madness
The Psychology ofSaving, Spending, Loving,
and Hating Money
by Herb Goldberg andRobertT. Lewis
Money Madness explains the mad and crazy
things that people do with and for money and
the underlying reasons for such behavior.
As the authors say, while we live in an age of
increasing self-awareness, many emotionally
emancipated people are stuck in self-defeating
money traps. They engage in hidden money
manipulations and are preoccupied with secret
money obsessions that motivate much of their
behavior.
The aim of Money Madness is to unravel the
psychological threads that entangle most of us
in one form or another of money madness.
"More than anything," say the authors, "we
feel that it is time to examine the psychology of
money behavior and to explore the self-destruc-
tive patterns, magical notions, and unrealistic
fantasies that surround and generate people's
money attitudes. To the extent that people can
disentangle themselves from their irrational in-
volvement with money and deal with it appro-
priately, they will be able to experience life in a
more satisfying and spontaneous manner."
Money is an important matter to mostpeople,
whether they have it ornot. Money Madness has
a great deal to say to those who worship money
and to those who loathe it as well as to all those
in between.
Jcu / el design © I97X by Lawrence Ratzkin
WlLUAM Morrow & Company, Inc.
105 Madison Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10016

MONEY
MADNE$$
Copyright © 1978 by Herb Goldberg and Robert T. Lewis
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote
from the following:
"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" Copyright © 1934, Re-
newed 1962 Leo Feist, Inc.
Four lines from "The Law ofthe Yukon" by Robert Service,
The CollectedPoemsofRobertService, Dodd, Mead &Com-
pany and McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited.
"Dear Abby" letter copyright © 1977 by The Chicago Tri-
bune.
AH rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or me-
chanical, including photocopying, recording or by any in-
formation storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the Publisher. Inquiries should be addressed
to William Morrow and Company, Inc., 105 Madison Ave.,
New York, N. Y. 10016.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Goldberg, Herb (date)
Money madne$$.
Includes b—ibliographical references and index.—
1. Money Psychological aspects. 2. Wealth Psycho-
logical aspects. I. Lewis, RobertT., joint author. II. Title:
Money madness.
HG221.G59 1978 332.4'.01'9 77-25444
ISBN 0-688-03296-6
BOOKDESIGNANDBINDING CARLWEISS
Printed in the United StatesofAmerica.
First Edition
23456789
10
PREFACE
We live in an age of increasing self-awareness, a time
when many are striving for honesty in emotions, desiring
personal growth, and seeking to realize the maximum of human
potential. People today are more willing than ever to get in
touch with and express their anger, to experience their sexuality
guiltlessly, and to assert themselves in positive, self-caring ways.
Yet many of these same emotionally emancipated people are
stuck in self-defeating money traps. They engage in hidden
money manipulations and are preoccupied with secret money
obsessions that motivate much of their behavior. The way they
deal with money seems incongruous with their otherwise lib-
erated, humanistic life-style. For example, a man whose parents
were both well-known psychiatrists relates that when he was
a child, his parents talked freely in front of him about sex and
aggression but went into the bedroom and closed the door
when they discussed money.
Unraveling the psychological threads that entangle most of
us in one form or another of money madness is the aim of this
book. More than anything, we feel that it is time to examine
the psychology of money behavior and to explore the self-
destructive patterns, magical notions, and unrealistic fantasies
that surround and generate people's money attitudes. To the
extent that people can disentangle themselves from their irra-
tional involvement with money and deal with it appropriately,
MONEY MADNESS
6 /
they will be able to experience life in a more satisfying and
spontaneous manner. As a contribution toward that goal, we
undertook the writing of this book.
Herb Goldberg
Robert T. Lewis
Los Angeles, California
February 1, 1978
CONTENTS
PREFACE
5
INTRODUCTION—MONEY MADNESS
11
1 / ASSORTED MONEY GAMES, GAMBITS,
PLOYS, AND PASTIMES 15
2 / THE LAST TABOO 30
3 / PARADOXES, HYPOCRISIES, INCONSISTENCIES,
AND
LIES 42
4 / PURSUING AN ILLUSION 66
5 / THE MANY SIDES OF THE COIN 81
6 / THE SECURITY COLLECTORS 102
1 I THE POWER GRABBERS 126
8 / THE LOVE DEALERS 159
9 / THE AUTONOMY WORSHIPERS 185
10 / TREATING MONEY MADNESS 205
11 / WHY THE RICH GET RICHER, THE POOR STAY
POOR, AND MOST DON'T DO EITHER 221
12 / MONEY SANITY 241
NOTES
255
INDEX
261
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://archive.org/details/moneymadnepsychOOgold