Is Profit Evil? Associations of Profit with Social Harm

In opposition to foundational economic principles, four studies show that people view profit as fundamentally socially harmful. Studies 1 and 2 find a strong negative correlation between profit and perceived social value across both real firms and entire industries. This relationship holds for both perceived profit and actual profit information from public data. Study 3 confirms that this effect holds when profit motive is manipulated. Otherwise identically-described organizations are seen as providing less value and doing more harm when described as “for-profit” rather than nonprofit. Study 4 demonstrates that people hold a zero-sum conception of profit that neglects the disciplining effects of competition. People see harmful business practices as profitable, even after an intervention encouraging consideration of long-term consequences. This tendency is unrelated to self-reported political ideology. Even in one of the world’s most market-oriented cultures, people doubt the ability of profit-seeking business to benefit society.