The crisis we are not naming: The psychology of capitalism.
Psychology has rendered capitalism invisible, treating individualism as cultural inheritance rather than a response to contemporary economic conditions. Building on my recent theoretical framework (Bettache, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 29, 215, 2024), this article explores how capitali...
| Publicado en: | British Journal of Social Psychology Vol. 65; no. 1; pp. 1 - 11 |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Jan2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=191183928&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 191183928 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 01446665 99J jtl: British Journal of Social Psychology issn: 01446665 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Jan2026 vid: 65 iid: 1 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 191183928 10.1111/bjso.70044 191183928 ppf: 1 ppct: 10 formats: tig: atl: The crisis we are not naming: The psychology of capitalism. aug: au: Bettache, Karim affil: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong sug: subj: Politics Psychology Culture Social Change Economics Individuality Self Concept Trust Social Media Advertising Altruism Mental Health Community Mental Health Services Psychological Well-Being Organizational Culture Commitment Personal Satisfaction Social Determinants of Health ab: Psychology has rendered capitalism invisible, treating individualism as cultural inheritance rather than a response to contemporary economic conditions. Building on my recent theoretical framework (Bettache, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 29, 215, 2024), this article explores how capitalism functions as a missing link in psychology—an overlooked generative mechanism that shapes the phenomena we study. Three 'capitalist syndromes'—Gain Primacy Syndrome (perpetual accumulation as life orientation), Zero‐Sum Rivalry Syndrome (competitive ethos eroding social bonds) and Ownership Syndrome (possessive identity formation)—interact recursively to generate a self‐enhancement agenda we recognize as individualism. This framework reinterprets established findings, from the correlation between economic development and individualism to social class differences in self‐concept, as responses to political‐economic structures rather than ancient traditions. Making capitalism visible transforms psychological distress from individual pathology into rational responses to structural dysfunction, opening possibilities for interventions that address root causes rather than merely helping individuals cope with harmful conditions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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