Lectures

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  1. Finance Meets Psychology

  In our introductory lecture, Dr. Campbell explores the practical psychology of wealth, showing how concepts and theories help explain wealth creation and management. We discuss emotions, decision-making, personality traits, and relationships as they relate to financial well-being, alongside basics like compound interest, diversification, and the difference between nominal and real values. Dr. Campbell emphasizes that building wealth requires both the skills to generate income and the discipline to invest wisely, noting that we often must resist natural instincts, making investing a demanding mental game.
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  2. The Happiness Paradox

  In lecture two, we learn about the complex relationship between wealth and happiness, examining different types of happiness and their connections to financial well-being. The discussion delves into how wealth impacts happiness through various mechanisms, including stress buffering and increased control over life choices, while also addressing potential dark sides such as materialism and existential emptiness. The lecture concludes by examining how positive emotions can create beneficial feedback loops in financial decision-making, while acknowledging that the wealth-happiness relationship is more nuanced than simply "more money equals more happiness."
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  3. Money and Mind

  In lecture three, we investigate cognitive biases and heuristics in financial decision-making, showing how mental shortcuts and biases challenge the traditional model of rational self-interest. We focus on three categories: cognitive miser biases (like availability and anchoring), negativity biases (including loss aversion and risk avoidance), and self-enhancement biases (such as overconfidence and self-serving bias). Dr. Campbell closes with useful strategies for better financial choices, such as improving literacy, creating systematic plans, using mental accounting, seeking advice, and keeping our egos in check by balancing patience with humility.
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  4. Attitudes and Assets

  In lecture four, we study the psychology of financial values, attitudes, and motivation, examining how wealth influences and is influenced by our psychological makeup. Dr. Campbell covers key concepts like Maslow's hierarchy of needs, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, and various money attitudes including risk tolerance, money avoidance, and money worship. The lecture concludes by examining how financial attitudes develop through inheritance, childhood experiences, role models, and personal narratives, emphasizing the importance of finding balance in our relationship with money and developing positive financial stories.
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  5. Traits for Success

  In lecture five, we analyze personality traits and their relationship to wealth, focusing on the Big Five model: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. The lecture examines how these traits correlate with financial outcomes, identifying three main wealth profiles: high achievers (disciplined, stable), risk-takers (assertive, entrepreneurial), and safety-seekers (cautious, risk-averse). Dr. Campbell concludes by addressing additional traits like grit, intelligence, and narcissism, emphasizing that while conscientiousness appears most beneficial for wealth accumulation, there isn't a single "wealth personality" that guarantees financial success.
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  6. Shared Wealth

  In lecture six, Dr. Campbell explains the relational aspects of wealth, examining how money flows through couples and families, and the psychological dynamics involved in managing shared finances. We discuss how couples can benefit economically through division of labor and shared expenses, while also addressing common financial conflicts such as saver-spender dynamics and the importance of communal versus exchange relationships in marriages. The lecture concludes by examining intergenerational wealth transmission, the concept of magnanimity as a psychological framework for wealth satisfaction, and how wealth acts as a multiplier that can bring out both the best and worst in people.