We all know people who try to get something for nothing, right? If we’re honest, we’ve all been that person at some point in our lives.
In economics, this behavior is known as rent-seeking. It occurs when a person or business makes money without providing any benefit to society. Instead of adding value and collecting their fair share, they manipulate the political or social environment to secure a larger slice of the pie for themselves.
Even in the cutthroat world of capitalism, rent-seeking is frowned upon.
Unfortunately, rent-seeking also manifests in our personal lives—both in how we treat others and ourselves.
Living this way doesn’t make sense. Eventually, those around you will realize that you’re exploiting them for your own gain, and they will distance themselves. On a personal level, rent-seeking typically means sacrificing your future self for immediate gratification—a strategy that eventually catches up to you.
5 Rent-Seeking Behaviors to Avoid
Here are 5 examples of rent-seeking behaviors to avoid in your own life and relationships:1. Sharing Juicy Gossip
No doubt it feels good to be in possession of an exciting nugget of gossip about someone. Sharing gossip makes you feel like an insider and positions you as a source of hard-to-find information. However, you aren’t building others up by sharing their secrets—you are merely trading on their reputation for your own benefit.2. Neglecting Your Share of Responsibilities
Regretfully, I look back on the fact that in college, I didn’t always take responsibility for my share of cleaning our apartment. One of my roommates, diligent about keeping things clean, would inevitably wash up and put away my dishes for me. I felt bad, but not enough to drastically change my behavior. Now, I look back on this free-riding behavior as a mark against my character and resolve to be better.3. Manipulating Others Emotionally
When we get to know people, we learn what makes them tick and what gets them fired up. Such inside knowledge can be used against them to help you get what you want. But real friendship is one in which both sides are committed to each other’s good and, ideally, helping each other grow over time. Emotional manipulation is nothing more than rent-seeking, as it attempts to extract from the relationship without giving anything positive in return.4. Networking for Personal Advantage
When networking and relationship building happen organically and benefits flow to both sides naturally, it is a beautiful thing and one of the blessings of friendship. But we’ve all seen people intent on connecting with others merely hoping to get something from them someday. This isn’t real friendship—it’s a fake version that trades on trust and mutual enjoyment for personal gain.5. Using Flattery to Get What You Want
Flattery works when people believe, or deeply want to believe, that the good things said about them are true. But if we are merely using flattery as a smokescreen to distract someone or cheaply win their favor, then our praise is insincere and only creates the illusion of genuine appreciation. The goal of such flattery is to quickly and easily get what you want without the real work of actually caring.Being able to recognize the behavioral tendencies of rent-seeking may empower you to head them off at the pass.
