Bankers, people working in financial services, salesmen and estate agents are more likely to be driven by greed than other employees, the Volkskrant says on Wednesday.

The paper bases its claims on a survey of 100,000 people carried out by Intermediar magazine and Nyenrode University.

People who are less driven by money tend to work in the care industries, education or as civil servants, the survey, which is carried out every two years, showed.

‘Greed is not bad per se,’ Nyenrode psychology professor Jaap van Muijen told the paper. ‘If it is used productively, greed can drive economic growth and renewal. But if greed is left unchecked, it can lead to destructive behaviour.’

Around 20% of the banking sector staff who took part in the survey demonstrated below average levels of greed, Van Muijen pointed out.

This is the first time the survey’s researchers have attempted to quantify if people are motivated by greed. People were asked to say if they agreed with statements such as ‘I always want more’ and ‘as soon as I have something, I start thinking about the next thing I would like to have.’

The survey also showed that women still earn an average of 7.2% less than men but that the gap is decreasing, particularly among younger women. The difference is largely explained by the fact more women work part time, Intermediar said.

Nevertheless, 38% of men reported being given a pay rise over the past two years, compared with 28% of women.