Affluenza is a portmanteau of affluence and influenza, and defined as a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste, resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. Psychologists  have found that money influences our thoughts and behaviors.

Money could make people behave with less regard for others.  The wealthier act aggressively, taking up more space and moving their pieces more loudly, and even taunting those with less money .   According to Pitt et al. (2012, PNAS), “the rich are way more likely to prioritize their own self-interests above the interests of other people. It makes them more likely to exhibit characteristics that we would stereotypically associate with, say, assholes.” Wealthier people can be less ethical, more selfish, more insular, and less compassionate than other people.