A longer answer would get into group psychology, about how a group reinforces self serving ideas, Collective rationalization, Stereotyped views of out-groups, etc...

I'm also a psychology major so I try to incorporate things I've learned about human nature and patterns of thinking into my negotiating.

Been a while since I said anything on this thread.1) The ethics issue - It's like the old moral problem from college philosophy and psychology classes ( can't remember the name) would you steal medicine to give to a sick child.

You need to do everything you can to understand your own psychology and create rules for yourself, Otherwise, one will make poor decisions. 

In fact, for a real estate contract, the buyer's consideration can just be their promise to buy and the seller's consideration can just be the promise to sell -- in contract law, it's not true that earnest money is required for a real estate contract to be valid (unless there is something in your state statutes that require it).So, in theory, you could just agree to no earnest money.That said, I'm guessing that having earnest money will provide some psychological incentive on the part of the seller not to look for another buyer and it also may weaken any legal case you have should the seller back out (a judge could determine that you weren't a serious buyer because there was no EM).I'm not an attorney, so take that for what it's worth...

@Chris Martin I like your psychology of interaction when they answer the door, I agree  that your initial interaction must be perceived well for the deal to proceed.Thank you for sharing.

Must be a psychological thing around feeling inferior  to other income classes 

Excellent psychological perspective.

With the securities markets psychology is one of the most important things.

@Russell NaylorYou'll want to look into a couple of things...The Veterans Administration has a supportive housing initiative to promote housing veterans near where they get treatment for injuries and psychological disorders as a result of their service, or near public transit which can help them get to their sources of treatment.