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Personality and young adult financial distress

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  • Xu, Yilan
  • Beller, Andrea H.
  • Roberts, Brent W.
  • Brown, Jeffrey R.

Abstract

Researchers have become increasingly interested in understanding the sources of heterogeneity in individual financial behaviors. In this paper, we examine how the Big Five personality traits are related to measures of young adults’ financial distress. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health in the United States, we find that conscientiousness is negatively correlated, and neuroticism positively correlated with financial distress. These correlations are robust to controlling for early life background and other demographic and socioeconomic factors. Young adulthood sets the stage for financial security in later life; as such, this study provides insight for lifelong financial wellbeing. Based on the empirical results, we discuss potential behavioral and policy interventions that can be used to improve financial wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Yilan & Beller, Andrea H. & Roberts, Brent W. & Brown, Jeffrey R., 2015. "Personality and young adult financial distress," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 90-100.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:51:y:2015:i:c:p:90-100
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2015.08.010
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    Cited by:

    1. Xu, Yilan & Briley, Daniel A. & Brown, Jeffrey R. & Roberts, Brent W., 2017. "Genetic and environmental influences on household financial distress," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 404-424.
    2. Fan, Lu & Chatterjee, Swarn & Kim, Jinhee, 2022. "Young adults’ personality traits and subjective well-being: The role of perceived money management capability," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    3. Dee Warmath & Genevieve Elizabeth O'Connor & Nancy Wong & Casey Newmeyer, 2022. "The role of social psychological factors in vulnerability to financial hardship," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 1148-1177, September.
    4. Marco Angrisani & Marco Cipriani & Antonio Guarino & Ryan Kendall & Julen Ortiz de Zarate Pina, 2023. "Noncognitive Skills at the Time of COVID-19: An Experiment with Professional Traders and Students," Staff Reports 1055, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    5. Zericho R. Marak & Vaishali Pagaria, 2023. "Antecedents and consequences of financial well-being: evidence from working professionals in India," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 70(3), pages 341-378, September.
    6. Ma. Jesusa Corazon M Lambert & Zuroni Md Jusoh & Husniyah Abd Rahim & Norzalina Zainudin, 2023. "Factors Affecting Financial Well-being of Millennials: A Systematic Review," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 15(2), pages 98-108.
    7. Burlinson, Andrew & Giulietti, Monica & Law, Cherry & Liu, Hui-Hsuan, 2021. "Fuel poverty and financial distress," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Firth, Chris & Stewart, Neil & Antoniou, Constantinos & Leake, David, 2023. "The effects of personality and IQ on portfolio outcomes," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    9. Tomasz Korol, 2021. "Evaluation of the Macro- and Micro-Economic Factors Affecting the Financial Energy of Households," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
    10. Ruud Gerards & Riccardo Welters, 2020. "Liquidity Constraints, Unemployed Job Search and Labour Market Outcomes," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 82(3), pages 625-646, June.
    11. Gagandeep Kaur & Manjit Singh, 2024. "Pathways to Individual Financial Well-Being: Conceptual Framework and Future Research Agenda," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 13(1), pages 27-41, January.
    12. Yilan Xu, 2020. "Foreclosed American Dream? Parental Foreclosure and Young Adult Children’s Homeownership," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 458-471, September.
    13. Gerards, Ruud & Welters, Riccardo, 2022. "Job search in the presence of a stressor: Does financial hardship change the effectiveness of job search?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Thomas, Sheetal & Goel, Mridula & Agrawal, Dipak, 2020. "A framework for analyzing financial behavior using machine learning classification of personality through handwriting analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    15. Seuntjens, Terri G. & van de Ven, Niels & Zeelenberg, Marcel & van der Schors, Anna, 2016. "Greed and adolescent financial behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1-12.
    16. OKUBO Toshihiro & Alexander F. WAGNER & YAMADA Kazuo, 2017. "Does Foreign Ownership Explain Company Export and Innovation Decisions? Evidence from Japan," Discussion papers 17099, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Giannelis, Alexandros & Willoughby, Emily A. & Corley, Robin & Hopfer, Christian & Hewitt, John K. & Iacono, William G. & Anderson, Jacob & Rustichini, Aldo & Vrieze, Scott I. & McGue, Matt & Lee, Jam, 2023. "The association between saving disposition and financial distress: A genetically informed approach," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    18. Susan L. Averett & Cynthia Bansak & Julie K. Smith, 2021. "Behind Every High Earning Man is a Conscientious Woman: The Impact of Spousal Personality on Earnings and Marriage," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 29-46, March.
    19. Gianpaolo Parise & Kim Peijnenburg, 2017. "Understanding the determinants of financial outcomes and choices: the role of noncognitive abilities," BIS Working Papers 640, Bank for International Settlements.
    20. Lu Fan & Swarn Chatterjee & Jinhee Kim, 2022. "An Integrated Framework of Young Adults’ Subjective Well-Being: The Roles of Personality Traits, Financial Responsibility, Perceived Financial Capability, and Race," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 66-85, March.
    21. van Lent, Max, 2022. "Fathering Daughters and Personality," IZA Discussion Papers 15012, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Jennifer Robson & Johanna Peetz, 2020. "Gender differences in financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors: Accounting for socioeconomic disparities and psychological traits," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 813-835, September.
    23. Karthikeyan Shanmugam & Vijayabanu Chidambaram & Satyanarayana Parayitam, 2023. "Relationship Between Big-Five Personality Traits, Financial Literacy and Risk Propensity: Evidence from India," IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, , vol. 12(1), pages 85-101, January.
    24. Magdalena Adamus & Matúš Grežo, 2021. "Individual Differences in Behavioural Responses to the Financial Threat Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2021-09, Masaryk University, revised Feb 2023.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personality traits; Conscientiousness; Neuroticism; Financial distress;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis

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