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Greed and adolescent financial behavior

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  • Seuntjens, Terri G.
  • van de Ven, Niels
  • Zeelenberg, Marcel
  • van der Schors, Anna

Abstract

Financial problems in adolescents have increased over the last decades. We investigated if individual differences in greed relate to financial behavior. Greed is an important motive for economic behavior and refers to the tendency to never be satisfied and to always want more. We developed a short version of the Dispositional Greed Scale (Seuntjens, Zeelenberg, Van de Ven, & Breugelmans, 2015), which we then used in a large survey with adolescents (N=3899). Dispositional greed is associated with them having more income, spending more, saving less often, and having debt more often. Identifying what personality characteristics influence financial behavior at a young age is important, as the financial habits that people learn during adolescence persist in adulthood. We find that greed has both positive effects (having a higher income), but also negative effects with the greedy being less likely to save and being more likely to have a debt.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:57:y:2016:i:c:p:1-12
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.09.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Barendregt, Charlotte S. & van der Laan, André M., 2019. "Neuroscientific insights and the Dutch adolescent criminal law: A brief report," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Riedel, Nadine & Stüber, Robert, 2019. "Overearning – Revisited," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 75(PA).
    3. Hoyer, Karlijn & Zeisberger, Stefan & Breugelmans, Seger M. & Zeelenberg, Marcel, 2023. "A culture of greed: Bubble formation in experimental asset markets with greedy and non-greedy traders," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 32-52.
    4. Helzer, Erik G. & Rosenzweig, Emily, 2020. "Examining the role of harm-to-others in lay perceptions of greed," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 106-114.
    5. Zeelenberg, Marcel & Seuntjens, T.G. & van de Ven, Niels & Breugelmans, Seger, 2022. "Dispositional greed scales," Other publications TiSEM 7593c171-7e89-4785-b2ec-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

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