IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joepsy/v31y2010i3p322-330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The structure of attitudes to student debt

Author

Listed:
  • Haultain, Steve
  • Kemp, Simon
  • Chernyshenko, Oleksandr S.

Abstract

We examined the structure of attitudes to debt among current and prospective New Zealand tertiary students. Study 1 employed exploratory factor analysis to investigate the structure of debt attitudes of 1232 respondent in their final year of secondary school; Study 2 used exploratory factor analysis to investigate debt attitudes of 125 first-year university students. Both studies indicated that, contrary to what was assumed in the past, the structure of these attitudes is not unidimensional and is reasonably described by two dimensions, Fear of Debt and Debt Utility. In Study 3, confirmatory factor analysis indicated the superiority of the two-factor solution for the attitudes to debt of a sub-sample of Study 1 questioned a year later. The two factors have somewhat different relationships with other variables. Study 3 also showed that on average, longitudinally, the students became less debt fearful between the end of secondary school and the end of their first year or tertiary study but their views as to the utility of debt remained unchanged.

Suggested Citation

  • Haultain, Steve & Kemp, Simon & Chernyshenko, Oleksandr S., 2010. "The structure of attitudes to student debt," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 322-330, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:31:y:2010:i:3:p:322-330
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167-4870(10)00010-3
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hayhoe, Celia Ray & Leach, Lauren & Turner, Pamela R., 1999. "Discriminating the number of credit cards held by college students using credit and money attitudes," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 643-656, December.
    2. Davies, Emma & Lea, Stephen E. G., 1995. "Student attitudes to student debt," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 663-679, December.
    3. Clive Thorp & Bun Ung, 2001. "Recent trends in household financial assets and liabilities," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, vol. 64, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Machteld Hoeve & Geert Jan J M Stams & Marion van der Zouwen & Margaretha Vergeer & Kitty Jurrius & Jessica J Asscher, 2014. "A Systematic Review of Financial Debt in Adolescents and Young Adults: Prevalence, Correlates and Associations with Crime," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Claire Callender & Geoff Mason, 2017. "Does Student Loan Debt Deter Higher Education Participation? New Evidence from England," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 671(1), pages 20-48, May.
    3. Harrison, Neil & Agnew, Steve & Serido, Joyce, 2015. "Attitudes to debt among indebted undergraduates: A cross-national exploratory factor analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 62-73.
    4. Andrzej Cwynar & Wiktor Cwynar & Monika Baryła-Matejczuk & Moises Betancort, 2019. "Sustainable Debt Behaviour and Well-Being of Young Adults: The Role of Parental Financial Socialisation Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-26, December.
    5. Michael Goedde-Menke & Carsten Erner & Michael Oberste, 2017. "Towards more sustainable debt attitudes and behaviors: the importance of basic economic skills," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 87(5), pages 645-668, July.
    6. Brennan, Linda & Zevallos, Zuleyka & Binney, Wayne, 2011. "Vulnerable consumers and debt: Can social marketing assist?," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 203-211.
    7. Bartkevičiūtė Gintarė & Gaigalienė Asta & Legenzova Renata, 2018. "The Assessment of Determinants of Credit Services’ Choices among Students," Management of Organizations: Systematic Research, Sciendo, vol. 79(1), pages 7-23, June.
    8. Meyll, Tobias & Pauls, Thomas, 2019. "The gender gap in over-indebtedness," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    9. Stephan Thomsen & Friederike von Haaren-Giebel, 2016. "Did tuition fees in Germany constrain students’ budgets? New evidence from a natural experiment," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-25, December.
    10. Robin Henager & Sophia T. Anong & Joyce Serido & Soyeon Shim, 2021. "Does Financial Satisfaction Vary Depending on the Funding Strategy Used to Pay for College?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 429-448, September.
    11. Popovich, Jacob J. & Loibl, Cäzilia & Zirkle, Christopher & Whittington, M. Susie, 2020. "Community college students’ response to a financial literacy intervention: An exploratory study," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    12. Aswathi Rebecca Asok & Joe Cox, 2024. "Debt Attitude and Debt Accumulation among Rural Poor Households in a Developing Region: A Q-squared Approach," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2024-03, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.
    13. Jill M. Norvilitis, 2014. "Changes over Time in College Student Credit Card Attitudes and Debt: Evidence from One Campus," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 634-647, October.
    14. Manuel Salas-Velasco, 2024. "Debiasing the availability heuristic in student loan decision-making," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 501-528, May.
    15. Erik Hoelzl & Luise Hahn & Maria Pollai & Jan Masak, 2013. "The Effect of Feedback on Process and Outcome of Loan Negotiations: Consequences on Risk Aversion and the Willingness to Compromise," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 541-559, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gasiorowska, Agata, 2008. "Różnice indywidualne jako determinanty postaw wobec pieniędzy [Individual differences as determinants of money attitudes]," MPRA Paper 42684, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Stefano Cosma & Francesco Pattarin, 2012. "Attitudes, personality factors and household debt decisions: A study of consumer credit," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 12021, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    3. Robert Scott, 2010. "Credit Card Ownership Among American High School Seniors: 1997–2008," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 151-160, June.
    4. Lynne Borden & Sun-A Lee & Joyce Serido & Dawn Collins, 2008. "Changing College Students’ Financial Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior through Seminar Participation," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 23-40, March.
    5. Shweta Singh & David H. Rylander & Tina C. Mims, 2016. "College students and credit card companies: Implications of attitudes," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(3), pages 182-193, September.
    6. Erik Hoelzl & Luise Hahn & Maria Pollai & Jan Masak, 2013. "The Effect of Feedback on Process and Outcome of Loan Negotiations: Consequences on Risk Aversion and the Willingness to Compromise," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 541-559, May.
    7. Stone, Brice & Maury, Rosalinda Vasquez, 2006. "Indicators of personal financial debt using a multi-disciplinary behavioral model," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 543-556, August.
    8. Clinton Gudmunson & Sharon Danes, 2011. "Family Financial Socialization: Theory and Critical Review," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 644-667, December.
    9. Norvilitis, Jill M. & MacLean, Michael G., 2010. "The role of parents in college students' financial behaviors and attitudes," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 55-63, February.
    10. Stefano Cosma & Francesco Pattarin, 2012. "Attitudes, personality factors and household debt decisions: A study of consumer credit," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0031, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    11. Rogers, Pablo & Rogers, Dany & Securato, José Roberto, 2015. "Sobre variáveis psicológicas em modelos de application scoring," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 55(1), January.
    12. J. Cloutier & A. Roy, 2020. "Consumer Credit Use of Undergraduate, Graduate and Postgraduate Students: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 565-592, September.
    13. Wood, Michael, 1998. "Socio-economic status, delay of gratification, and impulse buying," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 295-320, June.
    14. Stephan Thomsen & Friederike von Haaren-Giebel, 2016. "Did tuition fees in Germany constrain students’ budgets? New evidence from a natural experiment," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-25, December.
    15. Booij, Adam S. & Leuven, Edwin & Oosterbeek, Hessel, 2012. "The role of information in the take-up of student loans," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 33-44.
    16. MANCHANDA Rimple, 2020. "A Gendered Study Of Attitude Towards Money In Delhi Ncr," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 15(1), pages 115-126, April.
    17. Michael Daly & Liam Delaney & Séamus McManus, 2010. "Risk Attitudes as an Independent Predictor of Debt," Working Papers 201049, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    18. Micahel Gordon & Leslie Hull & Clive Thorp, 2003. "Recent developments in New Zealand's financial stability," Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bulletin, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, vol. 66, September.
    19. Mewse, Avril J. & Lea, Stephen E.G. & Wrapson, Wendy, 2010. "First steps out of debt: Attitudes and social identity as predictors of contact by debtors with creditors," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1021-1034, December.
    20. C. Leigh ANDERSON & Mary Kay GUGERTY, 2009. "Intertemporal Choice And Development Policy: New Evidence On Time‐Varying Discount Rates From Vietnam And Russia," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 47(2), pages 123-146, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:31:y:2010:i:3:p:322-330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joep .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.