IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joepsy/v56y2016icp1-19.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Personality and wealth accumulation among older couples: Do dispositional characteristics pay dividends?

Author

Listed:
  • Mosca, Irene
  • McCrory, Cathal

Abstract

This paper explores whether the ‘Big 5’ personality characteristics: Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness to Experience, contribute to net household wealth accumulation among 1172 couple pairs (n=2344) participating in The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, independent of other socio-demographic and human capital variables. We employ quantile regression to determine whether the effects of personality vary at different levels of the conditional distribution of wealth. Results reveal that the personality characteristics of the financial respondent to the survey are more strongly associated with wealth than those of the non-financial respondent. Specifically, we find that emotional stability and extraversion are positively associated with wealth at the household level among spousal pairs. We also find that conscientiousness is positively associated with wealth, but the relationship is only significant at the lower end of the wealth continuum. In general, agreeableness and openness are negatively associated with wealth although the relationships are non-significant. These findings indicate that personality is an important factor shaping individuals’ consumption preferences and financial decision-making behaviour over the life-course.

Suggested Citation

  • Mosca, Irene & McCrory, Cathal, 2016. "Personality and wealth accumulation among older couples: Do dispositional characteristics pay dividends?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-19.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:56:y:2016:i:c:p:1-19
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.04.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487016302227
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.joep.2016.04.006?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    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. Daniel K. Mroczek & Avron Spiro, 2003. "Modeling Intraindividual Change in Personality Traits: Findings From the Normative Aging Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(3), pages 153-165.
    2. Christopher D. Carroll & Karen E. Dynan & Spencer D. Krane, 2003. "Unemployment Risk and Precautionary Wealth: Evidence from Households' Balance Sheets," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(3), pages 586-604, August.
    3. Richard H. Thaler & Shlomo Benartzi, 2004. "Save More Tomorrow (TM): Using Behavioral Economics to Increase Employee Saving," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(S1), pages 164-187, February.
    4. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Schurer, Stefanie, 2012. "The stability of big-five personality traits," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 11-15.
    5. John Ameriks & Andrew Caplin & John Leahy, 2003. "Wealth Accumulation and the Propensity to Plan," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 1007-1047.
    6. Guido Heineck, 2011. "Does it Pay to Be Nice? Personality and Earnings in the United Kingdom," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(5), pages 1020-1038, October.
    7. Lusardi, Annamaria & Mitchell, Olivia S., 2007. "Baby Boomer retirement security: The roles of planning, financial literacy, and housing wealth," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 205-224, January.
    8. Goncharenko I.G., 2014. "Methods Of Regulation Of Economy," Management, Academy of Municipal Administration, vol. 8(4), pages 116-123, November.
    9. Angela Lee Duckworth & David R. Weir, 2010. "Personality, Lifetime Earnings, and Retirement Wealth," Working Papers wp235, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    10. Pence Karen M., 2006. "The Role of Wealth Transformations: An Application to Estimating the Effect of Tax Incentives on Saving," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-26, July.
    11. Nyhus, Ellen K. & Pons, Empar, 2005. "The effects of personality on earnings," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 363-384, June.
    12. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Sinning, Mathias G., 2016. "Locus of control and savings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 113-130.
    13. Vincent O'Sullivan & Brian Nolan & Alan Barrett & Cara Dooley, 2014. "Income and Wealth in The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 45(3), pages 329-348.
    14. Groves, Melissa Osborne, 2005. "How important is your personality? Labor market returns to personality for women in the US and UK," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 827-841, December.
    15. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Søren Leth-Petersen & Torben Heien Nielsen & Tore Olsen, 2014. "Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowd-Out in Retirement Savings Accounts: Evidence from Denmark," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1141-1219.
    16. Jutta Viinikainen & Katja Kokko & Lea Pulkkinen & Jaakko Pehkonen, 2010. "Personality and Labour Market Income: Evidence from Longitudinal Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(2), pages 201-220, June.
    17. A. Barrett & V. O'Sullivan, 2014. "The wealth, health and well-being of Ireland's older people before and during the economic crisis," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(10), pages 675-678, July.
    18. James P. Smith & John J. McArdle & Robert Willis, 2010. "Financial Decision Making and Cognition in a Family Context," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(548), pages 363-380, November.
    19. A. Colin Cameron & Pravin K. Trivedi, 2010. "Microeconometrics Using Stata, Revised Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, number musr.
    20. ., 2014. "Method for mapping innovation ecosystems," Chapters, in: Mapping National Innovation Ecosystems, chapter 2, pages 32-41, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. repec:zbw:rwirep:0455 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Brown, Sarah & Taylor, Karl, 2014. "Household finances and the ‘Big Five’ personality traits," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 197-212.
    23. Matthias Schonlau, 2005. "Boosted regression (boosting): An introductory tutorial and a Stata plugin," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 5(3), pages 330-354, September.
    24. Jule Specht & Boris Egloff & Stefan C. Schmukle, 2011. "Stability and Change of Personality across the Life Course: The Impact of Age and Major Life Events on Mean-Level and Rank-Order Stability of the Big Five," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 377, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    25. James P. Smith & John J. McArdle & Robert Willis, 2010. "Financial Decision Making and Cognition in a Family Context," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(548), pages 363-380, November.
    26. Camelia M Kuhnen & Gregory R Samanez-Larkin & Brian Knutson, 2013. "Serotonergic Genotypes, Neuroticism, and Financial Choices," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(1), pages 1-9, January.
    27. Gerrit Mueller & Erik Plug, 2006. "Estimating the Effect of Personality on Male and Female Earnings," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(1), pages 3-22, October.
    28. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Boyce, Christopher J. & Wood, Alex M., 2011. "Can Money Change Who We Are? Estimating the Effects of Unearned Income on Measures of Incentive-Enhancing Personality Traits," IZA Discussion Papers 6131, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    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. Zisman, Chen & Ganzach, Yoav, 2022. "The claim that personality is more important than intelligence in predicting important life outcomes has been greatly exaggerated," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Mohd Abass Bhat & Geleta Demera Gomero & Shagufta Tariq Khan, 2024. "Antecedents of Savings Behaviour Among Rural Households: A Holistic Approach," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 13(1), pages 56-71, January.
    3. Sarah D. Asebedo & Taufiq Hasan Quadria & Blake T. Gray & Yi Liu, 2022. "The Psychology of COVID-19 Economic Impact Payment Use," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 239-260, June.
    4. Bucciol, Alessandro & Trucchi, Serena, 2021. "Locus of control and saving: The role of saving motives," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Arvid O. I. Hoffmann & Leonora Risse, 2020. "Do good things come in pairs? How personality traits help explain individuals' simultaneous pursuit of a healthy lifestyle and financially responsible behavior," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 1082-1120, September.
    6. Doorley, Karina & Nolan, Anne, 2019. "The Determinants of Retirement Planning within Couples in Ireland," IZA Discussion Papers 12188, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Gerhard, Patrick & Gladstone, Joe J. & Hoffmann, Arvid O.I., 2018. "Psychological characteristics and household savings behavior: The importance of accounting for latent heterogeneity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 66-82.
    8. Nolan, Anne & Doorley, Karina, 2019. "Financial Literacy and Preparation for Retirement," IZA Discussion Papers 12187, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Wu, Bangzheng & Yue, Pengpeng & Zuo, Shengqiang, 2023. "Borrow to be the poor or the rich? It depends: Credit market and wealth accumulation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 804-821.
    10. O Gomes, 2022. "Personality and Patterns of Savings: the Theory of Economic Growth beyond Optimal Behaviour," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 27(2), pages 1-30, September.

    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. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Kassenboehmer, Sonja C. & Sinning, Mathias G., 2016. "Locus of control and savings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 113-130.
    2. Brenzel, Hanna & Laible, Marie-Christine, 2016. "Does personality matter? : the impact of the big five on the migrant and gender wage gaps," IAB-Discussion Paper 201626, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    3. Hwan-sik Choi & Ron A Laschever, 2018. "The Credit Card Debt Puzzle and Noncognitive Ability [Wealth accumulation and the propensity to plan]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(6), pages 2109-2137.
    4. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Sonja C. Kassenboehmer & Mathias G. Sinning, 2013. "Locus of Control and Savings," Ruhr Economic Papers 0455, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    5. repec:zbw:rwirep:0455 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Gensowski, Miriam, 2018. "Personality, IQ, and lifetime earnings," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 170-183.
    7. Meryl Motika, 2019. "Personality Traits and Low Wealth at Retirement," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(3), pages 464-476, June.
    8. Gavoille, Nicolas & Hazans, Mihails, 2022. "Personality Traits, Remote Work and Productivity," IZA Discussion Papers 15486, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Sulka, Tomasz, 2022. "Planning and saving for retirement," DICE Discussion Papers 384, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    10. Joanne Kathryn Lindley, 2018. "Are There Unexplained Financial Rewards for the Snakes in Suits? A Labour Market Analysis of the Dark Triad of Personality," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 770-797, December.
    11. Alderotti, Giammarco & Rapallini, Chiara & Traverso, Silvio, 2023. "The Big Five personality traits and earnings: A meta-analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    12. Schnitzlein, Daniel D. & Stephani, Jens, 2016. "Locus of Control and low-wage mobility," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 164-177.
    13. Terhi Maczulskij & Jutta Viinikainen, 2015. "Personality characteristics and long-term labor market outcomes: Evidence from twins," Working Papers 299, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    14. Maria Cubel & Ana Nuevo‐Chiquero & Santiago Sanchez‐Pages & Marian Vidal‐Fernandez, 2016. "Do Personality Traits Affect Productivity? Evidence from the Laboratory," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0(592), pages 654-681, May.
    15. Konrad C. Schäfer, 2016. "The Influence of Personality Traits on Private Retirement Savings in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 867, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Matthias Collischon, 2020. "The Returns to Personality Traits Across the Wage Distribution," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 34(1), pages 48-79, March.
    17. Bucciol, Alessandro & Zarri, Luca, 2017. "Do personality traits influence investors’ portfolios?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 1-12.
    18. Alita Nandi & Cheti Nicoletti, 2014. "Explaining personality pay gaps in the UK," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(26), pages 3131-3150, September.
    19. Estrada-Mejia, Catalina & de Vries, Marieke & Zeelenberg, Marcel, 2016. "Numeracy and wealth," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 53-63.
    20. Santi Budria & Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2012. "Income Comparisons and Non-cognitive Skills," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 441, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    21. Nolan, Anne & Doorley, Karina, 2019. "Financial Literacy and Preparation for Retirement," IZA Discussion Papers 12187, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personality traits; Big five; Non-cognitive traits; Wealth accumulation; Cohort study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:56:y:2016:i:c:p:1-19. 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.