IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i2p821-d482908.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Big Five Personality Traits, Coping Strategies and Compulsive Buying in Spanish University Students

Author

Listed:
  • José Manuel Otero-López

    (Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, C/Xosé María Suárez Núñez, s/n, Campus Vida, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain)

  • María José Santiago

    (Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, C/Xosé María Suárez Núñez, s/n, Campus Vida, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain)

  • María Cristina Castro

    (Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Faculty of Psychology, C/Xosé María Suárez Núñez, s/n, Campus Vida, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain)

Abstract

Personality traits and coping strategies have historically been two key elements in the field of health psychology. It is, therefore, striking that there is no study in the field of compulsive buying that integrates the most generic, decontextualized and stable aspects (traits) with those having a more marked processual and dynamic nature, which are closer to goal-based views of human nature (coping strategies). Another weakness of the compulsive buying field is that, despite the confirmed growing increase in compulsive buying in the younger age groups, most studies have been conducted with adult samples. Hence, this study seeks to clarify the role of the Big Five domains and different coping strategies in university students’ compulsive buying. The sample consisted of 1093 participants who were classified as either compulsive buyers or non-compulsive buyers. Both groups were compared regarding sociodemographic variables (gender, age), the Big Five personality traits, and coping strategies through chi-square tests or Student’s t -tests. Besides, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine which of these determinants might play a part in the construction of a risk profile for compulsive buying. The results showed that other than gender (specifically being female), Neuroticism and the use of such coping strategies as problem avoidance and wishful thinking are risk factors that increase the propensity for compulsive buying. The use of active coping strategies such as problem solving, cognitive restructuring and social support, as well as the Conscientiousness dimension are protection factors that decrease the likelihood of becoming a compulsive buyer. Finally, and on the basis of the findings obtained, possible guidelines are given, which, hopefully, may effectively contribute to the prevention of and/or intervention in compulsive buying among young adults.

Suggested Citation

  • José Manuel Otero-López & María José Santiago & María Cristina Castro, 2021. "Big Five Personality Traits, Coping Strategies and Compulsive Buying in Spanish University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:821-:d:482908
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/821/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/2/821/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. O'Guinn, Thomas C & Faber, Ronald J, 1989. "Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Exploration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(2), pages 147-157, September.
    2. Yi, Sunghwan & Baumgartner, Hans, 2011. "Coping with guilt and shame in the impulse buying context," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 458-467, June.
    3. Achtziger, Anja & Hubert, Marco & Kenning, Peter & Raab, Gerhard & Reisch, Lucia, 2015. "Debt out of control: The links between self-control, compulsive buying, and real debts," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 141-149.
    4. Donnelly, Grant & Iyer, Ravi & Howell, Ryan T., 2012. "The Big Five personality traits, material values, and financial well-being of self-described money managers," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1129-1142.
    5. Fatin Farwizah Mat Rahim & Husniyah Abd Rahim, 2018. "The Effect of Personality Traits (Big-Five), Materialism and Stress on Malaysian Generation Y Compulsive Buying Behaviour," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(7), pages 349-362, July.
    6. Neuner, Michael & Raab, Gerhard & Reisch, Lucia A., 2005. "Compulsive buying in maturing consumer societies: An empirical re-inquiry," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 509-522, August.
    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. Jinjie Li & Jiayin Qi & Lianren Wu & Nan Shi & Xu Li & Yuxin Zhang & Yinyin Zheng, 2021. "The Continued Use of Social Commerce Platforms and Psychological Anxiety—The Roles of Influencers, Informational Incentives and FoMO," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-19, November.
    2. José Manuel Otero-López & María José Santiago & María Cristina Castro, 2021. "Life Aspirations, Generativity and Compulsive Buying in University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-15, July.
    3. José Manuel Otero-López, 2022. "What Do We Know When We Know a Compulsive Buying Person? Looking at Now and Ahead," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Astrid Müller & Ekaterini Georgiadou & Annika Birlin & Nora M. Laskowski & Susana Jiménez-Murcia & Fernando Fernández-Aranda & Thomas Hillemacher & Martina de Zwaan & Matthias Brand & Sabine Steins-Lo, 2022. "The Relationship of Shopping-Related Decisions with Materialistic Values Endorsement, Compulsive Buying-Shopping Disorder Symptoms and Everyday Moral Decision Making," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-15, April.
    5. F. Ali & Muhammad Zubair Tauni & A. Ali, 2022. "The Big Five Dyad Congruence and Compulsive Buying: A Case of Service Encounters," Post-Print hal-04584719, HAL.
    6. Mohammed Abdullah Ammer & Zeyad A. T. Ahmed & Saleh Nagi Alsubari & Theyazn H. H. Aldhyani & Shahab Ahmad Almaaytah, 2023. "Application of Artificial Intelligence for Better Investment in Human Capital," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-17, January.
    7. Ali, Fayaz & Tauni, Muhammad Zubair & Ali, Ayaz, 2022. "The Big Five dyad congruence and compulsive buying: A case of service encounters," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    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. José Manuel Otero-López & María José Santiago & María Cristina Castro, 2021. "Life Aspirations, Generativity and Compulsive Buying in University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-15, July.
    2. G. Adamczyk & J. Capetillo-Ponce & D. Szczygielski, 2020. "Compulsive Buying in Poland. An Empirical Study of People Married or in a Stable Relationship," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 593-610, September.
    3. Rendall, Stella & Brooks, Chris & Hillenbrand, Carola, 2021. "The impacts of emotions and personality on borrowers’ abilities to manage their debts," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Kukar-Kinney, Monika & Ridgway, Nancy M. & Monroe, Kent B., 2012. "The Role of Price in the Behavior and Purchase Decisions of Compulsive Buyers," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 63-71.
    5. Piotrowska, Maria, 2019. "The importance of personality characteristics and behavioral constraints for retirement saving," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 194-220.
    6. Piotr Tarka & Jasurbek Babaev, 2021. "Methodological insights on measurement and evaluation of compulsive buying behavior among young consumers in Poland: the case of compulsive- and non-compulsive buyers," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(5), pages 1581-1611, October.
    7. Mittal, Banwari, 2015. "Self-concept clarity: Exploring its role in consumer behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 98-110.
    8. Malhotra, Gunjan & Ramalingam, Mahesh, 2022. "Does impact of campaign and consumer guilt help in exploring the role of national identity and purchase decisions of consumers?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    9. Tarka, Piotr & Kukar-Kinney, Monika & Harnish, Richard J., 2022. "Consumers’ personality and compulsive buying behavior: The role of hedonistic shopping experiences and gender in mediating-moderating relationships," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Sunghwan Yi, 2012. "Shame-Proneness as a Risk Factor of Compulsive Buying," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 393-410, September.
    12. Ayaz Ali & Chen Li & Ashfaque Hussain & Bakhtawar, 2024. "Hedonic Shopping Motivations and Obsessive–Compulsive Buying on the Internet," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 25(1), pages 198-215, February.
    13. Donnelly, Grant & Ksendzova, Masha & Howell, Ryan T., 2013. "Sadness, identity, and plastic in over-shopping: The interplay of materialism, poor credit management, and emotional buying motives in predicting compulsive buying," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 113-125.
    14. Weaver, S. Todd & Moschis, George P. & Davis, Teresa, 2011. "Antecedents of materialism and compulsive buying: A life course study in Australia," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 247-256.
    15. Grzegorz Adamczyk & Jorge Capetillo-Ponce & Dominik Szczygielski, 2022. "Links between types of value orientations and consumer behaviours. An empirical study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(2), pages 1-22, February.
    16. Horváth, Csilla & Büttner, Oliver B. & Belei, Nina & Adıgüzel, Feray, 2015. "Balancing the balance: Self-control mechanisms and compulsive buying," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 120-132.
    17. Japutra, Arnold & Ekinci, Yuksel & Simkin, Lyndon, 2019. "Self-congruence, brand attachment and compulsive buying," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 456-463.
    18. Achtziger, Anja & Hubert, Marco & Kenning, Peter & Raab, Gerhard & Reisch, Lucia, 2015. "Debt out of control: The links between self-control, compulsive buying, and real debts," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 141-149.
    19. Singh, Jaskaran & Singh, Gurbir & Kumar, Satinder & Mathur, Ajeet N., 2021. "Religious influences in unrestrained consumer behaviour," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    20. Concetta De Pasquale & Martina Morando & Silvia Platania & Federica Sciacca & Zira Hichy & Santo Di Nuovo & Maria Catena Quattropani, 2022. "The Roles of Anxiety and Self-Esteem in the Risk of Eating Disorders and Compulsive Buying Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, December.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:2:p:821-:d:482908. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.