Validating the Executive Personal Finance Scale with Financial Investments and Expectations in University Students.

The validity of the Executive Personal Finance Scale (EPFS) was tested in a sample of 93 undergraduate students (31 men, 62 women; M age = 20.5 years, SD = 1.3, range = 18-24). Scores on the Motivation drive, Organization, and Planning subscales of this scale were associated with having a savings account, owning bank CDs, and self-estimated knowledge about financial matters, while scores on the Impulse control and Motivational drive subscales were associated with expectations for a satisfactory retirement income. The results provide support for the validity of the EPFS.

COMPULSIVE BUYING TENDENCIES.

Compulsive buying behavior is typically viewed as pathological, but recent research has shown that compulsive buying tendencies are associated with attitudes toward money, personal financial behavior, and having materialistic values, suggesting that compulsive buyers are manifesting an extreme form of habits shown by people in general. In a study of 240 community residents, scores on the Compulsive Buying Scale were associated positively with scores on the Material Values Scale and the Canadian Problem Gambling Index, and negatively with scores on the Executive Personal Finance Scale and Ardelt's wisdom scale. These results suggest that, as is the case for many abnormal behaviors, tendencies toward compulsive buying may not be pathological, but are associated with attitudes toward money in general, financial management behavior, and materialistic values.

IS THE SUICIDE RATE A RANDOM WALK?

The yearly suicide rates for the period 1933-2010 and the daily suicide numbers for 1990 and 1991 were examined for whether the distribution of difference scores (from year to year and from day to day) fitted a normal distribution, a characteristic of stochastic processes that follow a random walk. If the suicide rate were a random walk, then any disturbance to the suicide rate would have a permanent effect and national suicide prevention efforts would likely fail. The distribution of difference scores from day to day (but not the difference scores from year to year) fitted a normal distribution and, therefore, were consistent with a random walk.

Compulsive buying tendencies and personal finances.

In a community sample of 225 adults, scores on the Compulsive Buying Scale were associated with scores on the subscales of the Executive Personal Finance Scale (rs = -.35 to -.70) and the Money Attitudes Scale (positively with using money for impressing others, and negatively with saving and planning). The results suggested that common tendencies toward compulsive buying may not be pathological, but merely associated with attitudes toward money in general and financial management habits.

Suicide in Italy during a time of economic recession: some recent data related to age and gender based on a nationwide register study.

Previous research reported that economic crises may have important implications for increasing suicide rates. We investigated official data on completed suicide in Italy during the recent economic crisis as related to age and gender. Data were extracted from the Italian Mortality Database. The trend in suicide rates from 1980 to 2010 (the most recent year available) was analysed by joinpoint regression analysis. Rate ratios were calculated to compare suicide rates before and after the present economic crisis. Suicide rates for men 25-64 years of age (those involved in the labour force) started to increase in 2008 after a period of a statistically significant decrease from 1994 to 2007 and their suicide rate was 12% higher in 2010 compared with that in 2006. In contrast, suicide rates declined for women of all ages and for men younger than 25 and older than 65 years of age. After 2007, there was a noticeable increase in suicide rates among Italian men involved in the labour force.

Personality correlates of financial behavior.

In a sample of 98 students, scores for extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and a Lie scale were associated with financial behavior, with Lie subscale scores providing the majority of the significant but weak associations.

Gambling and delaying rewards as a function of current mood.

In a sample of 92 undergraduates, current mood was not associated with choosing to accept a delayed but larger reward or with gambling for a larger reward.

Sex differences in online shopping: an exploratory study.

Empirically, predictors of purchasing an item (among 15) online in a sample of 365 undergraduates were dependent upon the sex of the purchaser and the particular item purchased.

Attitudes toward buying online as predictors of shopping online for British and American respondents.

This study compared the attitudes toward online shopping of British and American individuals. Using a sample of 327 British and American university students, the British respondents were found to have less favorable attitudes toward online shopping. Attitudes toward online shopping were found to be significant predictors of making online purchases. The implications of these results were discussed and suggestions made for future research.

Who buys textbooks online: a replication.

In a study of 71 students, computer anxiety and computer/Internet skills predicted whether they purchased textbooks online.

Recalculating the economic cost of suicide.

These authors argue that estimates of the net economic cost of suicide should go beyond accounting for direct medical costs and indirect costs from loss of earnings by those who commit suicide. There are potential savings from: (a) not having to treat the depressive and other psychiatric disorders of those who kill themselves; (b) avoidance of pension, social security and nursing home care costs; and (c) assisted-suicide. By combining all of these costs and savings, it is concluded that the net economic cost of the 30,906 completed suicides in 1990 entailed an economic gain for the society of roughly $5.07 billion in year--2005 dollars. This calculation does not include estimated costs due to the psychological pain and suffering of the survivors. Suicide should be prevented based on humane considerations, not on the economic cost involved.

Development of the Executive Personal Finance Scale.

There is accumulating evidence that prefrontal systems play an important role in management of personal finances, based on studies using clinical populations, functional neuroimaging, and both subjective and objective neuropsychological measures. This study developed the Executive Personal Finance Scale (EPFS) as a specific self-rating measure of executive aspects of personal money management. The resulting 20-item scale had good reliability and showed four factors: impulse control, organization, planning, and motivational drive. Validity was evidenced by correlations with income, credit card debt, and investments. The EPFS also showed logical correlations with compulsive buying and money attitudes. Second-order factor analysis of the EPFS and other scales revealed two higher-order factors of personal finance: cognitive (e.g., planning, organizing) and emotional (e.g., anxiety, impulse-spending, prestige). The EPFS shows good psychometric properties, is easy to use, and will make a convenient complement to other research methodologies exploring the neural basis of personal finance management.

Who uses eBay? A Preliminary study.

Buying and selling items on eBay was predicted in a sample of 386 undergraduate students from two institutions by computer or Internet skills, year and, for buying items on eBay, sex.

British and American attitudes toward credit cards.

American university students owned more than twice as many credit cards as British university students. However, scores on a credit card attitude scale predicted the number of cards owned by respondents in both countries.

Digital access and national character.

A digital access index was associated with measures of national character (such as extraversion and individualism) for 18 industrialized nations, but statistical controls for gross domestic product per capita eliminated these associations.

Neurotransmitter-related personality traits and money attitudes: a study in neuroeconomics.

In a sample of 82 undergraduates, the personality dimension of novelty seeking, which has been hypothesized to be influenced by levels of dopamine in the central nervous system, was associated with attitudes regarding money.

Prefrontal cortex dysfunction and income: a study in neuroeconomics.

In four samples of adults, individual income was negatively associated with a measure of prefrontal cortex dysfunction even after implementing controls for age, sex, and education. The small association was stronger for men than for women. These results provide support for a neuroeconomic approach to the study of micro-economic variables.

Buying books online: a replication.

In a replication study, purchasing books online by 137 state college students was predicted by computer/Internet skills.

Should suicide prevention programs target individuals or society as a whole?

The issue of whether it is more useful to focus on societal interventions to prevent suicide or individual-centered approaches is discussed. The advantages and drawbacks of each approach are explored.