Skip to main content

Want to save more? Become an introvert



Extraverts have lower savings rates than introverts. Three studies at the University of Toronto in Canada showed that people with higher levels of extraversion are less likely to save for the future. UT researchers also predicted that particular personality traits may have a powerful influence on a country’s economic outlook (Association for Psychological Science, September 15, 2015).

Jacob Hirsch, psychological scientist at the University of Toronto, said previous research showed that higher levels of extraversion were associated with the preference for immediate gratification over delayed rewards. When people were asked to choose between smaller immediate rewards or larger delayed rewards, extraverts were more likely to choose the smaller, but immediate, option. Hirsch wanted to extend the research to record savings habits between extraverts and introverts.

A comparison of American national savings rates with personality traits from 1966 to 1993 revealed that the higher the population’s rate of extraversion, the less likely they tended to save. Data was collected from 16,846 American college students and compared with data on national savings rates. As US savings rates sharply declined, levels of extraversion increased.

A second study looked at state-level data and it showed a similar trend. Data on personality traits were collected online between December 1999 and January 2005 as part of a larger study on personality and geographic location. Hirsch standardized the personality data from the 619,397 online respondents into state-level scores for each of the five major personality dimensions. He calculated household saving behaviour within each state on disposable income, savings, and consumer confidence from the Department of Commerce and Bureau of Economic Analysis. The result showed that households in more ‘extraverted’ states of America tended to save less than households in less ‘extraverted’ states.

The third study examined international data to determine the global trend across 53 countries. It revealed that higher levels of extraversion were associated with lower rates of personal savings.

Across the three studies, the UT findings supported the view that population variation in micro-level personality characteristics can be an important factor in predicting macro-level social outcomes, stated Hirsch. Relatively extraverted populations are more prone to spending than saving.

However Hirsch cautions that just because there was a pattern across the three studies, the results were correlational and no firm causal conclusions could be drawn. Hirsch documented the findings of his research in the journal, Personality and Individual Differences.


http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/minds-business/extraverted-populations-have-lower-savings-rates.html
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. ...
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing...
1 comment
Read more