The Road to Financial Satisfaction: Testing the Paths of Knowledge, Attitudes, Sense of Control, and Positive Financial Behaviors

Authors

Shekinah E. Dare, Leiden University, Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic Behaviour, Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint MaartenFollow
Wilco W. van Dijk, Leiden University, Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic BehaviourFollow
Eric van Dijk, Leiden University, Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic BehaviourFollow
Lotte F. van Dillen, Leiden University, Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic BehaviourFollow
Marcello Gallucci, University of Milano-Bicocca, ItalyFollow
Olaf Simonse, Dutch Ministry of Finance, Knowledge Centre Psychology and Economic BehaviourFollow

Keywords

financial knowledge, financial attitudes, sense of control, financial behavior, financial satisfaction

Abstract

A goal of financial therapies is to increase clients’ financial satisfaction by helping them to perform positive financial behaviors. The present study argues that the success of such therapies can be further enhanced by considering the individual factors that underlie such behaviors. To identify the possibly most promising factors, data from the 2018 MAS Financial Capability Survey (n = 2,133) were used and three sets of individual factors were examined: knowledge factors (financial knowledge and financial confidence), attitudinal factors (future orientation and attitude toward money), and sense of control factors (spending self-control and perceived behavioral control). Path analysis findings indicated that all factors were associated with financial satisfaction via one or more positive financial behaviors. All factors except for attitude toward money were also directly related to financial satisfaction. Financial confidence was the most promising individual factor to improve clients’ financial satisfaction, followed by future orientation and perceived behavioral control.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Recommended Citation

Dare, S. E., van Dijk, W. W., van Dijk, E., van Dillen, L. F., Gallucci, M., & Simonse, O. (2020). The Road to Financial Satisfaction: Testing the Paths of Knowledge, Attitudes, Sense of Control, and Positive Financial Behaviors. Journal of Financial Therapy, 11 (2) 2. https://doi.org/10.4148/1944-9771.1240