Exploring the relationship between personality and money scripts while controlling for demography,ideology, and self-esteem

Abstract

Financial planners seek to learn more about their clients' personalities andmoney scripts due to the significant influence these factors have on financialbehavior and decision-making. This study surveyed 288 adults with a personal-ity assessment (HPTI: High Potential Trait Indicator), and their money scripts(KMSI-R: Klontz Money Script Inventory) while controlling for demography(sex, age, and education), ideology (religious, political beliefs, and optimism),and self-esteem (measurements of personal ratings on a variety of scales).The results indicated that each of the six traits measured by the HPTI(Conscientiousness, Adjustment, Curiosity, Risk Approach, Ambiguity Accep-tance, and Competitiveness) related to the four money scripts measured by theKMSI-R (avoidant, worship, status, and vigilance). More Adjustable individ-uals were less likely to have Money Avoidance scripts, whereas more Competi-tive people had higher Money Worship and Money Status scripts. The studyunderlined the role of personality variables in understanding money beliefs.