Claire Greene, Oz Shy, Joanna Stavins
Research Data Report 23-2
July 2023
Surveys indicate that about 4.5 percent of US households do not have a bank account and about one-quarter do not own any credit cards. Among credit cardholders, revolving credit card debt (carrying unpaid balances) is common. Using data from the 2021 Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice and the University of Southern California’s Understanding America Study, this paper looks at whether self-reported personality traits have a significant effect on these financial outcomes when the analysis considers consumers’ income, demographics, and financial literacy. Specifically, it studies which if any of the Big Five personality traits—openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—influence consumers’ decisions to be unbanked, adopt a credit card, or revolve credit card debt.
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JEL Classifications: D12, D14, E42
Key words: credit card debt, consumer payments, personality traits, financial behavior, unbanked