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An Integrated Framework of Young Adults’ Subjective Well-Being: The Roles of Personality Traits, Financial Responsibility, Perceived Financial Capability, and Race

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Abstract

This study examines the relationships among personality traits, financial responsibility, perceived financial capability, and subjective well-being for young adults. Using an integrated approach and a theoretically grounded conceptual framework, a structural model is constructed. This study uses the 2015 Transition into Adulthood Supplemental dataset. The results show that (1) perceived financial capability and personality traits were significantly associated with subjective well-being, (2) financial responsibility, extroversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism personality traits were associated with perceived financial capability, and (3) extroversion, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were significantly associated with financial responsibility. The same structural model is tested with two racial groups. This additional analysis shows differences in the proposed relationships between non-Hispanic Black and White young respondents. The findings provide a better understanding of the racial differences in the roles played by personality traits, financial responsibility, and perceived financial capability in the subjective well-being of young adults. Implications for researchers, financial counselors, and educators working with young adults are included.

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Notes

  1. In the following paragraphs, “Black” represents non-Hispanic Black and “White” represents non-Hispanic White.

  2. Significant sample mean differences were not found in t-tests for other racial/ethnic group comparisons.

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Funding

This study was not funded.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Personal Financial Planning, College of Human Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri, 239 Stanley Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    Lu Fan

  2. Department of Financial Planning, Housing and Consumer Economics, College of Family and Consumer Sciences, 205 Dawson Hall, 305 Sanford Drive, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    Swarn Chatterjee

  3. Department of Family Science, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, 1142 SPH Building, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Jinhee Kim

Authors
  1. Lu Fan
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  2. Swarn Chatterjee
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  3. Jinhee Kim
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Correspondence to Lu Fan.

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Appendices

Appendix

Appendix A

Young Adults’ Subjective Well-Being Measures

Psychological Well-Being

In the last month, how often did you feel … …

 

(1) good at managing the responsibilities of your daily life

 

(2) that you have warm and trusting relationships with other people?

 

(3) that you have experiences that challenged you to grow or become a

better person?

 

(4) confident to think or express your own ideas and opinions?

 

(5) that you liked your personality?

 

(6) that your life had a direction or purpose?

Emotional Well-Being

In the last month, how often did you feel … …

 

(7) happy?

 

(8) interested in life?

 

(9) satisfied?

Social Well-Being

In the last month, how often did you feel … …

 

(10) that you had something important to contribute to society?

 

(11) that you belonged to a community like a social group, your school, or your neighborhood?

 

(12) that our society is becoming a better place?

 

(13) that people are basically good?

 

(14) that the way our society works made sense to you?

  1. Each item is on a 1–6 scale, where 1 = Never, 2 = Once or twice, 3 = About once a week, 4 = Two or three times a week, 5 = Almost every day, 6 = Every day.

Appendix B

The Big-Five Personality Trait Measures

Personality Type

Items

Neuroticism

You are someone who worries a lot

 

You are someone who gets nervous easily

 

You are someone who is relaxed, handles stress well (R)

Extroversion

You are someone who is talkative

 

You are someone who is outgoing, sociable

 

You are someone who is reserved (R)

Conscientiousness

You are someone who does a thorough job

 

You are someone who tends to be lazy (R)

 

You are someone who does things efficiently

Agreeableness

You are someone who is sometimes rude to others (R)

 

You are someone who has a forgiving nature

 

You are someone who is considerate and kind to almost everyone

Openness

You are someone who is original, comes up with new ideas

 

You are someone who values artistic experiences

 

You are someone who has an active imagination

  1. Each item is on a 1–4 scale, where 1 = Not at all, 2 = A little, 3 = Some, and 4 = A lot. R = reverse coded

Appendix C

Sample T-Test Results for NH-Black vs. NH-White Racial Groups

 

NH-Black (n = 620)

NH-White (n = 664)

t

Sig

 

Mean

Std. Dev

Mean

Std. Dev

  

Subjective well-being

      

Psychological well-being

30.83

4.84

29.33

5.22

5.37

***

Emotional well-being

15.05

2.75

15.17

2.41

− 0.85

 

Social well-being

16.82

6.25

18.23

5.69

-4.22

***

Personality traits

      

Extroversion

8.32

1.91

8.58

2.05

-2.36

*

Conscientiousness

9.84

1.64

9.91

1.64

− 0.83

 

Neuroticism

8.74

2.15

7.75

2.33

7.95

***

Agreeableness

10.10

1.69

10.28

1.48

-2.03

*

Openness

9.67

2.01

9.01

1.96

5.90

***

Financial responsibility

      

Earn own living

4.33

0.96

3.91

1.22

6.98

***

Pay own rent

3.61

1.60

3.41

1.75

2.15

*

Pay own bills

4.16

1.24

3.81

1.52

4.58

***

Perceived financial capability

5.55

1.38

5.31

1.21

3.35

***

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Fan, L., Chatterjee, S. & Kim, J. An Integrated Framework of Young Adults’ Subjective Well-Being: The Roles of Personality Traits, Financial Responsibility, Perceived Financial Capability, and Race. J Fam Econ Iss 43, 66–85 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-021-09764-6

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