How Behavioral Habits Mediate the Relationship between Personality Traits and Savings – Evidence from the UK

Abstract

The household saving ratio in the UK dramatically decreased and traditional economic theory fails to explain this decline. Therefore, researchers and policy makers turn to behavioral economics theory to better understand saving behavior and to take corrective action. This paper combines three bodies of literature into a single framework in order to contribute to this understanding. For this, survey data from the UK is used in a multi-level dichotomous mediation analysis. It is revealed that substantial fractions of the effects that personality traits have on saving outcomes arise due to the influence that these personality traits have on specific saving behaviors.