Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Attitudes to debt among indebted undergraduates: A cross-national exploratory factor analysis

Harrison, Neil; Agnew, Steve; Serido, Joyce

Authors

Neil Harrison

Steve Agnew

Joyce Serido



Abstract

This paper reports the results of a cross-national study spanning England, New Zealand and the United States. A total of 496 first year undergraduates studying business or social science completed a 20-item questionnaire. This focused on their attitudes to their debt incurred while studying, as measured on a five-point Likert scale. A factor analysis model was developed, from which four consistent factors emerged, explaining 45 percent of the variation and consistent between countries. These factors were named: Anxiety, Utility-For-Lifestyle, Utility-For-Investment and Confidence. The first three factors were found to be uncorrelated with each other, but higher Confidence was associated with lower levels of Anxiety and Utility-for-Lifestyle and higher levels of Utility-for-Investment. The relationship with previous studies and implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Citation

Harrison, N., Agnew, S., & Serido, J. Attitudes to debt among indebted undergraduates: A cross-national exploratory factor analysis. Journal of Economic Psychology, 46, 62-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2014.11.005

Journal Article Type Article
Journal Journal of Economic Psychology
Print ISSN 0167-4870
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 46
Pages 62-73
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2014.11.005
Keywords debt attitudes, factor analysis, Higher Education, consumer attitudes and behaviour, educational finance
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/842398
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2014.11.005

Files






You might also like



Downloadable Citations