SINGAPORE — People who rack up heavy levels of credit card debt tend to kid themselves that they have good self-control, when they do not, a study has found.
Many of those who are mired in debt might think that they are actually skilful and making good use of the banking system by borrowing just enough to be able to meet all of their expenses, the study by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) found.
But in fact, they are more likely to pile up more debt due to their inflated sense of self-control. The study examined the behaviour of "extreme debtors", defined as those with credit card debt at least 12 times their monthly income, across all age groups, genders and educational backgrounds.
The results of the study were published in May this year in the Journal of Personality, which publishes scientific investigations in the field of personality and behaviour dynamics.
NUS announced the results in a press statement on Tuesday (Aug 16).
HOW THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED
The research team was led by Associate Associate Professor Jia Lile from the NUS' Department of Psychology and included NUS Business School PhD student Yuen Wei Lun, Dr Ong Qiyan from NUS Social Service Research Centre and Associate Professor Walter Theseira from SUSS.
It used a series of tests to compare the self-control profile of 1,442 extreme debtors in Singapore with those of two control groups — one sample of the general population, and another of students from an elite university, a group known to excel at self-control.
The measuring of the control group took place in two waves.
In the first wave, 940 Singaporean adults and university students took a self-reported questionnaire called the brief self control scale (BSCS) test.
In the second wave, 576 Singaporean adults and university students completed the BSCS, along with two other tests relating to behavioural measurement.
The self-control profiles of extreme debtors were compared with those of the two control groups.
THE FINDINGS
The study concluded that extreme debtors scored very highly on measures that require them to rate their own self-control, higher, in fact, than for groups of Singaporeans with no debt problems.
However, the extreme debtors scored badly on objective measures which are less based on their own self-reporting.
The study results also showed that extreme debtors may face a double whammy of low self-control capacity reflected in their patterns of overspending and poor "inhibitory control", which refers to the ability to suppress or countermand a thought, action, or feeling.
Prof Jia said that the combination of low self-control capacity and poor recognition is “perilous as debtors may place themselves in temptation-rich environments, such as convenient online shopping platforms, believing that they can suppress impulsive purchases when they actually can’t”.
Prof Theseira added that as a group, extreme debtors tend to think they have very good self control.
“Given how many temptations we are surrounded with daily, if you are not aware of your own self control issues, you may not take steps to protect yourself.”
More at https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...ol-reason-high-credit-card-debt-study-1970801
