Emotionally stable people splurge more during holidays

Washington: Emotionally stable people spend more during the holiday season, as compared to people who are nervous with a lower stress-threshold (higher neuroticism).

How consumers spend money during this time period is of interest for retailers as well as for individuals who are looking to better understand and control their spending habits.

Co-lead author Sara Weston said, "We've known for a while that personality is related to what we call 'broad outcomes:' how much money you make or how happy you are or how long you live but we know less about why personality is related to those things."

In their study, Weston, co-lead author Joe Gladstone and colleagues showed that personality traits are related to more specific spending behaviors, which should, in turn, impact the broad outcomes, like long-term financial goals.

The study showed people, who are more emotionally stable, spend more over the holidays while those high in neuroticism spend less over the same time period.

In addition, those with more artistic interests and more active imaginations, those higher in openness, spend less during the holiday season while those low in openness spend more.

The scientists emphasise that personality is only one small part of consumer behavior, especially at the individual level. From household size to income and many other factors, there are numerous influences at the individual shopping level.

The full findings are present in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.