Normative influence on retirement savings decisions: Do people care what employers and the government want?

The need for Australians to increase retirement savings has been widely promoted. Yet our understanding of the motivations of individuals to save at a higher rate remains sparse. This article reports the findings of a survey of superannuation fund members and their intentions to contribute more to superannuation and to manage their investment strategy. The article uses the theory of planned behaviour to focus on the important motivational influence of social norms. Formative research identified a number of influential social referents. Among identified referents, the study found that spouses appear to be the primary source of social influence for retirement savings decisions. The government and employers appear to exert little influence, and financial advisors and superannuation funds take up the middle ground of social influence. Possibilities for interventions designed to influence behaviour are discussed; however, conclusions are tempered by the fact that correspondence between intention and behaviour is not tested in the present research

Perceptions of Retirement Savings Relative to Peers

Do individuals’ perceptions of how much others save for retirement influence their own long-range financial saving decisions? In this study, social comparison theory was used as a theoretical touchstone for understanding the impact of interpersonal perceptions on saving behavior. Respondents (N = 224) reported not only the amount they had saved for retirement during the previous year, but they also reported perceptions of the magnitude of their savings relative to peers and completed 6 psychological scales related to retirement planning. A 2-stage ordinary least squares (OLS) regression approach was used to examine: (a) the extent to which nine demographic indicators were predictive of individuals’ retirement savings practices, and (b) whether unexplained savings from the initial regression model could be hierarchically predicted using the 6 psychological scales and perceptions of one’s savings relative to peers. The findings suggest that social comparisons do account for savings practices over and above demographic and psychological indicators. Results are discussed in terms of how individuals’ implicit social comparisons might shape not only their perceptions, but also their saving behavior

Identification of genetic variants associated with Huntington's disease progression: a genome-wide association study

Background Huntington's disease is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, HTT. Age at onset has been used as a quantitative phenotype in genetic analysis looking for Huntington's disease modifiers, but is hard to define and not always available. Therefore, we aimed to generate a novel measure of disease progression and to identify genetic markers associated with this progression measure. Methods We generated a progression score on the basis of principal component analysis of prospectively acquired longitudinal changes in motor, cognitive, and imaging measures in the 218 indivduals in the TRACK-HD cohort of Huntington's disease gene mutation carriers (data collected 2008–11). We generated a parallel progression score using data from 1773 previously genotyped participants from the European Huntington's Disease Network REGISTRY study of Huntington's disease mutation carriers (data collected 2003–13). We did a genome-wide association analyses in terms of progression for 216 TRACK-HD participants and 1773 REGISTRY participants, then a meta-analysis of these results was undertaken. Findings Longitudinal motor, cognitive, and imaging scores were correlated with each other in TRACK-HD participants, justifying use of a single, cross-domain measure of disease progression in both studies. The TRACK-HD and REGISTRY progression measures were correlated with each other (r=0·674), and with age at onset (TRACK-HD, r=0·315; REGISTRY, r=0·234). The meta-analysis of progression in TRACK-HD and REGISTRY gave a genome-wide significant signal (p=1·12 × 10−10) on chromosome 5 spanning three genes: MSH3, DHFR, and MTRNR2L2. The genes in this locus were associated with progression in TRACK-HD (MSH3 p=2·94 × 10−8 DHFR p=8·37 × 10−7 MTRNR2L2 p=2·15 × 10−9) and to a lesser extent in REGISTRY (MSH3 p=9·36 × 10−4 DHFR p=8·45 × 10−4 MTRNR2L2 p=1·20 × 10−3). The lead single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in TRACK-HD (rs557874766) was genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis (p=1·58 × 10−8), and encodes an aminoacid change (Pro67Ala) in MSH3. In TRACK-HD, each copy of the minor allele at this SNP was associated with a 0·4 units per year (95% CI 0·16–0·66) reduction in the rate of change of the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, and a reduction of 0·12 units per year (95% CI 0·06–0·18) in the rate of change of UHDRS Total Functional Capacity score. These associations remained significant after adjusting for age of onset. Interpretation The multidomain progression measure in TRACK-HD was associated with a functional variant that was genome-wide significant in our meta-analysis. The association in only 216 participants implies that the progression measure is a sensitive reflection of disease burden, that the effect size at this locus is large, or both. Knockout of Msh3 reduces somatic expansion in Huntington's disease mouse models, suggesting this mechanism as an area for future therapeutic investigation

Are value-behavior relations stronger than previously thought?:It depends on value importance

Research has found that value–behavior relations are usually weak to moderate. But is this really the case? This paper proposes that the relations of personal values to behavior are stronger at higher levels of value importance and weaker at lower levels. In a large, heterogeneous sample, we tested this proposition by estimating quantile correlations between values and self-reported everyday behavior, at different locations along the distribution of value importance. We found the proposed pattern both for self-reports of everyday behaviors chosen intentionally to be value-expressive and everyday behaviors subject to strong situational constraints (e.g., spending allocation to clothing and footwear). Our findings suggest that value–behavior relations may be stronger than previously recognized, depending on value importance. People who attribute high importance to a value will not only engage in value-expressive behaviors more frequently, but as we move up the value importance distribution, the relations strengthen. In contrast, people who attribute low importance to a value not only engage in value-expressive behaviors less frequently, but as we move down the value importance distribution, the relations weaken. These findings provide important insight into the nature of values

Return Chasing as a Driver in Individual Retirement Savings Investment Choices: Evidence from Australia

Behavioral finance, Investment choice, Retirement savings,