College students and credit card use : the effect of personal financial knowledge on debt behavior

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on February 28, 2008)Vita.Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.Analysis of survey data from 6,520 students at a large Midwestern University affirmed that financial knowledge is a significant factor in the credit card decisions of college students, though the relationship between the two does not behave entirely as expected. Contrary to expectations, results of a double hurdle analysis indicate that students with higher levels of financial knowledge had significantly higher credit card balances. While the present analysis develops a clear link between financial knowledge and financial behaviors, questions remain as to the direction of the relationship. The present analysis provides further insight into the determinants of personal financial knowledge. Specifically, improved scores are noted among white males who are financially independent, receive financial aid, are married, have had at least one course in personal finance, and are business majors.Includes bibliographical reference

Consideration of Financial Satisfaction: What Consumers Know, Feel and Do from a Financial Perspective

Financial satisfaction has long been considered an important component to consumer life satisfaction and well-being. Using data from the 2012 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), financial satisfaction is explored in the context of personal characteristics related to financial knowledge (both objective and subjective) as well as self-reported financial behaviors. Ordinary Least Squares Regression is applied to a predictive model of financial satisfaction, and results indicate that measures associated with what people do (behaviors related to recommended practice) and how they feel (subjective knowledge) may be more salient factors to consider with regard to satisfaction than measures related to what individuals know (objective knowledge). Implications are considered for consumers in light of a general policy approach promoting financial literacy and education as a means of improving financial outcomes and well-being

Investing in Education: Impact of Student Financial Stress on Self-Reported Health

Through the lens of Human Capital theory, the role of financial aid (both amount and type) is explored in the context of student financial stress, and ultimately general student health. Data are taken from a sample of 232 students from a major Midwestern university who were surveyed about their financial attitudes, behavior and knowledge. The presence and amount of federal loans was associated with self-reported financial stress, and the validated stress measure was further associated with students’ self-reported health. A number of personal life events (i.e. job loss) were also associated with higher stress levels. Implications are discussed

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Undergraduate Financial Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors: The Impact of Financial Life Skills Course on College Students

The end goal of any program focused on financial literacy is to ultimately improve consumer well-being. Although financial literacy is widely acknowledged as increasingly important for consumers (Keshner, 2021), application of financial literacy programs and provision of supports and resources for consumers has not been consistent in the United States. Currently, thirty-three states require basic financial education in high school, though specific content, depth, and structure varies both within and across states. At the college-level, courses are often elective and content vary significantly from one college or university to another (Goetz et al., 2011; Jobst, 2014; LaBorde & Mottner, 2016; Wann, 2016). Whereas evaluations of state-mandated financial literacy courses at the secondary-level have shown positive outcomes (Chan et al., 2012; Gutter & Copur, 2011; Harvey, 2019; Kaiser et al., 2020; Postmus et al., 2015; Stoddard & Urban, 2020), little is known about the impacts of college- level financial literacy courses. It is inherently difficult to gauge the success of such programs due to the previously mentioned lack of uniformity in structure and the fact that individuals often self-select into these courses. The current study considers a one-credit financial life skills course for undergraduates at a major Midwestern university. We are primarily interested in how students who select the course might differ from those who do not take the course, and further explore potential course impacts on financial well-being, stress, attitudes, and student loan debt awareness. For the present study, we conduct a broad survey of undergraduates, half of whom opted to take the financial life skills course as freshmen or sophomores, and the other half who did not elect to take the course. Whereas this course does not allow us to determine causal impacts of course exposure, we can explore population differences by comparing students who opted to take the course with those who had no course exposure. Areas of particular interest include financial literacy, well-being, stress, attitudes, and behavior. Another aspect of concern involves student awareness of their existing debt load and potential future balance. Previous studies suggest that college students often lack awareness of this critical information (Akers & Chingos, 2014; Andruska et al., 2014). For this study, we explore whether course exposure has any impact on student debt awareness. We do this by comparing existing administrative data to students’ self-reported debt holdings among a sub-sample of participants who grant permissions for data access

Consideration of Financial Satisfaction: What Consumers Know, Feel and Do from a Financial Perspective

Financial satisfaction has long been considered an important component to consumer life satisfaction and well-being. Using data from the 2012 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), financial satisfaction is explored in the context of personal characteristics related to financial knowledge (both objective and subjective) as well as self-reported financial behaviors. Ordinary Least Squares Regression is applied to a predictive model of financial satisfaction, and results indicate that measures associated with what people do (behaviors related to recommended practice) and how they feel (subjective knowledge) may be more salient factors to consider with regard to satisfaction than measures related to what individuals know (objective knowledge). Implications are considered for consumers in light of a general policy approach promoting financial literacy and education as a means of improving financial outcomes and well-being

WI22-10: Enhancing Trust in the Social Security Administration and E-Government among People Targeted by Fraud

Our experimental findings indicate that an interactive fraud detection training can help consumers discriminate between real and fraudulent online communications from both government agencies and retailers. The effect of training is no greater for those who have experienced imposter fraud than those who have not. We find that training is best at helping consumers correctly discern and label fraudulent communications as fake, rather than correctly label legitimate communications as real, although there is an effect for legitimate communications as well. We also find that the training has stronger effects for email communications than for websites. That is, the interactive tutorial improved participant’s ability to identify fraudulent emails more than fraudulent websites. The fraud-detection effect diminishes with time; the detection of legitimate messages did not substantially decrease after a two to three week delay. Overall, these findings may suggest that any impact of imposter fraud victimization on subsequent trust is minimal or short-lived.One of the insidious effects of government imposter scams is the potential erosion of trust among those who are targeted – fraud targets may learn to distrust communications and people who claim to be from the Social Security Administration (SSA) or other federal agencies. This interferes with the necessary and beneficial work of the SSA and, more broadly, of the US government. This study analyzes how individuals targeted by government imposter scams respond to communications from the SSA and how the SSA can reinforce public trust and willingness to engage. Specifically, the team developed an application to teach individuals how to identify legitimate communications from the SSA, other government bodies, and retail companies. Multiple national samples of Americans, in which some participants were prior victims of scams, were then assigned in randomized trials and tested on their ability to distinguish between real and fraudulent communications. We find nearly universal exposure to fraud attempts in the national samples, low prevalence of paying money to fraud perpetrators in response to those attempts, and a set of personal characteristics that appear to predict low trust in the SSA and other institutions. We also find evidence that interactive online training can help people both trust real communications and identify scams. The impact of the training is more pronounced for emails than for websites, and for government communications than for business communications from companies such as Amazon. A non-interactive training that provides static tips on detecting fraud provides a lesser but still significant effect.U.S. Social Security Administration - Retirement and Disability Consortiu

The Influence of Student Loan Debt on Financial Satisfaction

This research examined the influence of student loan debt on financial satisfaction using a sample of adults ages 18–54 from the 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS). The study took advantage of the expanded set of variables related to student loan debt that was added to the 2015 wave of the NFCS survey. Results provided mixed evidence of student loan debt serving as an influential factor on consumer financial satisfaction. Whereas borrowing from multiple sources (federal and private) or private lenders only was associated with a lower likelihood of respondents indicating that they would make the same borrowing decisions, having student loan debt was not significantly associated with financial satisfaction. Implications for policy are considered

Nutrient intake and adequacy and consumption of food away from home of adults with children

The dietary intake of Americans does not meet current recommendations. A greater desire for quick, convenient food options and food prepared outside the home (FAFH) may be two contributors to poor intake patterns. The Food Choice Process Model suggests that life changes such as becoming a parent may place additional time constraints on adults that in turn will impact on their food choices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine differences in dietary intake of U.S. adults by (a) child presence in the household and (b) child presence plus frequency of FAFH. A sample of 4,904 adults, 18 to 50 years, was selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005 to 2008). Using linear regression and logistic regression models, dietary intake was compared based on child presence in the household while controlling for variables that represented constructs of the Food Choice Process Model. When compared to females without children, females with children consumed significantly less fiber and were less likely to meet their fiber requirements. When examined by child presence and FAFH frequency, females with low FAFH frequency (1 or fewer FAFH meals per week) without children in the household had significantly lower total fat, saturated fat, and sodium intakes compared to high frequency users regardless of child presence. Females with children with high FAFH frequency (2 or more FAFH meals per week) were less likely to meet the recommendations for fiber intake and more likely to exceed the recommendations for sodium intake compared to females with children with low FAFH frequency. There were no clinically relevant findings for men. Dietary intake of women but not men changes based on whether a child is present in the household and meals are consumed away from home. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries

Gender differences in business performance: evidence from the Characteristics of Business Owners survey

Business outcomes, Female entrepreneurship, J15, L26,