The impact of shared financial decision making on overconfidence for married adults

Previous research has shown that overconfidence is associated with a decrease in the quality of decision making and, therefore, decision outcomes. However, less is known about the conditions or circumstances that reduce financial overconfidence. Using data from two national studies, this study was designed to provide insights into the dynamics of intrahousehold financial decision making by examining the role of shared decision making in reducing overconfidence bias. Findings suggest that a psychological sense of shared ownership of money is associated with lower levels of overconfidence. With regard to financial planning practice, these results suggest that married individuals who believe in shared ownership of household money tend to have lower levels of overconfidence

Investigation of Anti-Relaxation Coatings for Alkali-Metal Vapor Cells Using Surface Science Techniques

Many technologies based on cells containing alkali-metal atomic vapor benefit from the use of anti-relaxation surface coatings in order to preserve atomic spin polarization. In particular, paraffin has been used for this purpose for several decades and has been demonstrated to allow an atom to experience up to 10,000 collisions with the walls of its container without depolarizing, but the details of its operation remain poorly understood. We apply modern surface and bulk techniques to the study of paraffin coatings, in order to characterize the properties that enable the effective preservation of alkali spin polarization. These methods include Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, atomic force microscopy, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We also compare the light-induced atomic desorption yields of several different paraffin materials. Experimental results include the determination that crystallinity of the coating material is unnecessary, and the detection of C=C double bonds present within a particular class of effective paraffin coatings. Further study should lead to the development of more robust paraffin anti-relaxation coatings, as well as the design and synthesis of new classes of coating materials.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Copyright 2010 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in the Journal of Chemical Physics and may be found at http://link.aip.org/link/?JCP/133/14470