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Doctoral Dissertations

2004

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Mental Accounting Psychology And Life Cycle Economics: Who Saves, Who Doesn't And How To Tell The Difference, Thomas James Van De Water Iv. Jan 2004

Mental Accounting Psychology And Life Cycle Economics: Who Saves, Who Doesn't And How To Tell The Difference, Thomas James Van De Water Iv.

Doctoral Dissertations

Wealth is often associated with status purchases or belonging to a demographic group instead of a cognitive decision process for saving and accumulating wealth. Mental accounting psychology (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979; Shefrin & Thaler, 1988) and life cycle economics (Modigliani & Brumberg, 1954) describe two different saving processes. Qualitative interviews in Study 1 (adult heads of household, n = 24) and a quantitative analysis in Study 2 (2001 Survey of Consumer Finances, n = 4,332) compared high and low saving people using mental accounting and life cycle variables. Interviews in Study 1 predominantly described saving in terms of short-term, mental …