Comparing the spending habits and personality traits of over 2,100 people over the Christmas season, psychology researchers from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology found significant relationships between spending amounts over the holiday season and specific personality traits.
The study, “Who are the Scrooges? Personality Predictors of Holiday Spending,” suggests more emotionally stable people spend more during the holiday season, and people who are nervous and have a lower stress-threshold (higher neuroticism) spend less during the holiday season.
Aggregating more than 2 million individual transactions from 2,133 participants’ bank accounts, the researchers compared the relationship between the Big 5 personality traits (OCEAN — openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) and spending over the Christmas season.
The scientists emphasise that personality is only one small part of consumer behaviour, especially at the individual level. From household size to income and many other factors, there are numerous influences at the individual shopping level.