Xin Ziqiang, Xiao Huiwen, Lin Gege
Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China.
School of Sociology and Psychology, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China.
Depress Anxiety. 2023 Jun 2;2023:3131631. doi: 10.1155/2023/3131631. eCollection 2023.
In managing finances, people need to process various financial texts containing math (e.g., amount of money and mathematical concepts) and financial information (e.g., funds and bonds). Such information could trigger anxiety related to math and finance; however, previous literature has rarely investigated the prediction role of contextual anxiety on financial management behavior. Therefore, the current study examined how math anxiety and financial anxiety are related to individuals' financial management behavior assessed by self-report and objective observation, respectively.
Study 1 investigated 186 employees with the math anxiety scale, financial anxiety scale, and financial management behavior scale to explore how math anxiety and financial anxiety predicted financial management behavior. Study 2 used a "choice/no choice" paradigm to observe how the high ( = 50) and low ( = 53) financial anxiety groups chose (or avoided) between a math task and a finance task (as a measurement of financial avoidance).
Study 1 showed that financial anxiety fully mediated the negative relationship between math anxiety and financial management behavior and the mediating effect size was -0.24, 95%CI = [-0.34, -0.16]. And compared to math anxiety ( = -0.24, < 0.01), financial anxiety ( = -0.45, < 0.01) was a stronger negative predictor of financial management behavior. Study 2 revealed that, compared to people with low financial anxiety, those with high financial anxiety were 2.75 times more likely to choose financial avoidance.
People's financial management behavior can be predicted by financial anxiety and math anxiety (especially the former), and the two types of anxiety seem to derive more from an irrational self-perception rather than actual ability. So, reducing financial anxiety and math anxiety should come first to motivate people to manage finances.
在财务管理中，人们需要处理各种包含数学（如金额和数学概念）和财务信息（如资金和债券）的财务文本。此类信息可能引发与数学和财务相关的焦虑；然而，以往文献很少研究情境焦虑对财务管理行为的预测作用。因此，本研究分别考察了数学焦虑和财务焦虑与通过自我报告和客观观察评估的个体财务管理行为之间的关系。
研究1使用数学焦虑量表、财务焦虑量表和财务管理行为量表对186名员工进行调查，以探究数学焦虑和财务焦虑如何预测财务管理行为。研究2采用“选择/无选择”范式，观察高财务焦虑组（n = 50）和低财务焦虑组（n = 53）如何在数学任务和财务任务之间进行选择（或回避）（作为财务回避的一种测量方式）。
研究1表明，财务焦虑完全中介了数学焦虑与财务管理行为之间的负向关系，中介效应大小为 -0.24，95%CI = [-0.34, -0.16]。并且，与数学焦虑（β = -0.24，p < 0.01）相比，财务焦虑（β = -0.45，p < 0.01）是财务管理行为更强的负向预测因子。研究2显示，与低财务焦虑的人相比，高财务焦虑的人选择财务回避的可能性高2.75倍。
人们的财务管理行为可以通过财务焦虑和数学焦虑（尤其是前者）来预测，这两种焦虑似乎更多源于非理性的自我认知而非实际能力。因此，应首先降低财务焦虑和数学焦虑，以促使人们进行财务管理。
