You might want to sit down for this one.
Apparently there’s a personality trait that determines if you’re good with money.
And you’ve either got it or… you don’t.
You see, a new study published in A Plus Happiness, has found that “self-efficacy” is the personality trait you need to be cash savvy.
According to the American Psychological Association, self-efficacy refers to “an individual’s belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviours necessary to produce specific performance attainments”.
Basically, if you believe you can do it, you probably will do it.
For instance, I believe I can watch a whole Netflix series in one day and I often achieve that goal ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
On the other, I’ve always believed I’m terrible with money and my bank account definitely reflects this.
For the 10-year study, researchers followed more than 2000 students from the University of Arizona.
They found that a student’s “self-efficacy” or belief in their own ability to be good with money, had more of an impact on their financial situation, than almost any other factor including gender, race, and socioeconomic background.
At the start of their college career, their parents’ jobs and approach to money impacted how they interacted with money. But once they graduated, it was the individuals who made the decision they could be good with money, who went on to have a better financial situation.
“It was no longer just about what the parents did,” says lead researcher Joyce Serido, an associate professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota.
“Something was happening to trigger a voice inside these young adults that said, ‘I can do it on my own.’”
To sum up, being “good with money” is just a matter of believing you’re “good with money” and then being, erm, “good with money”.
The bad news is that you could have been holding yourself back from being your best budgeting self for years.
But the good news is you can always change your money mindset… right?
RIGHT?