Psychological determinants of financial buffer saving: the influence of financial risk tolerance and regulatory focus

Figures & data

Figure 1. Proposed model.

Table 1. Demographic statistics of the participants (N = 272).

Demographic	Option	Participants (N = 272)
Gender	Male	109 (40%)
	Female	163 (60%)
Education	Secondary education (VMBO/HAVO/VWO)	35 (13%)
	Secondary vocational education (MBO)	18 (7%)
	Higher professional education (HBO)	71 (26%)
	University education (WO)	118 (43%)
	No education (yet)	0
	Other	30 (11%)
Domestic living situation	Living alone	59 (22%)
	Living with a partner, without children	64 (24%)
	Living with a partner and children	19 (7%)
	Living with parents	63 (23%)
	Living with one or more roommates	64 (24%)
	Other	3 (1%)
Type of home	Rental	146 (54%)
	Owner-occupied	126 (46%)
Most important daily activity	Employed	110 (40%)
	Self-employed (independent freelancer)	6 (2%)
	Looking for a job	6 (2%)
	Student	137 (50%)
	Taking care of household	2 (1%)
	Retired	5 (2%)
	Declared (partly) work disabled	5 (2%)
	Other	1 (0%)
Relation to the main breadwinner	I am the main breadwinner	104 (38%)
	My partner is the main breadwinner	40 (15%)
	My parent(s) are the main breadwinner	89 (33%)
	Other	39 (14%)
Monthly net income (in euros)	No income	61 (22%)
	Less than 1500	91 (33%)
	1500–3000	85 (31%)
	More than 3000	15 (6%)
	Don’t know	3 (1%)
	Don’t want to say	17 (6%)

Note: Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding differences.

Table 2. Results of the hierarchical regression analyses for the dependent variables financial risk tolerance, saving intention and self-reported saving behaviour, respectively.

Financial risk tolerance				Saving intention				Self-reported saving behaviour
	B	SE B	β		B	SE B	β		B	SE B	β
Constant	1.41^***	.34		Constant	3.24^***	.25		Constant	−1.33^***	.32
Subjective financial knowledge	.33	.05	.40^***	Financial risk tolerance	−.41	.04	−.56^***	Saving intention	.68	.08	.36^***
Situational economic trust	.06	.05	.06	Perceived financial self-efficacy	.36	.04	.50^***	Perceived financial self-efficacy	.69	.06	.51^***
Regulatory focus’ promotion focus	.08	.06	.08	Subjective saving norms	.05	.04	.06
Regulatory focus’ prevention focus	−.18	.05	−.18^**	Regulatory focus’ promotion focus	−.06	.04	−.08
				Regulatory focus’ prevention focus	.07	.04	.09
n	276			n	274			n	280
R^2	.25			R^2	.46			R^2	.52

^** p < .01

^*** p < .001.

Figure 2. Proposed model with standardised beta values resulting from the regression analyses and mediation analysis.

Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001. Insignificant relations are highlighted with a dotted line.