The impact of attitude on money management practices

• Author: Dorjana Nano
• Position: University 'Eqrem Cabej', Gjirokastër, Albania
• Pages: 135-139

135

ISSN 2410-759X

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

Balkan Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

IIPCCL Publishing, Tirana-Albania Vol. 1 No. 2

September 2015

The impact of attitude on money management practices

Dorjana Nano

University “Eqrem Cabej”

Gjirokastër, Albania

Abstract

Money attitude and behaviour has been on focus of many academics and practitioners

for decades. Studies undertaken on university students segment have shown that positive

attitude towards personal finances fosters reasonable financial decisions. This study

aims to reveal the relationship between financial attitude and money management

practices in the case of Albanian university students. The database for this research is

provided by a survey conducted on 637 students from eight universities across Albania.

Factor examination and Cronbach Alpha test are considered to explore the consistency

and validity of each subsection of the questionnaire. The association between money

attitude and financial behaviour is examined by utilising the Pearson correlation and

the Ordinary Least Square techniques. Results of both methods conform that students

attitude towards personal finances has a positive impact on their financial behaviour. In

concert with previous studies, this research suggests that better financial attitude is

associated with healthier financial behaviour. Results of this study will be worthy for

parents, universities and financial institutions, which can give their contribution to

improve students financial attitude. Further qualitative and quantitative studies can be

undertaken to deeply gain insight in factors impacting students’ financial behaviour.

Keywords: money attitude, money management practices, Albanian university students.

1. Introduction

Students’ financial behavior has been on focus of many debates and research studies

for many decades. The majority of students in Albania experience financial

independence when they start university studies. They face many difficulties on

money management practices since they have to pay bills on time and meet the

needs. University students make up an important segment of the tomorrow market.

Researchers suggest that even with a modest amount of income you can build

financial success by exercising best practices on money management (Shim et al.,

2009). Best money management practices are mostly conceptualized as: “regular

generation of financial statements; budgeting; control of spending; recording

incomes and expenses; and tax, insurance, investment, retirement and estate

planning” [Musk & Winter, 1998; Nano, 2014; Llukani et al., 2015; etc].

Unfortunately studies conducted on this field have shown that students do not

take prudent financial decisions. In an investigation of money management practices

among Education college students, Henry et al. (2001) analyzed survey data provided

by 126 students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The researchers

administered a 13-item questionnaire including questions gathering information

about personal characteristics, income, credit and budgeting practices. Data were

analyzed by computing the frequency distribution and Pearson Chi-Square. Results

showed that students were not willing to spend the time and effort necessary to