School and family environments promote adolescents' financial confidence: Indirect paths to financial literacy skills in Finnish PISA 2018

This study investigates the associations of adolescents' financial socialization factors—financial education in school and families—with financial confidence (i.e., confidence in using financial and digital financial services). In addition, we examine how financial socialization factors indirectly relate to financial literacy skills through financial confidence and the role of demographic factors (adolescent gender, grade level, parental education, family wealth) on financial socialization, financial confidence, and financial literacy scores. We used data on the 4328 Finnish 15-year-olds participating in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). We measured financial literacy by cognitive test items and assessed financial socialization and financial confidence by adolescent questionnaires. First, the results showed that financial education in school positively predicted adolescents' confidence in using financial and digital financial services. Second, financial education at schools and in families indirectly predicted students' financial literacy through confidence in using digital financial services. Third, older adolescents were more exposed to financial education at school and in families, whereas adolescents from wealthier families and girls (vs. boys) were exposed to a more frequent discussion of financial matters with parents at home. Furthermore, the boys were more confident in using financial services than the girls, although the financial literacy score did not differ by gender; older adolescents were more confident in using financial services and achieved better financial literacy than younger ones. Finally, higher parental education in the family related to higher financial literacy but not to higher financial confidence, whereas family wealth was related to higher financial confidence but not financial literacy.     

Mobile Phone Use as Part of Young People's Consumption Styles

The paper reports on an empirical study of the connection between consumption patterns and mobile phone use. The data stem from a survey of Finnish young people aged 16–20. The results indicate that young people's relationship to the mobile phone is consistent with their general consumption styles. An "addictive" use of the phone was related to "trendy" and "impulsive" consumption styles and prevalent among females. Technology enthusiasm and trend-consciousness was linked to impulsive consumption and "hard" values and prevalent among males. A frugal mobile phone use was not related to gender but to environmentalism and thrifty consumption in general. The traditional gender division in mobile phone use styles that could be observed is interesting in the light of conjectures that genders are becoming more alike in their use of new technology. Technology enthusiasm, usually regarded as a "typically male" thing, was also linked to "female" consumption styles. This may reflect young men's changing relationship to consumption.     

Young adults' online shopping addiction: The role of self-regulation and smartphone use

Online shopping addiction can be defined as an Internet-based behavioural addiction which may lead to economic problems. Even though shopping is increasingly common through mobile devices, the effects of smartphone use on online shopping addiction are underexamined. Following a survey of 1000 18 to 29-year-olds in Finland, we examined young adults' online shopping addiction and economic problems from the perspective of self-regulation and problems in regulating smartphone use. The results indicated that low self-regulation in an online environment facilitates online shopping addiction, which further leads to dissatisfaction toward personal money management through indebtedness. Moreover, we illustrated how distractive stimuli of digital environments can act as primers for addiction by showing how problems in regulating smartphone use facilitates online shopping addiction for young adults with generally low self-regulation. We conclude our article by offering guidance on how the teaching of self-regulatory strategies as well as financial and information communications technology skills may decrease the tendency for online shopping addiction.