The current study aimed to investigate the impact of shame resilience on debtors' willingness to contact their creditors to address their outstanding debts. Drawing on the self-determination theory...Show moreThe current study aimed to investigate the impact of shame resilience on debtors' willingness to contact their creditors to address their outstanding debts. Drawing on the self-determination theory and shame resilience theory, the study aimed to understand the psychological barriers to contacting creditors for people in financial debt. Specifically, the study aimed to test the effectiveness of four different versions of creditor letters, including a baseline letter and three letters based on increasing shame resilience, on increasing debtors' willingness to contact creditors. The results supported both tested hypotheses, as participants exposed to the inducing power manipulation as well as those in the reduced feeling trapped condition showed significantly greater willingness to contact creditors compared to those in the baseline condition. We also conducted two explorative analyses in order to further investigate these manipulations. The first explorative analysis indicated that combining the reduction of powerlessness and feeling trapped led to greater willingness to contact creditors compared to the baseline condition. However, the second explorative analysis revealed no significant difference between the combination condition and either of the single manipulations. These findings provide insights into which communication strategies are most effective in overcoming the avoidance tendencies caused by the experience of financial shame. The findings can be used by creditor companies to develop more effective communication strategies to help debtors regain control of their finances and reduce the cycle of shame and financial hardship.Show less
Financial hardship and debts can have a substantial negative effect on people’s overall well-being. However, when a creditor is reaching out, most people with problematic debts are reluctant to...Show moreFinancial hardship and debts can have a substantial negative effect on people’s overall well-being. However, when a creditor is reaching out, most people with problematic debts are reluctant to seek or accept help. To lower the threshold for debt assistance, research is needed to make contacting a creditor more accessible. This study examined whether induced situational control would positively influence people’s willingness to contact their creditor. Furthermore, the extent to which people’s financial self-efficacy beliefs affect this relationship was explored. An online survey was conducted in which a creditor letter was manipulated with induced situational control. Inducing situational control was found to significantly increase people’s willingness to contact their creditor compared to no situational control. This suggested that offering suitable solutions will increase mutual contact with people in debt. However, financial self-efficacy beliefs did not significantly strengthen the effect of situational control or the willingness to contact directly. The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.Show less
