The lack of contact between a debtor and creditor has been identified as a big problem in overcoming financial stress and debt. This study aimed to investigate whether inducing control results in...Show moreThe lack of contact between a debtor and creditor has been identified as a big problem in overcoming financial stress and debt. This study aimed to investigate whether inducing control results in greater willingness to contact creditors. Furthermore, financial self-efficacy was investigated as a moderator of this relationship. A total of 134 participants were assigned to either an induced control group or a baseline group. The participants were asked to recall a negative financial experience and were then presented with a fictional letter from an imaginary creditor, urging them to contact the creditor as soon as possible. The creditor letter was left unchanged from a standard creditor letter in the baseline group, while in the control group, the letter offered two possibilities to help repay outstanding debt. After reading the letter, participants were asked if they would be willing to contact the creditor. The study found that there was a significant difference in the participants' willingness to contact creditors. However, financial self-efficacy was not found to be a significant moderator. The present study provides additional support to previous findings that increasing perceived control led to a higher willingness to contact in the context of financial hardship.Show less
Lack of contact is one of the reasons people in debt cannot receive the help they need to improve their financial situation. Therefore, this study focuses on whether increasing shame resilience for...Show moreLack of contact is one of the reasons people in debt cannot receive the help they need to improve their financial situation. Therefore, this study focuses on whether increasing shame resilience for people in debt leads to more willingness to contact their creditor. Literature shows that indebted people experience shame over their situation. This shame causes them to show avoidance behaviour and ignore the creditors that reach out for contact. The Shame Resilience Theory (SRT; Brown, 2006) states that an increased sense of power and a decreased feeling of being trapped can cause someone to become more resilient to shame. Besides, where shame leads to avoidance behaviour, feeling powerful leads to approach behaviour (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Thus, based on SRT we hypothesised that increasing power, decreasing feelings of being trapped, and a combination of the latter, leads to an increase of willingness to contact a creditor compared to the control group. Participants (n = 182) were randomly divided into four conditions: the power, the trapped, the combined, and the control condition. Each condition received a different manipulation. As a result, increasing power increased participants’ willingness to contact. More research is suggested on reducing feeling trapped and its effect on willingness to contact.Show less
