The likelihood that someone will accept help is determined by several factors. Research in various fields of study have shown that having a higher need for autonomy decreases likelihood of...Show moreThe likelihood that someone will accept help is determined by several factors. Research in various fields of study have shown that having a higher need for autonomy decreases likelihood of accepting help. Therefore, the current research investigated the effect of need for autonomy on likelihood of accepting help in financial hardship. Furthermore, type of help was tested as a moderator of this effect. It was proposed that the effect would not exist for autonomy-oriented help, since this does not threaten people’s sense of autonomy (contrary to dependency-oriented help, which does threaten sense of autonomy). A survey in which participants were primed with financial hardship was conducted to test these effects. Need for autonomy was measured with the Index of Autonomous Functioning. Both the main effect and interaction effect were non-significant. Several explanations for these findings are proposed, such as a greater tendency to accept help among woman than among man.Show less
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused both academic and financial hardship for students pursuing higher education in the Netherlands, including study delays and layoffs. Given that these types of...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused both academic and financial hardship for students pursuing higher education in the Netherlands, including study delays and layoffs. Given that these types of incidents have a bearing on students' overall financial behaviour and that student loans are a common tool among students to finance their postsecondary education, one would expect these effects of the pandemic to have a direct impact on student borrowing behaviour. However, there is another variable to take into account, namely students' financial preferences, particularly with regard to having or taking on debt. Accordingly, this study reports on the degree of debt aversion and how it affects the borrowing behaviour of students in Dutch higher education during this crisis. This relationship is examined by means of three hypotheses and corresponding multiple regression analyses with moderation effects, using data obtained through the use of a survey and an additive index measuring the degree of debt aversion. This research has shown that the financial preference of debt aversion has a negative impact on the borrowing behaviour of students. In other words, the higher a student’s degree of debt aversion is, the lower their monthly amount of student loans will be. This relationship does not differ depending on whether or not a student has been directly affected by the pandemic and the effects thereof.Show less
