This research focuses on the willingness of people who experience(d) debt to contact their creditor and the role of the shame resilience theory, with two main components (feeling trapped and...Show moreThis research focuses on the willingness of people who experience(d) debt to contact their creditor and the role of the shame resilience theory, with two main components (feeling trapped and isolated and feeling powerless). The study had four different conditions and corresponding creditor letters. The first hypothesis was that reducing feeling trapped and isolated leads to more willingness to contact compared to baseline (H1). The second hypothesis was that inducing power leads to more willingness to contact compared to baseline (H2). Results showed that both conditions scored significantly higher on willingness to contact compared to the baseline condition. We explored if the combined condition leads to more willingness to contact compared to the reduced feeling trapped condition (Exploration analysis 1). Secondly, we explored if the combined condition scored higher on willingness to contact compared to the induced power condition (Exploration analysis 2). Results showed that the combined intervention was no more effective than a single intervention.Show less
Negative financial situations such as debt or poverty affect the individual on the material level, as well as on the perceptions of the self, inducing social and mental health struggles....Show moreNegative financial situations such as debt or poverty affect the individual on the material level, as well as on the perceptions of the self, inducing social and mental health struggles. Financially dire situations can result in feelings of shame, impacting the chances of the individual reaching our for help. We investigate whether inducing shame resilience in people facing debt can increase the willingness to contact a creditor for financial help. Hypothesizing that shame resilience and a sense of belongingness can increase this willingness to contact, we conducted an online survey and measured recall in two conditions: the manipulation condition where a creditor email primes shame resilience, and a control condition consisting of a standard email, then we measured the willingness to contact the creditor company in each group. The results showed that after reading the manipulation condition email which gave reassurance about feeling shameful for one’s financial situation, participants were more likely to contact the company for financial help compared to the control condition. These significant results suggest that working towards building shame resilience can be a great tool to utilize in future research where the relationship between shame and seeking out financial help is measured.Show less
Research indicates that financial hardship is often accompanied by feelings of shame which in general leads to individuals to showing avoidance behavior. Particularly, individuals experiencing...Show moreResearch indicates that financial hardship is often accompanied by feelings of shame which in general leads to individuals to showing avoidance behavior. Particularly, individuals experiencing financial shame oftentimes partake into avoidance behavior when it comes to financial support. This study aimed to investigate whether shame resilience increases the willingness to contact a creditor and whether shame resilience decreases avoidance action tendencies of individuals experiencing financial hardship. A between-subject design was implemented whereat participants in the shame resilience group (N = 64) were compared to participants in the control group (N = 69). Within an online experiment, the randomly assigned participants recalled a financial hardship experience, read one out of two creditor letters, and were presented with several Likert-scale questions. Participants in the shame resilience group reported higher levels of a willingness to contact compared to the participants in the control group. Regarding the voidance action tendencies, three items were analysed separately due to a low reliability. No differences were found on refuse action and distract action tendencies between the participants in both groups. However, participants in the shame resilience group reported lower levels of ignore action tendencies compared to the participants in the control group. Potential explanations for this, additional findings, strengths, and limitations are discussed and implications for future research are proposed.Show less
