Examining Participation Behavior in Defined Contribution Plans Using the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change

Using the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM), employee contributions to defined contribution (DC) plans were examined in a study. The data came from the 2001 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Households were categorized into one of four TTM stages: precontemplation, contemplation, prep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFinancial counseling and planning Vol. 18; no. 1; p. 46
Main Authors Gutter, Michael, Hayhoe, Celia Ray, Wang, Lingling
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer Nature B.V 01.01.2007
Subjects
Behavior
Behavior Change
Behavior Modification
Behavioral Science Research
Behavioral Sciences
Cognitive Ability
Contributions
Correlation
Cost control
Deferred compensation
Defined contribution plans
Educational Attainment
Employers
Ethnicity
Goal Orientation
Habit Formation
Households
Information Seeking
Marital Status
Participation
Pension plans
Preferences
Profit sharing plans
Psychology
Resistance (Psychology)
Retirement Benefits
Social Influences
Studies
Tenure
United States > US
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Summary:Using the transtheoretical model of behavior change (TTM), employee contributions to defined contribution (DC) plans were examined in a study. The data came from the 2001 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Households were categorized into one of four TTM stages: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, and action. The findings indicated that life cycle characteristics, financial characteristics, and personal preferences influenced the likelihood that a household was in the precontemplation, contemplation, or preparation stages relative to being in the action stage. Further research using additional measures of personal psychology would provide substantial insight into how to improve the retirement savings for those households that lack self-control but want to participate. There are suggested measures for self-control that could be used in newer datasets (cf. Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004). In addition to self-control, other psychological characteristics may also be important. For instance, it may also be meaningful to know how materialistic one is or how impulsively one makes decisions in understanding his/her stage of DC plan behavior. In addition, other studies should consider the role of cohort effects in DC plan behavior including intent.
ISSN:1052-3073