Compulsive buying: An exploration into self-esteem and money attitudes

The purpose of the current study was to explore differences between a group of self-reported compulsive spenders (n = 43) and a group of 'normal' consumers (n = 100) on their self-esteem and on their money attitudes. Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and Furnham's Money Beliefs and Behavior Scale were used to measure the variables of interest. Hotelling's T² and discriminant function analysis were performed on these variables to determine differences between the two groups of consumers. Findings support the theoretical model that compulsive spenders have relatively lower self-esteem than 'normal' consumers and that compulsive spenders have beliefs about money which reflect its symbolic ability to enhance self-esteem.