' No matter how clearly details about status "are conveyed, people as egocentric social information processors tend to process, comprehend, and evaluate such news by relating the details to themselves" (Mussweiler 2004, p. 832).
Social comparison theory, the idea that human beings feel satisfied or dissatisfied with their lots in life based upon peer-group comparisons, states that accessibility tends to increase the perceived similarity of 'self' and 'other' (Mussweiler 2004, p. 832). In other words, few college students are likely to look at famous stars and try to emulate celebrity lifestyles. However, in a seemingly equal setting like college, where everyone is taking similar classes, is staying in dorms rather than in houses that demarcate parental financial status, and where social life is very fluid, everyone feels 'the same.' And if someone who is 'the same' as you is wearing Abercrombie & Fitch and has the latest technological accessory from Apple, then why shouldn't you have those things as well?
Despite the mounting evidence that students are running up credit card debt earlier than ever before in their personal financial...
People are often evasive on the subject of their finances. Researchers also must be careful not to pass moral judgment on individuals as 'bad' or 'good' because of their spending habits. However, financial behavior is not just about dollars and cents: it is also grounded in psychology and it is important to take an individual's social mindset into account when explaining apparently inexplicable behavior, such as having thousands of dollars in debt, even before getting a 'real job' in the 'real world.'
References
Mussweiler, T., Ruter, K., & Epstude, K. (2004). The ups and downs of social comparison:
Mechanisms of assimilation and contrast. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(6), 832-844.
Silver-Greenberg, Jessica. (2007). Majoring in credit-card debt: Aggressive on-campus marketing by lenders is coming under fire. BusinessWeek. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20607411/
