Preadolescents' decision-making opportunities in money management

Abstract

Type of decision-making opportunity for money management in relationship to socio-economic level and sex differences was investigated with a sample of 191 ten to twelve year old preadolescents in four elementary schools in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Comparisons were made in five different potential decision-making situations by comparing amounts and source of personal funds by class and status. Children selected for the study were from lower and middle-class families. A questionnaire was developed to gather data regarding children's independent, shared, and dependent types of decision-making opportunity, their sources and amounts of personal funds. Relationships were tested by means of chi square test of independence. Decisions regarding spending less than $1.00 of personal funds, selector the amount of money to spend on a gift, and choosing gifts to buy were independent of class and sex. When spending $1.00 or more, a significant difference was found in relation to the children's sex. A significant difference was found in relation to the children's socioeconomic status when they made decisions in the use of a large gift of money. The weekly amount of personal funds of the preadolescents was independent of class and sex. For the middle class, boys' sources of funds were significantly different from girls' sources of funds, but not for the lower class.