Personality Traits, Consumer Home Value, and Mortgage Debt

Abstract

Research on residential preferences has consistently orbited around their been correlation with economic and social factors. This study builds on the existing literature by investigating the personality characteristics that shape residential behavior. The specific objective is to examine the Big Five personality traits (OCEAN)—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—and their relationship with the value of individuals’ primary residences and mortgage debt using data collected from the Health and Retirement Study. Regression models are estimated to examine the associations between the OCEAN personality traits and home value and mortgage debt. The findings reveal the following associations: openness and conscientiousness are associated positively, and agreeableness is associated negatively, with larger home values; whereas openness and agreeableness are associated positively, and conscientiousness and neuroticism are associated negatively, with larger mortgage debts.