Focusing on today while financially pressed: a socioecological account of present orientation in contexts of poverty

Buzan, Julia (2024) Focusing on today while financially pressed: a socioecological account of present orientation in contexts of poverty. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Previous research has explored the relationship between present orientation and socioeconomic conditions, suggesting financial strain prompts individuals to act in present-oriented ways. But does this relationship play out for important, real-world life decisions? Might present-oriented behaviour reflect a rational recalibration to socioeconomic constraints? What policy environments enable the financially pressed to make more ‘optimal’ choices? Across three papers, this thesis explores the relationship between financial adversity and present orientation in the UK. Paper 1 used a large (n>10,000), representative panel dataset to examine how financial adversity relates to financial strain and real-world present orientation, finding material deprivation, savings, and assets each play a larger role than income in predicting financial strain, building evidence towards the causal impact of financial situation on smoking behaviour, and finding the relationship between financial adversity and present orientation to be mediated through decreased sense of control, not financial or general strain. Paper 2 used two discrete choice experiments with undergraduate students (n=800) to investigate the relationship between financial adversity and present-oriented job choice, finding some evidence that students facing financial pressure are less likely to forgo immediate salary in favour of delayed and abstract job benefits, and obtaining cross-sectional insight into how students calibrate their career expectations to the financial and social resources available to them. Paper 3 turns to the social context of material adversity, defining and testing how ‘optimal’ choice varies under different social insurance schemes, first using an agent-based model and then a multiplayer game (n=485). It finds suggestive evidence that high-solidarity material support leads to more optimal futureoriented choice. By employing methodological advances to illustrate the impact of socioecological conditions on both optimal choice and on perceptions of the influence of one’s behaviour on life outcomes, this thesis builds our understanding of present orientation in contexts of poverty.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2024 Julia Buzan
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HG Finance H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Sets:	Departments > Psychological and Behavioural Science
Supervisor:	Sheehy-Skeffington, Jennifer and Galizzi, Matteo M.
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4780

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