There are several money personality types and money psychology personality tests that exist. All speak to the psychology of money, recognizing that our spending and saving often have a habits, attitudes, emotions, and values component, rather than simply a logical and rational one. Even professional financial managers, financial planners, and fund managers can let emotions sway their decisions when logic should prevail, given that money is an emotional topic. Increasing attention between money psychology and emotion has spurred much work in behavioral economics and has resulted in financial therapy.
As with any personality test and assessment tool, the objective is self-awareness, personal understanding, or a sense of emotional intelligence. That’s true for thoughts and behavior. A personality assessment lets us look at ourselves objectively. It helps us understand what we like and don’t like, what we’re good at, and what our challenges are. A common psychological test, many people take is the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Test. As the Myers & Briggs Foundations states:
The purpose of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality inventory is to make the theory of psychological types described by C. G. Jung understandable and useful in people’s lives. The essence of the theory is that much seemingly random variation in the behavior is actually quite orderly and consistent, being due to basic differences in the ways individuals prefer to use their perception and judgment.
People conduct financial personality assessments for much the same reason. People use results from the Money Habitudes inventory activity in a great variety of ways. The money-type activity may be done at home or with a professional like a marriage counselor, financial therapist, financial planner, coach, or financial educator. It may be for financial planning, estate planning, and investing (e.g., What is my investing type?). It may be for personal money management, budgeting, and asset building.
There are some similarities between money psychology personality scales, considering similar research and thought. Very simple money tests tend to divide the world only into “spenders and savers.” (Some of those might be available as a free online personality test.) While there may be some truth in this classic divide, it misses a level of depth and nuance that seems to help people derive value from the exercise. After all, if you’re a “saver” are you always a saver? What about when it comes to your kids buying gifts for the holidays or entertaining when the in-laws are in town? Some savers throw financial caution to the wind once they’re on vacation. Just looking at the Myers-Briggs test, it’s hard to think that only classifying people as introverts or extroverts tells a full picture (versus being an INTJ, INTJ, or INFP).
Most money-type quizzes use 4-10 personality-type categories. We use 6 types of Money Habitudes:
(Note that the above money personality categories are for adults. There are slightly different versions of the cards for adults, young adults, and teens. They are also available in Spanish.)
Although they don’t correlate perfectly to other personality tests, professionals who have used various financial personality measures can easily translate between different money personality assessments. Certainly, other money-type assessments are quite good and helpful.
One major difference is how people use Money Habitudes versus other money-type assessments. Money Habitudes looks and feels like a card game. The card sorting process is hands-on and interactive. It involves people in a kinesthetic way, making it fun like a game, rather than just reading a book or filling in forms. (Instead of fill-in-the-bubble pages, the quiz questions are on playing cards. Often the questions cause people to laugh and smile, which is rare when people talk about money!) It also feels less like a stressful IQ intelligence test (or aptitude test) than other personality assessments like the Myers-Briggs.
As a game, it lends itself to working with groups and classes and is often used in workshops and seminars – in addition to coaching and counseling sessions with individuals or couples. Versus a paper test or online quiz, it may be harder to administer to very large groups, but we’ve still had people use the cards with groups larger than 100. Most classes that use the cards average 10-30 people.
To better understand the psychology of money, with Money Habitudes, people see themselves as a combination of different money personality types. People may have all six Habitude types or may have five, four, etc. It’s not as simple as saying “I’m a spender,” or “I’m a saver.” Of course, each type has its strengths and challenges. People come to see how the relative force of each type – and its pros and cons – can manifest itself in their lives, finances, relationships, businesses, es or careers.
Money Habitudes also aspire to be non-judgmental and non-threatening. This is crucial when it comes to talking about money. One of the reasons people dislike discussing money is that they often feel that they are being judged. They may perceive that someone is saying they are spending stupidly or being irresponsible. Money Habitudes endeavors to point out that everyone has habits and attitudes about money that are positive; very few of us have aspects that we couldn’t improve.
The key with Money Habitudes is finding a psychology of money benchmark for where you are and why you behave the way you do. Then it lets you decide if that combination of traits is the right balance for you, your life, and your goals. In many cases, students and clients have their breakthrough AHA! a moment after doing the activity. They then take the initiative to make changes themselves. That’s very different from a counselor, teacher, or advisor saying, “You’re doing it wrong. You have to change. Do what I say!”
Money Habitudes was designed to be understood by typical home users with no formal training in psychology or finance. However, it was also designed so that those with years of education and experience can get great value from the results. The personality test results are in the form of a simple card-sort layout that’s very colorful, visual, and easy to understand at a glance. The money psychology personality profile doesn’t require a long print-out with complicated charts and graphs only understood by a Ph.D.
As such, the activity and the results can be employed as a quick exercise of 15 minutes or can be longer and the resultant analysis and discussion can last for hours. The Money Habitudes Professional Guide provides about 100 pages of additional information, suggestions, analysis, and interpretation beyond the most basic (but effective) 8 yellow interpretation cards in each deck of Money Habitudes. Also, occasional all-day professional training seminars teach practitioners (such as marriage counselors, financial therapists, financial planners, or social workers) how to use the cards and get value from the tool in more advanced and sophisticated ways. Although the cards may look unprepossessing, there are many layers to what one can do and learn with them.
Money Habitudes is not a free personality test. However, the materials can be reused over and over, greatly reducing the cost per participant or peruse. Many organizations that use the cards do so every week or every month – and the materials often begin to find their way into multiple programs or offerings. An asset-building organization may, for example, use the same deck of cards in a weekly budgeting class, one-on-one housing counseling, job readiness classes, entrepreneurship seminars, or as the basis for self-awareness training for VITA volunteers. It may not make the testing process free, but being able to reuse the materials quickly amortizes the cost of a deck of Money Habitudes cards to less than a dollar per participant.
Finally, Money Habitudes isn’t just a personality test. It’s also meant to be a conversation starter and “get to know you” activity. Whether it’s at home, with family, or when working with clients or students, each of the statement cards can start an insightful conversation. It may be how one defines success, what family of origin influences one had, or what one wishes one had to be happier. In any case, the assessment part of Money Habitudes is part of a bigger experience where people often learn about their money personality but also learn to feel more comfortable talking about money.
For comparison, a few other money personality tests net the following types:
(Named for the imbalances in each, not for their strengths.)
Our physical card decks and the online version can be branded to your business, providing a more personalized experience for your clients. Learn More
