RT Journal Article
T1 Big Five Personality Traits, Coping Strategies and Compulsive Buying in Spanish University Students
A1 Otero López, Xosé Manuel
A1 Santiago Mariño, María José
A1 Castro Bolaño, Cristina
K1 Big five personality traits
K1 Coping strategies
K1 Compulsive buying
K1 University students
AB Personality traits and coping strategies have historically been two key elements in the field of health psychology. It is, therefore, striking that there is no study in the field of compulsive buying that integrates the most generic, decontextualized and stable aspects (traits) with those having a more marked processual and dynamic nature, which are closer to goal-based views of human nature (coping strategies). Another weakness of the compulsive buying field is that, despite the confirmed growing increase in compulsive buying in the younger age groups, most studies have been conducted with adult samples. Hence, this study seeks to clarify the role of the Big Five domains and different coping strategies in university students’ compulsive buying. The sample consisted of 1093 participants who were classified as either compulsive buyers or non-compulsive buyers. Both groups were compared regarding sociodemographic variables (gender, age), the Big Five personality traits, and coping strategies through chi-square tests or Student’s t-tests. Besides, a multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine which of these determinants might play a part in the construction of a risk profile for compulsive buying. The results showed that other than gender (specifically being female), Neuroticism and the use of such coping strategies as problem avoidance and wishful thinking are risk factors that increase the propensity for compulsive buying. The use of active coping strategies such as problem solving, cognitive restructuring and social support, as well as the Conscientiousness dimension are protection factors that decrease the likelihood of becoming a compulsive buyer. Finally, and on the basis of the findings obtained, possible guidelines are given, which, hopefully, may effectively contribute to the prevention of and/or intervention in compulsive buying among young adults
PB MDPI
YR 2021
FD 2021
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/24463
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/24463
LA eng
NO Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(2), 821; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020821
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026