Who sends money home? Personality traits as predictors of remittance behavior in a longitudinal migrant sample
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Individual differences in migrants' remittance behavior remain poorly understood despite their economic and social significance. This study examines whether the Big Five personality traits predict remittance sending to family and friends, using prospective longitudinal data from two ethnic minority samples of Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study ( N = 2943). Personality was measured at baseline; remittance behavior was assessed one year later and at three further occasions spanning a decade. Conscientiousness was a positive predictor of remittance sending one year later, whereas Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness were negative predictors and Agreeableness showed no significant association. The Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Extraversion associations replicated four years after the personality assessment, the Neuroticism association additionally held a decade later, and the Openness association was confined to the initial occasion. These findings establish personality as a meaningful predictor of transnational financial behavior. That duty-related Conscientiousness predicted sending while prosociality-linked Agreeableness did not is consistent with the view that remittance sending reflects duty fulfillment more than general prosocial orientation; transfers may be harder to sustain for migrants who engage strongly with the host society, as extraverted and open individuals tend to do, and for those prone to worry and financial anxiety.
Author: Cornelius J. König
Institution: Saarland University
Language: English
Topic: Migration and Labor Dynamics
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,170
OpenAlex ID: W7212286940