Subjective Age and Financial Exploitation Vulnerability: The Mediating Role of Financial Self-Efficacy

ABSTRACT

An older subjective age, or feeling older than one’s chronological age, has been associated with increased financial exploitation vulnerability (FEV) among older adults. However, the mechanisms behind this relationship have not been examined. This study examined whether financial self-efficacy mediates the relationship between subjective age and FEV. Participants were 156 Israeli older adults (M age= 66.97, SD = 6.46) who responded to questionnaires of subjective age, FEV, and financial self-efficacy. Correlations indicated that an older subjective age was associated with reduced financial self-efficacy (r= −.36, p < .001) and increased FEV (r = .51, p < .001). Testing the mediation model revealed an indirect effect of subjective age on FEV via financial self-efficacy (b = 1.57; bootstrapped 95% Cis [.80, 2.39]). Findings suggest that an older subjective age may reduce financial self-efficacy, thereby increasing FEV. Findings are discussed with regard to Stereotype Embodiment Theory and clinical implications are suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• Financial exploitation vulnerability
• older adults
• subjective age
• financial self-efficacy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2023.2246159

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.