Publication type
Journal Article
Author
Publication date
January 15, 2027
Summary:
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.
Published in
Personality and Individual Differences
Volume
Volume: 264:114078
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2026.114078
ISSN
1918869
Subjects
Notes
© 2026 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
Under a Creative Commons license
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