Peer-Inspired Investing and Financial Anxiety: Does Generation Classification Matter?

Olamide Olajide; Kaplan Sanders

doi:10.2478/fprj-2025-0011

Figures & Tables

Descriptive statistics: Full sample compared to generational groups_

Variables	Full Sample (N = 2,329)	Gen Z (N = 69)	Millennials (N = 370)	Gen X (N = 496)	Baby Boomers (N = 1,394)	*p-Value*
Financial Anxiety (Scale: 1–7)	3.615	4.703	4.940	3.996	3.049	^***
Financial Anxiety (Scale: 1–7)	(0.050)	(0.278)	(0.123)	(0.104)	(0.057)	^***
Why Invest: Peer Influence						^***
Not at all	0.760	0.298	0.410	0.744	0.892
Not at all	(0.011)	(0.067)	(0.031)	(0.023)	(0.010)
Somewhat	0.161	0.361	0.333	0.197	0.088
Somewhat	(0.009)	(0.066)	(0.032)	(0.021)	(0.009)
Very well	0.079	0.341	0.257	0.059	0.021
Very well	(0.007)	(0.068)	(0.027)	(0.011)	(0.005)
Investment Literacy Score (Scale: 0–10)	5.209	3.837	4.324	5.157	5.558	^***
Investment Literacy Score (Scale: 0–10)	(0.060)	(0.272)	(0.146)	(0.134)	(0.075)	^***
Investment Decision Comfort (Scale: 1–10)	6.960	7.023	7.465	7.022	6.794	^***
Investment Decision Comfort (Scale: 1–10)	(0.053)	(0.258)	(0.147)	(0.109)	(0.067)	^***
Risk Tolerance (Scale: 1–10)	6.169	6.873	7.405	6.544	5.653	^***
Risk Tolerance (Scale: 1–10)	(0.057)	(0.272)	(0.138)	(0.116)	(0.071)	^***
Gender						^***
Male	0.638	0.623	0.694	0.678	0.610
Male	(0.012)	(0.069)	(0.029)	(0.026)	(0.015)
Female	0.362	0.377	0.306	0.322	0.390
Female	(0.012)	(0.069)	(0.029)	(0.026)	(0.015)
Race/Ethnicity						^***
White	0.723	0.351	0.606	0.664	0.799
White	(0.012)	(0.063)	(0.034)	(0.028)	(0.015)
Non-White	0.277	0.649	0.394	0.336	0.201
Non-White	(0.012)	(0.063)	(0.034)	(0.028)	(0.015)
Marital Status						^***
Single	0.195	0.891	0.359	0.240	0.090
Single	(0.010)	(0.037)	(0.032)	(0.023)	(0.009)
Married	0.663	0.076	0.615	0.654	0.715
Married	(0.012)	(0.029)	(0.032)	(0.026)	(0.014)
Divorced/Separated	0.094	0.015	0.022	0.094	0.120
Divorced/Separated	(0.007)	(0.015)	(0.009)	(0.015)	(0.010)
Widowed	0.048	0.018	0.004	0.013	0.075
Widowed	(0.005)	(0.018)	(0.004)	(0.005)	(0.008)
Non-retirement Account Value						^***
< $2,000	0.065	0.279	0.121	0.081	0.031
< $2,000	(0.007)	(0.066)	(0.022)	(0.014)	(0.006)
$2,000–$5,000	0.052	0.127	0.118	0.061	0.026
$2,000–$5,000	(0.006)	(0.044)	(0.023)	(0.013)	(0.005)
$5,000–$10,000	0.047	0.094	0.080	0.069	0.027
$5,000–$10,000	(0.006)	(0.045)	(0.019)	(0.015)	(0.005)
$10,000–$25,000	0.069	0.185	0.085	0.075	0.055
$10,000–$25,000	(0.006)	(0.060)	(0.018)	(0.013)	(0.008)
$25,000–50,000	0.072	0.097	0.099	0.072	0.064
$25,000–50,000	(0.006)	(0.038)	(0.017)	(0.013)	(0.008)
$50,000–$100,000	0.132	0.104	0.186	0.141	0.116
$50,000–$100,000	(0.008)	(0.037)	(0.024)	(0.018)	(0.010)
$100,000–$250,000	0.180	0.052	0.164	0.157	0.201
$100,000–$250,000	(0.010)	(0.026)	(0.024)	(0.020)	(0.013)
$250,000–$500,000	0.150	0.032	0.077	0.153	0.176
$250,000–$500,000	(0.009)	(0.021)	(0.015)	(0.020)	(0.012)
$500,000–$1,000,000	0.113	0.028	0.051	0.102	0.139
$500,000–$1,000,000	(0.007)	(0.021)	(0.012)	(0.015)	(0.011)
$1,000,000	0.119	0.000	0.020	0.089	0.164
$1,000,000	(0.008)	(omitted)	(0.010)	(0.016)	(0.011)

Ordered Logistic Regression Results on Financial Anxiety_

Variables	Model 1		Model 2

	Odds Ratio/Std. Err.		Odds Ratio/Std. Err.
Why Invest: Peer Influence (Ref: Not at all)
Somewhat	2.322	^***	2.218	^***
Somewhat	(0.318)	^***	(0.460)	^***
Very well	4.103	^***	1.157
Very well	(0.973)	^***	(0.748)
Generation (Ref: Baby Boomers)
Gen Z	1.424		1.995
Gen Z	(0.484)		(1.189)
Millennials	2.905	^***	2.288	^***
Millennials	(0.462)	^***	(0.427)	^***
Gen X	1.873	^***	1.792	^***
Gen X	(0.218)	^***	(0.229)	^***
Group (Peer Influence × Generation) (Ref: Not at all, Baby Boomers)
Somewhat × Gen Z			0.661
Somewhat × Gen Z			(0.490)
Somewhat × Millennials			1.453
Somewhat × Millennials			(0.547)
Somewhat × Gen X			1.018
Somewhat × Gen X			(0.318)
Very well × Gen Z			1.949
Very well × Gen Z			(1.969)
Very well × Millennials			6.095	^*
Very well × Millennials			(4.403)	^*
Very well × Gen X			5.932	^*
Very well × Gen X			(4.713)	^*
Investment Literacy Score (Scale: 0–10)	0.910	^***	0.916	^***
Investment Literacy Score (Scale: 0–10)	(0.020)	^***	(0.020)	^***
Investment Decision Comfort (Scale: 1–10)	0.845	^***	0.841	^***
Investment Decision Comfort (Scale: 1–10)	(0.024)	^***	(0.025)	^***
Risk Tolerance (Scale: 1–10)	1.030		1.026
Risk Tolerance (Scale: 1–10)	(0.027)		(0.027)
Gender (Ref: Male)
Female	1.079		1.093
Female	(0.102)		(0.104)
Race/Ethnicity (Ref: White)
Non-White	0.965		0.983
Non-White	(0.118)		(0.121)
Marital Status (Ref: Single)
Married	1.012		1.002
Married	(0.140)		(0.141)
Divorced/Separated	1.033		1.043
	(0.206)		(0.212)
Widowed	0.695		0.676
	(0.170)		(0.166)
Non-retirement Account Value (Ref: < $2,000)
$2,000–$5,000	1.005		1.009
$2,000–$5,000	(0.332)		(0.337)
$5,000–$10,000	0.725		0.754
$5,000–$10,000	(0.225)		(0.236)
$10,000–$25,000	0.536	^*	0.543
$10,000–$25,000	(0.169)	^*	(0.170)
$25,000–50,000	0.518	^*	0.532	^*
$25,000–50,000	(0.152)	^*	(0.158)	^*
$50,000–$100,000	0.692		0.696
$50,000–$100,000	(0.190)		(0.192)
$100,000–$250,000	0.467	^**	0.466	^**
$100,000–$250,000	(0.128)	^**	(0.128)	^**
$250,000–$500,000	0.482	^**	0.488	^**
$250,000–$500,000	(0.131)	^**	(0.133)	^**
$500,000–$1,000,000	0.404	^**	0.400	^**
$500,000–$1,000,000	(0.117)	^**	(0.116)	^**
$1,000,000	0.273	^***	0.272	^***
$1,000,000	(0.080)	^***	(0.080)	^***
Pseudo R²	0.083		0.084

Peer-Inspired Investing and Financial Anxiety: Does Generation Classification Matter?

Figures & Tables

Descriptive statistics: Full sample compared to generational groups_

Ordered Logistic Regression Results on Financial Anxiety_

Paradigm

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