An Analysis of Gender, Marital Status, and Financial Confidence in Shaping Financial Risk Tolerance: Insights from the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances

Ashlyn Rollins-Koons; Congrong Ouyang; Megan McCoy; Joanne Wu

doi:10.2478/fprj-2026-0001

Figures & Tables

Summary of hypotheses and results_

Hypothesis	Description	Result
H1	There will be a difference in risk tolerance between married men and married women (assuming complete joint optimisation for the household).	Supported
H2	Married and single women will be less risk-tolerant than married men.	Supported
H3	Single men will be more risk-tolerant than married men.	Supported
H4-6	Those who have appropriately low levels of financial confidence will have lower risk tolerances than those who are underconfident, overconfident, and have appropriately high levels of financial confidence.	Supported
H7	Overconfidence will moderate the relationship between gender and marital status and risk tolerance.	Partially supported.

Ordinary least squares regression on risk tolerance among married vs unmarried, men vs women, with moderation analysis_

Independent Variables	Coeff.	SE	Coeff.	SE	Coeff.	SE
Confidence Level* Marital Status
Appropriate low confidence*Male Married ^a
Underconfident × Married female					−0.23	0.264
Underconfident × Single female					0.34	0.261
Underconfident × Single male					0.19	0.287
Overconfident × Married female					−0.92^**	0.335
Overconfident × Single female					−0.50	0.305
Overconfident × Single male					−0.64	0.388
Appropriate high confidence × Married female					−0.68^*	0.311
Appropriate high confidence × Single female					−0.60	0.338
Appropriate high confidence × Single male					0.10	0.352
Confidence Level
Appropriate low level of confidence (subfin<=8 & finknow <3)^a
Underconfident (subfin <= 8 & finknow == 3)			0.26^*	0.103	0.24	0.164
Overconfident (subfin>8 & finknow<3)			0.31^*	0.123	0.79^**	0.225
Appropriate high level of confidence (subfin>8 & finknow == 3)			0.74^***	0.124	0.95^***	0.175
Marital Status
Married Male ^a
Married Female	−0.73^***	0.110	−0.68^***	0.110	−0.38^*	0.182
Single Female	−0.57^***	0.120	−0.53^***	0.121	−0.46^**	0.178
Single Male	0.35^**	0.129	0.38^**	0.129	0.40^*	0.204
Age	−0.02^***	0.003	−0.24^***	0.003	−0.02^***	0.003
Education
Less than high school ^a
High school	0.34^*	0.166	−0.30	0.166	0.32	0.166
Some college	0.39^*	0.166	0.35^*	0.165	0.37^*	0.165
Bachelor’s degree	0.66^***	0.175	.58^**	0.175	0.58^**	0.175
Graduate degree	0.63^**	0.182	.53^**	0.183	0.54^**	0.183
Race
White ^a
Black	0.45^***	0.127	0.47^***	0.127	0.48^***	0.127
Hispanic	0.03	0.139	0.07	0.139	0.08	0.139
Asian/Other	−0.01	0.115	0.03	0.114	0.05	0.115
Have Children Under 18
No ^a
Yes	0.26	0.155	0.242	0.155	0.24	0.155
Non-Financial Assets
0	−0.85	1.049	−0.91	1.050	−0.91	1.042
Less than $50,000	−0.54^**	0.200	−0.51^**	0.199	−0.51^**	0.200
$50,000 – $149,999	−0.29	0.188	−0.27	0.187	−0.28	0.187
$150,000 – $499,999 ^a
$500,000 – $999,999	0.34^*	0.147	0.33^*	0.146	0.34^*	0.146
$1M or more	1.18^***	0.142	1.09^***	0.142	1.07^***	0.142
Income
Less than $10,000	0.58^*	0.256	0.54^*	0.255	0.56^*	0.255
$10,000 – $24,999	−0.14	0.159	−0.15	0.158	−0.14	0.157
$25,000 – $49,999 ^a
$50,000 – $99,999	0.39^**	0.132	0.35^**	0.131	0.34^**	0.131
$100,000 or more	1.01^***	0.148	0.93^***	0.148	0.93^***	0.147
Job Status
Salary ^a
Self Employed	0.62^***	0.117	0.61^**	0.116	0.59^***	0.116
Retired	−0.03	0.124	−0.04	0.124	−0.03	0.124
No Work	0.30	0.204	0.29	0.203	0.28	0.203
Home Ownership
No ^a
Yes	−0.23	0.172	−0.23	0.171	−0.21	0.172
Inheritance Expectation
No ^a
Yes	0.28	0.115	.28^*	0.114	0.28^*	0.114
Subjective Respondent Health
Poor	−0.44^*	0.195	−0.41^*	0.194	−0.41^*	0.194
Fair	−0.28^**	0.104	−0.26^*	0.104	−0.25^*	0.104
Good ^a
Excellent	0.36^***	0.096	0.32^**	0.096	0.31^**	0.096
Cons	4.78^***	0.323	4.73^***	0.342	4.62^***	0.334

Sample Descriptives

Variables	%	M(SD)
Risk tolerance		4.22(2.74)
Overconfidence
Appropriate low level of confidence (subfin<=8 & finknow <3)	41.45
Underconfident (subfin <= 8 & finknow == 3)	29.4
Overconfident (subfin>8 & finknow<3)	15.48
Appropriate high level of confidence (subfin>8 & finknow == 3)	13.67
Married Male	32.8
Married Female	23.24
Single Female	27.11
Single Male	16.84
Age		52.78(17.87)
Education
Less than high school	8.84
High school	21.48
Some college	27.78
Bachelor’s degree	23.84
Graduate degree	18.06
Race
White	66.53
Black	11.41
Hispanic	9.59
Asian/Other	12.47
Have Children Under 18
No	93.38
Yes	6.62
Non-Financial Assets
0	0.23
Less than $50,000	34.2
$50,000 – $149,999	8.82
$150,000 – $499,999	31.97
$500,000 – $999,999	13.2
$1M or more	11.59
Income
Less than $10,000	2.65
$10,000 – $24,999	13.21
$25,000 – $49,999	22.23
$50,000 – $99,999	27.29
$100,000 or more	34.62
Job Status
Salary	55.29
Self Employed	11.39
Retired	29.34
No Work	3.98
Home Ownership
No	37.03
Yes	62.97
Inheritance Expectation
No	85.93
Yes	14.07
Subjective Respondent Health
Poor	5.59
Fair	22.92
Good	49.74
Excellent	21.76

An Analysis of Gender, Marital Status, and Financial Confidence in Shaping Financial Risk Tolerance: Insights from the 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances

Figures & Tables

Summary of hypotheses and results_

Ordinary least squares regression on risk tolerance among married vs unmarried, men vs women, with moderation analysis_

Sample Descriptives

Paradigm

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