Information Learned From Socialization Agents: Its Relationship to Credit Card Use

Credit card use among college students has reached unprecedented levels. As a result, there is a movement to better educate college students about wise credit use habits. This research examines the credit information provided by four socialization agents (parents, peers, media, and schools). In addition, it assesses the relationship between these socialization agents and the credit use behavior of college students. Using paired sample t tests, the results indicate that the amount of credit information given by parents is significantly greater than the information received from the other three sources (schools, peers, and media). Correlation analysis indicates that there is a significant negative relationship between the amount of credit information learned from parents and credit use. The more information provided by parents, the lower the outstanding balance carried by college students on their credit cards. Media sources, educational sources, and peer sources of information showed no significant relationship with credit use.