Financial Identity Scale: Testing the International Validity of Its Variable-Centered and Person-Centered Models

Abstract A robust body of research provides evidence of a strong connection between identity development and age-related functioning. A sense of financial identity may be an important precursor of adult self-sufficiency. For this reason, the study of financial identity (i.e., the answer to the question “Who am I from a financial point of view?”) as a domain-specific component of identity development during the transition to adulthood is a timely and important topic worldwide. In order to properly investigate the financial identity domain, a reliable and valid instrument is needed. The aim of the current study is to test both a variable-centered model and a person-centered model of the 12-item Financial Identity Scale in an international sample of 4,960 emerging adults from ten different countries: Austria, Finland, Hungary, India, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and the United States. The variable-centered model of the Financial Identity Scale suggests that the 12 items measure four latent factors, each corresponding to a different identity status: achievement, foreclosure, diffusion, and moratorium. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this model in seven out of ten countries, and approximate measurement invariance indicated that Financial Identity Scale scores were comparable across these countries. The person-centered model of the Financial Identity Scale suggests that the four statuses of financial identity present three different configurations in the population: pathfinders, followers, and drifters. The latent profile analysis conducted in the current study identified four distinct profiles, the first three of which correspond to those in the original model, and a fourth which was labelled “Indecisive”. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.