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PERSONALITY TRAITS AND THE PERCEPTION OF MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS: SURVEY EVIDENCE
Author(s) -
Orland Andreas
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
bulletin of economic research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.227
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1467-8586
pISSN - 0307-3378
DOI - 10.1111/boer.12110
Subject(s) - unemployment , multinomial logistic regression , big five personality traits , econometrics , inflation (cosmology) , sample (material) , neuroticism , economics , consumption (sociology) , personality , psychology , perception , survey sampling , survey data collection , demographic economics , social psychology , statistics , demography , sociology , mathematics , macroeconomics , social science , population , physics , chemistry , chromatography , theoretical physics , neuroscience
I examine the determinants of both perceived inflation and unemployment in one single survey and include Big Five traits in the analysis. This is the first survey on this topic in Germany. My sample consists of 1771 students from different fields and levels. Using PhD students’ estimates as a reference, I create categories for underestimation and overestimation of both variables. Multinomial logit regressions show that females overestimate both variables. Education and news consumption reduce misestimation. A higher level of Neuroticism is related with a higher probability to overestimate unemployment. Overstating (understating) one indicator is associated with overstating (understating) the other.