Parental Socialization and Financial Capability Among Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong

The financial capability of adolescents is important because it establishes cognitive and behavioral patterns that enable them to manage their financial resources in later life. Analyzing the data collected in a sample of 946 adolescent Chinese students from Hong Kong (55.7% female, mean age = 14.5, range 12–18 years), the present study found parental socialization (i.e., direct parental teaching and parental financial norms) influenced adolescents’ financial behavior through via financial learning outcomes (i.e., subjective financial knowledge, adoption of modeled parental financial behavior, and objective financial knowledge) and financial attitudinal variables (i.e., perceived behavioral control and financial attitude). The findings suggest parents should intentionally teach financial knowledge, and convey clear and positive financial norms to adolescents.