2012.04.13
Your last name has little effect on what you do, but the way it is used to categorize you in school may affect the way you think. Time Magazine highlights a study explaining how being at the end of an alphabetically ordered line for the majority of your childhood can cause you to make rash decisions.
"For years, simply because of your name, you've received inequitable treatment," says Kurt Carlson, an assistant professor at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business and a co-author of the paper, which is to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research. "So when you get to exercise control, you seize on opportunity. It's a coping strategy, and over time it becomes a natural way to respond."
The study found many real world results, such as acting on time sensitive offers, and deals. People with last names beginning with letters later in the alphabet tended to jump on these deals much faster in fear of missing out. The study also believes that this fear was cultivated by always being the last in the line.
What do you think? Has your last name affected your behavior and spending habits? Is this study true to the T?
[Time via Wise Bread]
