Private and Public Debt Attitudes ...

In this study, we hypothesize that individuals’ attitudes toward private debt are highly predictive of their attitudes toward public debt. We first test the expectation that private debt attitudes are positively correlated with attitudes toward public debt. In other words, those who favor creditors (debtors) in private debt decisions are more likely to support (oppose) policies that reduce public debt or the repayment of public debt. Second, we hypothesize that these attitudes are driven by moral conviction. Consequently, we test if self-reported moral conviction over private debt repayment, for or against, correlates with support for public debt reduction and repayment. We expect those who indicate it is morally important for individuals to repay private debts to be more likely to support public debt repayment and reduction. We expect those who think defaulting on debts is moral to be less likely to support public debt repayment and reduction. ...