For years now most of us have heard that old adage that "you are what you eat." But a new study suggests that "you are what you spend." And if things go wrong, you can blame it on your parents.
The psychological research by Professor Adrian Furnham at University College London claims that the way you spend -- or don't spend -- your money can be a good guide to your personality. Your approach to it can determine the importance of power, security, love, excitement and control in your character.
"Money in general is associated with the feelings of security, power, anger and love," says the professor, whose research involved studying the attitudes of 267 adult men and women. "Power is associated with tycoons, security for misers, love for spendthrifts and excitement and control for bargain hunters and gamblers."
Whichever category best suits you, the credit -- or the blame -- belongs to your parents, he says. "Attitudes toward money are set up quite early in life, reacting to parents' behavior either by topping them (by spending even more than they did) or acting in the opposite way (becoming miserly if they were mad spenders)."
