When Personal Debt Feels Good – Really!
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011 
A large-scale longitudinal study by researchers at Ohio State University uncovered new findings in the psychology of money:
”… the more credit card and college loan debt held by young adults aged 18 to 27, the higher their self-esteem and the more they felt like they were in control of their lives. The effect was strongest among those in the lowest economic class.”
Control and self esteem are deep and positive psychological states that create tremendous intangible value. By the debt clock it looks like we have about a trillion dollars worth of it.
This study has strong implications for any cognitive designer working on finance-related applications.
Source: Student Loan Calculator
