Primary Outcomes (explanation)
All the main outcomes come from the survey that I developed with respect to the main goals of the game.
Money matters for happiness: This variable is constructed from the question “Think of someone close to you who is very happy. How much do you think money matters in their happiness?". Subjects are offered five response categories (A lot; Quite a bit; Some; A little; Not at all). Responses are recoded on a 0–4 scale, where 0 corresponds to Not at all and 4 to A lot and then standardized as mentioned above. An interesting measure that might be studied later is the binary outcome, as a robustness check.
Money vs. well-being: This variable builds from the question “Imagine you had to pick just one of these. Which one would you choose?". The question has five possible answers (Having a ton of money, but feeling not happy at all; Having a lot of money, but feeling only a little happy; Having some money, and feeling somewhat happy; Having a little money, but feeling very happy; Having no money, but feeling super happy). Given there is an unclear a priori variation, I choose to give a numerical value to each answer: 1 being money over happiness and 5 being happiness over money. Thus, I will be able to measure variation from different initial scenarios. Still, it remains interesting to create a dummy variable for each preference (money for 1 and 2, balance for 3 and happiness for 4 and 5), which might be done as a robustness check post hoc. Also, the variance (or distance to the balanced answer (3)) of the variable might be studied to observe if students tend to approach to balance between money and well-being.
Willingness to pay for well-being: This variable comes from the question “Imagine you are having fun doing your favorite thing. If someone asked you to stop doing that activity to do something else you don’t like, how much money would they have to give you?". The possible answers are (in parentheses how I code them): I would stop for any amount of money; I would stop for \$10,000; I would stop for \$50,000; I would stop for \$100,000; I wouldn’t stop my favorite activity, even for a lot of money. This variable will be coded to use a logarithmic scale. Therefore, respectively the values are: 2,000; 10,000; 50,000; 100,000; 500,000. This way, each step of answer represent a 5-time increase. Again, I standardize with respect to the control group.
Saving index: This variable is composed by 6 questions from the survey that will be added to build this index. First, if their main use of their work money is “save it", the variable takes the value 1, otherwise 0. Second, similarly, if their main use of money from their parents is “save it", the variable takes the value 1, otherwise 0. Third, if they answer “yes" to “Do you set saving goals to buy something in the future?" the variable is equal to one, otherwise 0. Fourth, if they answer “yes" to “Do you currently have any savings?" the variable is equal to one, otherwise 0. Fifth, if they answer “Very safe" or “Safe" to “How do you feel when you get to save some money?" the variable takes the value 1, otherwise 0. Last, if they answer “Somewhat easy" or “Easy" to the question “How difficult is it for you to save money regularly?" the variable is equal to 1, and 0 otherwise. Thus, the saving index takes values from 0 to 6.
Financial Behavior index: This variable is composed by 6 questions from the survey, and will be added to build the index. The first variable takes the value 1 if the student answers “yes" to the question “Do you plan your spending before using your money?". The second is equal to 1 if the subject answers “yes" to the question\lq \lq Do you keep track (on paper, app, memory) of your income and expenses?". The third is equal to one when replying “yes" to \lq \lq Do you feel prepared to face an unforeseen event?". The fourth correspond to the value 1 when answering “yes" to “Do you compare prices (or look at different brands/models) before buying something?". The fifth takes the value 1 for students replying “yes" to \lq \lq Do you negotiate the price?". Finally, those repaying on time what they borrowed take the value 1, and 0 otherwise. Then, the behavior index takes values from 0 to 6.
Financial Knowledge index: This is constructed by 3 questions from the survey, added to build the index. First, a variable that takes the value 1 for those answering “yes" to the question “Do you know what “debt” or “loan” means?". Second, using the question \lq \lq Which of the following statements best describes what insurance does?" the variable takes the value 1 for those students answering correctly. Finally, an indicator equal to 1 for students replying correctly to “Which of the following statements best describes what an investment does?", and 0 otherwise.
Financial Attitude index: This index builds on 3 questions from the survey. All of them will take the value 1 for those students replying “agree" or “strongly agree" to the following statements: "Planning my budget helps me make better decisions", "It is important to pay debts on time" and "It is important to learn about finances from a young age". This index takes values from 0 to 3.