BEHAVIORAL FACTORS IN DETERMINING INTENTION TOWARDS INDEBTEDNESS AMONG GOVERNMENT SERVANTS

Abstract

Malaysian households’ indebtedness has nearly RM1.38 trillion worth which is a symptom as opposed to a cause. Undoubtedly, Malaysia's household debt-to-GDP ratio of 89% is among the highest. Indeed, worsen debt trend among the government servants are significantly pop up this issue of borrowing. The purpose of this research is to look into the influence of behavioral factors on intention towards indebtedness by using Theory of Planned Behavior. Using the partial least square (SmartPLS) technique, a survey of 377 government employees in Northern Malaysia was conducted using the exploratory method. Respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding behavioural factors. The findings validated two out of the three proposed hypotheses. Among those variables, intention towards indebtedness had an extremely significant relationship with both attitude towards indebtedness and subjective norm. The results may assist the government agencies in formulating saving strategy that will lessen Malaysian government servants’ risk of financial ruin. Previous studies on indebtedness have been conducted using survey approach among individuals by using self-constructed model. Meanwhile, this study focuses on the government servant by applying the theory of Planned Behaviour.