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Researchers examined cognitions relevant to credit card decision making in college-aged participants (M = 19.9, n = 304). Measures of beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral alternatives (e.g., cash, checks, debit card) toward acquiring a credit card were assessed. Analyses of models predicting behavioral tendencies and attitudes toward the acquisition ofa new credit card using LISREL VIII (Joreskog & Sorbom 1993) identified a multivariate model predicting college student financial development of the attitudes and behavioral tendencies of acquiring a new card.

During the past decade, consumer debt has grown rapidly, especially among the young adult population (Davies & Lea, 1995; Koretz, 1995). The "buy now, pay later" philosophy has substantially affected the American way of life (Feinberg, 1986). At their inception, credit cards basically facilitated commerce; today however, they are an essential component of business, banking, and personal money management (Clark, 1975).

College students are increasingly becoming the focus of credit card companies' tactics to gain new customers (Himmelfarb, 1992; Kara, Kaynak, & Kucukemiroglu, 1994). Major credit card issuers are actively targeting college students by offering pre-approved credit cards to students through a variety of strategies including advertising, direct mail promotions, and on-campus recruitment (O'Connell, 1994; Susswein, 1995). Efforts such as these have been extremely successful in persuading students to acquire new credit cards (Santrock & Halonen, 1999). For example, students who acquired their cards through on-campus recruiting tables possessed a higher average balance ($1,039) than those who did not ($854) ("Student Credit Card Debt," 1998). Often, students who apply for these new credit cards do not fully understand the financial implications of having such resources. Estimates indicate that some college students are heavily in debt: 14% have balances of $3,000 to $7,000 on their credit cards alone, and 10% owe amounts exceeding $7,000 (Vickers, 1999). The number of college students using credit cards has increased by 20% in the last 2 years (Rose, 1998), indicating that this problem has yet to be solved. Although these usage estimates do not necessarily represent a problem (e.g., credit cards enabling affordability of college tuition and living expenses while in college), research has indicated that the mere possession of credit cards can elicit increased spending (Feinberg, 1986). As a result, students may over-spend and/or overconsume (Heath & Soll). Additionally, increased spending has been associated with subsequent financial debt (Faber & O'Guinn, 1988). Current estimates indicate that the average college student graduates with $10,000 to $18,000 in debt (Santrock & Halonen). With the ease in which these credit cards can be obtained, young adults, especially college students, are increasingly at risk of unfavorable financial situations due to the use and abuse of credit cards (Brobeck, 1992; Davies & Lea, 1995; Himmelfarb; Murphy & Archer, 1996). Thus, empirical development of a better understanding of college student decision making and development of personal finances would seem prudent.

Research in the area of credit cards has traditionally centered on understanding what brings about the purchase of a product and the significant influence of credit cards on behavior (e.g., Hirschman 1979). For example, Munro and Hirt (1998) found evidence of a time variable that influenced credit card behavior. The indication was that the longer a student has possession of a credit card, the more likely the student will incur financial debt. Although these studies indicate relationships between credit cards and debt, they do not address the importance of the psychological decision-making variables as they relate to college student tendencies toward acquiring a new credit card and the subsequent consequences of credit card use. We suggest that if students are aware of the consequences of credit card use and financial debt, they will reevaluate whether or not they acquire a new credit card. Thus, this study fills a needed gap in the college student development literature by applying a psychological decision theoretic design to the examination of college-aged adults' tendencies to acquire new credit cards.

Our approach was based on a theoretic framework of behavioral decision making that has evolved over the past 18 years in numerous contexts (e.g., career choice, drunk driving, family planning, parenting; see Jaccard, 1981; Jaccard & Becker, 1985; Jaccard & Wan, 1986; Turrisi & Jaccard, 1991, 1992; Turrisi, Jaccard, Kelly, & O'Malley, 1994). The decision to take on a new credit card can be analyzed from the perspective of psychological theories of choice behavior. Jaccard conceptualized behavioral decisions as a choice between alternative courses of action. The behavioral tendency or decision to perform a specific behavior (e.g., take on a new credit card) is a function of both the attitude the individual has towards the behavior and the attitude towards other behavioral alternatives (e.g., using cash, checks, debit cards, etc.). Studies have indicated that individuals will generally perform the behavior toward which the most positive attitude is held (Jaccard; Jaccard & Becker; Turrisi & Jaccard, 1992). Thus, from the standpoint of understanding the behavioral tendencies of acquiring a new credit card, researchers should examine not only the attitude of individuals toward the tendencies to take on a new credit card, but also the attitude toward each of the other behavioral alternatives and the cognitive factors that directly influence these attitudes. These cognitive factors-or beliefs, as they are sometimes referred to-are derived from one's personal experiences, observations, and information from other sources (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). Of course, the attitudes are influenced by variables other than just cognitive variables (e.g., personality, situations, demographics, and background). However, studies have revealed that these other variables are generally the least amenable to change in shortterm educational campaigns (e.g., freshman orientation, awareness weeks, etc.; see Turrisi, Jaccard, & McDonnell, 1997; Wilson, Jaccard, Endias, & Minkoff, 1993). Thus, our research focus was on the examination of cognitive variables and their relationship to behavioral tendencies.

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