Abstract:

Current interest in the attitudes and behavior of those who save money -"savers' occured when savings ceased to be seen merely as a left-over resulting from the difference between income and expenses. Standard analytical methods and socio-demographic criteria were quickly found to be inadequate to grasp and comprehend actual phenomena. We also undertook to examine new concepts that could offer supplementary insights into the saving practices of sharehoIders. By reference to data collected over two years from a panel of shareholders, IFOP endeavoured to test the resources of graphology to gain an awareness of certain individual psychological considerations. Information obtained in turn prompted several typological analyses whose results would suggest the validity of the approach and its explanatory capabilities.