Are we born to spend? What influences the way we manage our money? What are the factors that make some of us complete misers and others wildly extravagant?

Decisions about money and money management are often perceived as rational choices over which we exercise full control. The reality is not so cut and dried.

Our stage of life is one obvious factor influencing our money management, according to Mr Gerard O'Neill, managing director of Amarach Consulting.

The state of the economy is another. "The buoyancy of the economy has a direct impact on customer psychology and is reflected in consumer confidence, which at the moment is both very high and has been high for some time in Ireland," says Mr O'Neill.

One less obvious and less rational influence is the generation to which we belong, he says.

"In term of generational influences, our parents at our age would have behaved differently from the way we behave now because of the cultural values that influenced their generation.

"Those values were very much about not getting into debt, living within your means and to save for rainy days. For today's generation the values are about borrowing against future income and a certain element of `live today, forget about tomorrow'," Mr O'Neill says.

Psychologist Maureen Gaffney says: "I think we're moving from a psychology of scarcity, which certainly characterised Irish people over most of the last century. "To move from that psychology of scarcity to a psychology of abundance is going to be a big challenge for Irish people."

There certainly seems to be a generational gap between the attitudes of older and younger people to money, says Ms Gaffney. "I would imagine that younger people would probably have a sense of absolute entitlement to money."

Amarach Consulting conducted a study on Irish attitudes to money last year. It revealed that the percentage of income being saved had been falling for several years and was predicted to decline further. The same survey, however, said that most people preferred safer investments - although there were indications that the next generation might be more adventurous.

In addition, the survey reported that only one in four adults held a credit card.

Since the survey was published, however, there have been many indications that more people are abandoning such caution. For example, the Central Bank's recent quarterly report showed a 19 per cent rise in the number of credit cards issued by Irish credit companies in the year to June.

The Central Bank estimated that consumer spending increased by nearly 8 per cent last year was expected to rise by a similar amount this year. In addition, the level of Irish personal borrowings was rising rapidly and stood at £36 billion (#45.71 billion) in August, compared with £30 billion last year.

Such data raised concerns about the level of personal debt people are taking on.

"People need to take a long-term view," says Mr Pat Farrell, head of marketing and communications at EBS. "Lifestyles change, economic conditions change, your requirements change and it's always better to have a liquid amount of savings available."

The biggest factor affecting the way we manage money, however, may be our psychological profile. This could include factors such as childhood, background, and even choice of partner. "There is some evidence that having had regular pocket money when young makes it more likely that you'll manage money better, says Paul Webley, professor of economic psychology at Exeter University in England.

"In many studies women are better money managers than men, while those who are more conscientious in general are better with money, which is no great surprise," he says.

"There is also evidence that those who preferred to spend money immediately when they were young are more inclined to do so when they are adults." Many people will only think about money to the extent of whether they have enough of it or not.

Even for those happy to talk about the state of the economy, good investments, taxes or inflation, personal money matters are still something of a taboo subject. Indeed, one problem is that many will not seek financial advice even when in difficulty.

Mr Liam Edwards, national co-ordinator of the Money Advice and Budgeting Centre, which is sponsored by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs, gets about 10,000 new cases a year of people who are having money troubles. Most of these come from low-income groups or are on social welfare, though a rising number of employed people are also seeking advice.

"There is a lot of shame and a loss of dignity when people are at the stage when they are not managing their finances. They often blame themselves but in the vast majority of cases it's not their own fault," says Mr Edwards.

Mr Michael Culloty, an adviser with the Finglas branch of the Money Advice and Budgeting Centre, believes that easier access to ready cash has changed peoples' attitudes to money, making the pressure to borrow much greater. "There is a culture out there that says everybody is doing well, and even if you're only doing medium well, you try to live as well as the next person."

Psychological studies in the United States on so-called "money personalities" have shown that the meaning of money can be tied up with all sorts of feelings, including security, freedom, love, respect, power and happiness; all of which influence the way we handle money. Financial psychologist Dr Kathleen Gurney has devised a system of profiling people according to their attitudes to money. The system, called the Money max Profile, is designed to enable people to choose appropriate investments for themselves based not on how much profit they will make, but on how comfortable they are with the levels of control and with the levels of risk involved.

Money decisions are rarely rational. Given the pressure to save for future financial needs and the easier access to money through credit cards and the cashless society, our psychological attitude to money may well take on a greater importance.