Survey: Millennials would rather have nude photos instead of financial data leaked online

A recent survey posed one of the more difficult “would you rather” scenarios to adults: have your own nude photos leaked online or your financial information stolen or compromised.

According to the May 2015 phone survey conducted by Braun Research for a MasterCard Safety and Security Survey, 62% of Millennials went with the first choice — opting to hypothetically have their own nude photos leaked online in lieu of dealing with identity left or other financial security issues.

Out of 1,001 survey participants, 305 were Millennials — adults  between the ages of 18 and 34. They were presented with various statements about their financial feelings and habits and asked how much they agreed or disagreed with them.

The other two age groups questioned in the survey were Generation X (age 35 – 50) and Boomers (age 51+). In these age categories, 54% of Generation X and 52% of Boomers participants said they would rather have photos leaked than their financial information compromised.

“I’d rather have my financial info compromised,” says Jordan Bebout, a student at the University of North Florida. “Probably because I’m a college student with no money, so they don’t have anything to steal.”

She also adds, “Nudes are harder to get off of the Internet.”

But not everyone had the same opinion. Multiple Twitter users said that they would prefer having the nude photos of themselves leaked online.

https://twitter.com/_HellenOfTroy_/status/621706240243179520

Dr. Thomas Plante, a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University and an adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University of School of Medicine, tells USA TODAY College that the results could mean a number of things.

“It could reflect our Kim Kardashian-style culture where people feel more and more comfortable posting intimate details of their lives, including nudity, online,” he says.

“There is a narcissism and exhibitionism flavor to our culture that seems to be driven by a variety of factors such as social media, celebrity culture and so forth.”

Dr. Hersh Shefrin, a professor at Santa Clara University who specializes in behavioral finance, says that “compared to identify theft where some impostor steals your identity and your money and puts you through a lot of time, effort and trouble to plug the leak and repair some of the damage, well, a little embarrassment might be the lesser of two evils.”

Additionally, the survey revealed that 80% of Millennials were very or somewhat concerned with their financial information being stolen or compromised. However,  53% of them rarely, if ever, change the passwords to their online financial accounts.