The willingness to save extra for a short time period reflects a new attitude about savings, according to State Street Global Advisors, Boston, the asset management business of State Street Corp. that sponsored the survey.

This is the first year the survey has been taken, so it is not known if the number willing to stash extra money away for a while is rising, but another survey is anticipated in June for comparison. The survey included 1,000 401(k), 403(b), profit sharing and stock purchase plan participants.

At the same time 54% say they are very or somewhat confident their savings are on track to fund their planned retirement lifestyle.

With some overlap between the confident and doubtful, 55% say they lack confidence in their savings because they have not saved at as high a rate as they should have and 52% say they did not start saving early enough.

The study, entitled the State Street Global Advisors Defined Contribution Investor Survey, found participants are willing to take direction from their employers.

Automatic features such as automatic enrollment and automatic escalations are preferred by 74% of the respondents.

Awareness of long-term investment risks among respondents is limited, such as the risks of inflation and ownership in company stock, with 43% saying they do not know what to do about the effects of inflation and 68% saying they would favor a plan to limit the ownership of company stock.

Generational differences are very apparent in the study. The youngest investors, those 18 to 24 years old, say volatility has prompted them to save more compared with 37% of the general population who say they are saving more.

“Younger workers are saving more and spending less than their parents, while 66% of those over 50 years of age admit to not saving at an early enough age,” says Kristi Mitchem, senior managing director and head of global defined contribution for State Street Global.