Recipient Organization
MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIV
(N/A)
MISSISSIPPI STATE,MS 39762
Performing Department
Human Sciences
Non Technical Summary
Finances can be a distinguishing factor in the overall quality of a romantic relationship (Olson & Olson, 2002). Financial issuesare often cited as a contributing factor in the level of distress experienced by couples (Stanley, Markman, & Whitton, 2002), andfinancial issues are related to longer lasting, more recurrent, and more negative conflict (Papp, Cummings, & Goeke-Morey,2009). With the ever increasing level of debt young adults are accumulating, often due to student loan debt (Project on StudentDebt, 2015), couples are potentially placing themselves at risk for marital problems and difficulties making future financial decisions. Debt has been referred to as an "anti-dowry,"as marriage may make one or both partners poorer (Carlson, 2005). Debt has also been associated with delayingmarriage (Carlson, 2005; Shellenbarger, 2012) and poorer marital quality (Dew, 2007, 2008). Compounding this problemof debt is that many couples are not discussing finances before marriage (American Express, 2010; National Foundation forCredit Counseling, 2012). Marrying into unknown debt or negative financial behaviors may create challenges that furtherdamage the stability of these relationships. Unfortunately, little research has examined finances and financial decision-making among young adult romanticrelationships. As such, the purpose of the current project is to explore how finances, specifically debt,influencecouples'decision to marry, how couples negotiate financial discussions before and early in marriage, and how finances influence couple interactions (e.g., conflict, communication, etc.). The objectives of the current project fit well within the framework outlined by theNC21721 Multi-State Project "Behavioral economics and financial decision-making and information management across the lifespan"by exploring the early stages of romantic relationship to provide a baseline for financial decision-making across the marital lifespan.
Animal Health Component
15%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
75%
Applied
15%
Developmental
10%
Goals / Objectives
Determine motivators that affect economic decision-making in specific decision situations (housing, student loans, and Social Security) across the life-span of households
Determine barriers that affect economic decision-making in specific decision situations across the life-span of households
Determine how motivators and barriers to economic decision-making can be presented in specific decision situations across the life-span of households
Suggest strategies that can be used to improve consumer financial decision-making
Project Methods
The stated objectives of the Multi-State Project "Behavioral economics and financial decision-making and information management across the lifespan" (NC2172; Minton, Honadle, Hamilton, & Gutter, 2013) are as follows:Determine motivators that affect economic decision-making in specific decision situations (housing, student loans, and Social Security) across the life-span of householdsDetermine behaviors that affect economic decision-making in specific decision situations across the life-span of householdsDetermine how motivators and barriers to economic decision-making can be presented in specific decision situations across the life-span of householdsSuggest strategies that can be used to improve consumer financial decision-makingThe goal of this current project fits within these stated objectives by applying the economic decision-making process to young adult romantic relationships. Finances play an important role across the marital lifespan, yet little attention has been made to finances and the early stages of the romantic relationship, including the decision to marry and early marital adjustment period. Therefore, the objectives of the current project are to explore how finances influence young adult couples' decision to and timing for marriage, how couples discuss finances within their relationships, how they negotiate financial management styles, and how finances influence the overall marital interactions and quality of these couples. The first three research questions will be explored using both quantitative (e.g., surveys) and qualitative (e.g., semi-structured interviews) methods. The final question will be explored using quantitative methods.How does a couple's current financial state, specifically debt, influence the decision to marry and the timing of marriage?The current study will address this question by inviting young adult couples to discuss how they view finances in general and how they view finance's influence on their decision to marry and timing of marriage. Specifically, couples will be asked whether they hold some things to be prerequisites for a couple to marry (e.g., finish schooling, become settled in career, ability to purchase home, pay for wedding, etc.). Furthermore, couples will be asked how they view potential marriage partners in terms of finances. For example, "If the person you are considering marrying has debt, would you have doubts about whether you want to marry that person? Why or why not?" Another example, "Assume the person you are considering to marry has debt, would you marry that person despite the debt, require that person to pay off all debt before marriage, or help that person pay off this debt? Why did you choose this option...?"How do couples discuss finances before they marry and early in marriage?The current study will address this question by asking couples how often they discuss finances, the timing of these discussions (prior to engagement, after engagement, etc.) and the nature of these discussions (helpful, conflictual, etc.). Furthermore, couples will be asked to respond to common reasons why they (or other couples, in general) do not discuss finances (lack of knowledge, fear of fighting, fear of ending relationship, etc.). Finally, couples will be asked what will help them to feel more comfortable discussing finances with their romantic partners.How do couples negotiate financial management styles and financial roles before and early in marriage?To address this question, couples will be invited to review the different types of management styles identified by Pahl (2008). All couples will also be asked which style is their ideal style and why. Couples will be asked to discuss with one another pros and cons of each style, as well as what they think the transition will be towards that ideal style. For couples who are not married, they will be asked to identify which style they currently use in their relationship and why. For couples that are already married, they will be asked to identify which style they used before they married and the style they are currently using. They will be asked further to explore how they negotiated this style and what some problems/successes they experienced during this transition process.How do finances influence couple interactions?To address this question, quantitative data (surveys) will be used primarily to explore the couples' current financial state (income, debt, assets, etc.), level of economic hardship and financial distress (financial challenges / problems, financial constraints / concerns, etc.), marital processes (communication, conflict, aggression, etc.), and marital outcomes (relationship quality / satisfaction, etc.).MethodsMeasures. All participants will complete an anonymous survey that will measure demographic, financial, and relational information. Measures will include the following:Demographic: Basic demographic information will include age, gender, ethnicity, relationship status, cohabitation status, length of relationship, student/occupational status, and number of children.Financial:• Current Financial State: A measure of couple's current financial state (income, assets, consumer debts, and non-consumer debts.• Negative Financial Changes scale (Conger & Elder, 1994) identifies whether couples are experiencing any economic hardship (e.g., job loss).• Financial Adjustments scale (Conger & Elder, 1994) identifies how couples respond to economic hardship.• Financial Distress scale (Spilman & Burzette, 2006) identifies potential concerns and constraints experienced during economic hardship.• Money Habitudes II for Young Adults (Solomon, 2008) identifies dominant beliefs about money.• Financial Behaviors scale (Day et al., 2013) identifies financial behaviors (e.g., We reduced our personal debt, We spent more than we earned, etc.).• Financial Communication scale (Day et al., 2013) identifies how couples discuss finances.• Financial Management Styles (Pahl, 2008) identifies which style (e.g., joint, partial pool, etc.) is ideal and used currently.• Materialism scale (Carroll, 2004) identifies level of materialism.Relational:• Marital Readiness scale (Carroll et al., 2007) identifies readiness for marriage.• Couple Commitment Inventory (Stanley & Markman, 1992) identifies commitment and willingness to sacrifice.• Couple Communication (Busby et al., 2001) identifies communication used during conflict.• Couple Conflict Topics (Busby et al., 2001) identifies frequency of conflict in 8 areas.• Couple Relational Aggression (Nelson & Carroll, 2006) identfies how relationally aggressive behaviors (e.g., love withdrawal, talking about partner with others) are used.• Marriage Work with Spouse and Friend scale (Helms et al., 2003) identifies how relational issues are discussed with others.• Couple Instability (Busby et al., 2001) identifies the stability of relationships.• Quality Marriage Index (Norton, 1983) identifies overall satisfaction in relationships.Data Analysis. For qualitative data, semi-structured interviews will be conducted and transcribed, transcripts will reviewed using grounded theory to identify general themes, and themes will be analyzed using qualitative analytical software (e.g., NVivo, etc.).Quantitative data will use two types of analytical software: IBM SPSS Statistics 22 and MPLus 7.4 (Muthen & Muthen, 1998-2015). Analyses will include descriptive statistics, correlational analyses, factor analyses, tests of group and mean differences (t-tests), structural equation modeling, and path analyses.