Abstract
Times of financial stress are riddled with uncertainty about the future. When faced with financial stress, some couples may attempt to re-establish a sense of control by engaging in financial snooping: looking at their partner’s financial information without their knowledge. In a series of studies, we examine financial stress and anxiety as predictors of financial snooping attitudes. In an initial study (N = 197), individuals who reported greater financial stress and financial anxiety reported more positive attitudes toward financial snooping. This link remained even when controlling for objective financial stressors (income amount and income volatility), relational predictors (attachment, trust), and demographic variables. In two experimental studies (N = 176; 288) participants were randomly assigned to either a momentary high financial stress condition or a low financial stress condition. The condition did not affect financial snooping attitudes, though correlational links between measured financial stress and positive snooping attitudes were replicated along with identifying several additional correlates of financial snooping attitudes (less trust, more anxious attachment, more income volatility, less financial harmony, less shared financial values, more trait suspicion, more general intrusive attitudes all predicted more positive snooping attitudes).
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Data Availability
The datasets generated by the survey research and analyzed during the current study are available in the Open Science Framework repository, https://osf.io/nvj3e.
Notes
We also preregistered regression analyses that examined each hypothesis separately, which are reported in online supplements (https://osf.io/vhr39). Results replicate the overall models reported here.
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The research was funded by a grant of the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#435-2012-1211) to the second author.
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Joseph, M., Peetz, J. Financial Stress as an Antecedent of Financial Snooping Attitudes. J Fam Econ Iss (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-023-09933-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-023-09933-9