What Does Money Mean to Your Relationship?
What Does Money Mean to Your Relationship?
Blog Article
Money is one of the most difficult topics to discuss. In many cases, individuals would even prefer to discuss sex. Money and finances are associated with many personal issues, including self-worth, the ability to overcome self-doubt, pride, purchasing power, impulsivity, and even the desire to feel better than others.
Finances are, of course, an important issue in relationships. Money motivates how someone thinks about and spends/saves money, which may enhance or even destroy relationships. In an effort to determine how money motives and similarity/dissimilarity regarding money motives affect relationship satisfaction, Peetz and Joseph (2024) conducted two studies. Money motives were either considered integrated or nonintegrated. Integrated money motives include wanting to earn more money so that one can feel a sense of pride in self, self-worth, freedom, and the ability to participate in a greater range of leisure activities. Nonintegrated money motives include wanting to earn more money to spend impulsively, to feel superior to others, and to reduce one's sense of self-doubt.
In Study 1, 628 male and female participants who were married or involved in common-law relationships completed a demographic survey and reported personal and partner income. They completed the Motives for Making Money Scale in which they reported their own money motives and the perceived motives of their partners. Participants reported how much financial stress they were experiencing. Additionally, participants completed a 16-item Couples Satisfaction Index, in which they expressed their relationship satisfaction. The results of the study were quite interesting. Integrated money motives were associated with greater relationship satisfaction. Viewing one's partner as giving more importance to nonintegrated money motives was associated with lower relationship satisfaction. Additionally, overall dissimilarity in money motives was linked to less happiness within a relationship.
The results of Study 1 suggest that despite the great difficulty around discussing money, you must overcome that discomfort and discuss how you each think of money. Chemistry and fun are just not enough to keep a couple happily connected with each other.
In Study 2, the researchers evaluated actual couples and asked partners to report their own personal money motives as well as their partner's perceived money and financial motives. This study examined actual money motives and how they are linked with relationship satisfaction. The study consisted of 236 participants (118 couples). Similar results were found in this study. Both perceived and actual similarity regarding money motives was related to increased relationship satisfaction. Additionally, greater perceived dissimilarity between money motives was associated with lower relationship satisfaction. Report this page