Financial Infidelity Asymmetry Predicts Couples’ Financial and Relationship Well-Being

In brief

It is the mismatch that hurts. When one partner is prone to hiding financial behaviour and the other is not, couples are more likely to keep separate financial goals, and that predicts lower financial wellbeing and relationship satisfaction compared with couples who are both transparent. Bank data, dyadic studies and experiments converge, and the asymmetry matters beyond other partner differences such as tightwad versus spendthrift.

Abstract

Financial infidelity (FI)—engaging in and concealing financial behavior expected to elicit spousal disapproval—is relatively prevalent in marriage, but its impact on couples has been largely unexplored. Taking a novel couple-level perspective, we examine how discrepancies in partners’ propensity to commit financial infidelity (i.e., situations where one partner is low in FI-proneness and the other partner is higher in FI-proneness, referred to as the degree of financial infidelity asymmetry) affect couples’ financial and relationship well-being, relative to situations where both partners are equally transparent with each other regarding financial matters. Using a multimethod approach, including a pilot study with real bank account data, dyad studies, and experiments, we find that as compared to couples where both partners are low in FI-proneness, couples with greater financial infidelity asymmetry are more likely to have individualized (vs. shared) financial goals, which predicts lower financial well-being and relationship satisfaction. We also demonstrate that financial infidelity asymmetry has unique predictive value beyond other potential asymmetries within couples (e.g., partner differences in tightwad-spendthrift tendencies). Our findings extend prior work at the individual level and highlight that financial infidelity is a dyadic experience that poses harm to the couple.

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