A new study has found that an individual’s financial satisfaction is primarily influenced by their own financial behavior, not their romantic partner’s, regardless of whether they have joint or separate bank accounts. But couples in early marriage who had joint bank accounts showed more aligned financial behaviors. The study was published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
“I have been studying financial well-being and financial satisfaction of young people since 2015, as I believe the financial domain of our life should not be a taboo; we should accept the idea that money have an impact on our level of happiness and we have to study this influence to understand how better manage this life domain,” said study author Angela Sorgente, an assistant professor at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan.
“After many years studying this topic at the individual level (e.g., how my financial behavior influence my financial satisfaction), I was wondering how much a partner’s behavior in the financial domain can affect my own financial satisfaction and whether this influence changes according to the kind of bank account status the couple owns (joint bank account, separate bank accounts, both).
“Being an early married young adult myself, I was particularly interest in moving from the individual to the relational level of the study of financial satisfaction.”
For this study, researchers analyzed data from the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences (CREATE) study, a U.S. nationally representative survey of newly married couples.
The sample included 1,475 couples who had been married for less than five years. The researchers aimed to understand the interdependence of financial behavior and financial satisfaction within these early-stage marriages. To achieve this, they employed a statistical approach called the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM).
In simple terms, the APIM allows scientists to explore how an individual’s actions (actor effect) and their partner’s actions (partner effect) relate to their own and their partner’s satisfaction. By using this method, the researchers could analyze how each partner’s financial behavior affected their own financial satisfaction and that of their spouse.
The researchers found that an individual’s financial behavior significantly influenced their own financial satisfaction. In other words, when a person exhibited healthy financial behavior, such as responsible budgeting and saving, they reported higher financial satisfaction. This effect held true for both husbands and wives.
Surprisingly, the study revealed that a partner’s financial behavior did not significantly predict an individual’s financial satisfaction. This means that even if one partner displayed good financial behavior, it did not necessarily lead to greater financial satisfaction for the other partner.
However, there was a significant association between spouses’ financial behavior and their financial satisfaction. Essentially, if one partner was financially responsible, the other partner was also likely to be financially responsible. This suggests that while partner behavior may not directly impact satisfaction, couples tend to align their financial behaviors.
The researchers also found that couples with joint bank accounts tended to have financial behaviors that were more similar to each other. In essence, when couples managed their finances together, they were more likely to align their financial behaviors. Conversely, couples with only separate bank accounts exhibited less healthy financial behaviors, which might be attributed to less financial alignment.
“My study’s results suggest that a partner’s financial behavior does not affect one’s own financial satisfaction, regardless the kind of bank account status of the couple,” Sorgente told PsyPost. “This means that people should not blame their partner if they are experiencing decreased financial satisfaction. People should instead recognize that they are the main responsible for one’s financial satisfaction.”
“At the same time, findings from this study support the notion that joint bank account(s) status reaps positive outcomes. In particular, we found that partners who had joint bank account(s) had more similar financial behaviors with each other. In other words, among couples who have joint bank account(s), wives who reported high levels of healthy financial behavior are more likely married with husbands reporting high levels of healthy financial behavior and vice versa.”
However, it’s important to recognize that the study’s findings do not imply that joint bank accounts are the best or only way for couples to manage their finances. Couples should consider their financial compatibility.
“We are not saying that holding joint bank account is the solution! Couples who choose to have joint accounts are in more alignment with what to do with their money,” Sorgente explained.
“If a couple has differing ways in which they behave with their money and causes distress in the marriage, they should not necessarily hold joint accounts. Rather, the findings suggest that if couples are in alignment with how to manage money they may want to consider holding joint accounts.”
Every study has its limitations, and this one is no exception. The researchers used cross-sectional data, which means they collected data at a single point in time. Longitudinal data, collected over time, might provide a clearer understanding of how financial behavior and satisfaction evolve within relationships. Additionally, the study focused on early-stage marriages, so the findings may not be generalized to longer-married couples.
The study, “Yours, mine, or ours: Does bank account status in early marriage affect financial behavior and financial satisfaction?“, was authored by Angela Sorgente, Margherita Lanz, Semira Tagliabue, Melissa J Wilmarth, Kristy L Archuleta, Jeremy Yorgason, and Spencer James.
