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Love, Lies, and Money: Financial Infidelity in Romantic Relationships
[“Cognitive Interdependence: Commitment and the Mental Representation of Close Relationships,”]

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  • Emily N Garbinsky
  • Joe J Gladstone
  • Hristina Nikolova
  • Jenny G Olson
  • Margaret C Campbell
  • Susan M Broniarczyk

Abstract

Romantic relationships are built on trust, but partners are not always honest about their financial behavior—they may hide spending, debt, and savings from one another. This article introduces the construct of financial infidelity, defined as “engaging in any financial behavior expected to be disapproved of by one’s romantic partner and intentionally failing to disclose this behavior to them.” We develop and validate the Financial Infidelity Scale (FI-Scale) to measure individual variation in consumers' financial infidelity proneness. In 10 lab studies, one field study, and analyses of real bank account data collected in partnership with a couples’ money-management mobile application, we demonstrate that the FI-Scale has strong psychometric properties, is distinct from conceptually related scales, and predicts actual financial infidelity among married consumers. Importantly, the FI-Scale predicts a broad range of consumption-related behaviors (e.g., spending despite anticipated spousal disapproval, preferences for discreet payment methods and unmarked packaging, concealing bank account information). Our work is the first to introduce, define, and measure financial infidelity reliably and succinctly and examine its antecedents and consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Emily N Garbinsky & Joe J Gladstone & Hristina Nikolova & Jenny G Olson & Margaret C Campbell & Susan M Broniarczyk, 2020. "Love, Lies, and Money: Financial Infidelity in Romantic Relationships [“Cognitive Interdependence: Commitment and the Mental Representation of Close Relationships,”]," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 47(1), pages 1-24.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:47:y:2020:i:1:p:1-24.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jcr/ucz052
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Simon J Blanchard & Jacob Goldenberg & Koen Pauwels & David A Schweidel, 2022. "Promoting Data Richness in Consumer Research: How to Develop and Evaluate Articles with Multiple Data Sources [The Critical Role of Methodological Pluralism for Policy-Relevant Empirical Marketing ," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 49(2), pages 359-372.

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