From Piggy Banks to Significant Others: Associations Between Financial Socialization and Romantic Relationship Flourishing in Emerging Adulthood

Abstract

While a plethora of research has found that parent financial socialization during childhood and adolescence is linked with financial outcomes in emerging adulthood, recent literature suggests that financial socialization may also impact romantic relationship outcomes in emerging adulthood. Utilizing a sample of 1,950 U.S. emerging adults, we test whether retrospectively recalled parent financial socialization is associated with romantic relationship flourishing and whether this association is mediated by financial behaviors and financial distress. We found that financial socialization was positively associated with financial behaviors and relationship flourishing and was negatively associated with financial distress. Further, financial behaviors partially mediated the association between financial socialization and relationship flourishing, while financial distress did not mediate the association. Together with previous literature, these findings provide useful information for therapists and educators in their pursuit to promote robust parent financial socialization in childhood and adolescence and both financial and relational well-being in emerging adulthood.