On the Same Page? Newlyweds’ Agreement About Shared Power Predicting Financial Management Behaviors Through Marital Commitment

Abstract

Although it is typically thought that finances impact a couple’s marriage, research also suggests that the way couples navigate their marriage predicts how they navigate their finances. In this study, we examined whether and how a salient aspect of marriage, marital power, predicts financial management behaviors cross-sectionally and longitudinally among US newlywed dyads (N = 1,215 couples). We found that agreement about the degree of shared power between spouses did not indirectly predict spouses’ financial management behaviors concurrently or across time. However, complete and near agreement of a high degree of shared power between spouses indirectly predicted both husbands’ and wives’ financial management behaviors concurrently through husbands’ marital commitment. Likewise, complete and near agreement of a high degree of shared power between spouses indirectly predicted changes in wives’ financial management behaviors through wives’ marital commitment. We discussed the implications of these findings for theory, future research, and practice.