The science of couples cheating with their money

One in three people commit "financial infidelity", with potentially toxic consequences for their relationships, according to a study co-led by UCL which is thought to be the first to investigate the concept. Romantic relationships are built on trust, but partners are not always honest about their financial behaviour - they often hide spending, debt, and savings from one another. A team of academics developed a scale that measures individuals' proneness to financial infidelity in relationships, which can predict how likely someone is to hide spending from a partner. Those who score higher on the 12-question Financial Infidelity (FI) Scale are more likely to lie about or hide spending or savings, keep debt a secret or have undisclosed gambling habits. For the paper, Love, Lies and Money: Financial Infidelity in Romantic Relationships , academics from UCL, University of Notre Dame, Boston College and Indiana University identified financial infidelity as behaviour comprised of two components: engaging in a financial behaviour expected to elicit disapproval from one's partner plus an intentional failure to disclose the behaviour. The FI Scale can predict consumers' likelihood of engaging in financial behaviours expected to elicit partner disapproval, which can negatively impact a relationship as much as sexual infidelity, and is often cited as a source of marital conflict and stress. Co-author Dr Joe Gladstone (UCL School of Management) said: "The findings indicate that financial infidelity is surprisingly common, and can be influential in terms of both relationship quality and in changing how people spend their money." Secondary data from a European bank suggested that 35.7% of people engaged in at least one type of financial infidelity.