Shared Decision Making
Warmath, Dee, Dominik Piehlmaier, and Cliff Robb. 2019. The Impact of Shared Financial Decision Making on Overconfidence for Married Adults. Financial Planning Review 2(1): 1-14.
Previous research has shown that overconfidence is associated with a decrease in the quality of decision making and, therefore, decision outcomes. However, less is known about the conditions or circumstances that reduce financial overconfidence. Using data from two national studies, this study was designed to provide insights into the dynamics of intrahousehold financial decision making by examining the role of shared decision making in reducing overconfidence bias. Findings suggest that a psychological sense of shared ownership of money is associated with lower levels of overconfidence. With regard to financial planning practice, these results suggest that married individuals who believe in shared ownership of household money tend to have lower levels of overconfidence.
Casey Newmeyer, Dee Warmath, Genevieve O’Connor, and Nancy Wong. 2021. Savings Automation: Helpful or Harmful? Journal of Public Policy and Marketing 40(2), 285-297.
In general, Americans are not savers, which contributes to their inability to absorb even small financial shocks and increases their potential for financial hardship. Savings automation has been promoted as a solution to overcome the behavioral constraints (or limitations) that hinder individual savings behavior. The result has been a proliferation of automated savings programs with the goal of helping people save money without their notice as a way to overcome their tendency to consume. However, scant research has examined the efficacy of this “save people from themselves” approach. This article explores the Importance of having a saver mindset, regardless of income, in the success of savings automation. Results from two studies demonstrate that the benefits of automation for liquid savings accrue at a higher rate for individuals with lower incomes and that this benefit depends on the presence of a personal savings Orientation. The findings suggest that savings programs should try to build a savings habit and mindset among consumers, especially for those with lower incomes.
Warmath, Dee, John Grable, Pan-Ju Chen, and Eun Jin Kwak. 2021. Lost in Translation?: The Application of Western Notions of Financial Well-Being to Eastern Culture. Journal of Consumer Affairs 55(4), 1563-159.
This study extends the cushion hypothesis to examine cultural differences in the role of willingness to take
financial risk in an individual's objective financial outcomes (e.g., the experience of material hardship) and in an individual's assessment of their financial well-being. Using data collected in South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States, we find support for a cushion (i.e., weaker relationship) in the association between material hardship and present and future financial well-being. A cushion was also observed in a weaker association between willingness to take financial risk and expectations for future financial security but not in the experience of material hardship or current money management stress. Our results suggest that cultural context influences an individual's objective situation as well as their subjective assessment of that situation. This paper adds to existing literature by documenting a cushion effect beyond risk taking to include a person's objective financial situation and financial well-being.
Warmath, Dee, Andrew Winterstein, and Susan Myrden. 2022. The Role of Transformational Parenting and Coaching in the High School Athlete’s Intentions to Report Concussion Symptoms. Social Science and Medicine 292, 114559.
Purpose: Studies demonstrate that parents and coaches play a role in an athlete’s concussion reporting decision primarily through their influence on the decision environment. Little work, however, has explored how a given parenting/coaching style operates to promote intentions and much less work has examined whether the impact of parenting/coaching on concussion reporting differs by socioeconomic status. Transformational parenting/coaching (i.e., a focus on building autonomy and self-efficacy in athletes) represents one promising approach given its effects on other outcomes (e.g., health, burnout, aggression). We hypothesize that athlete perceptions of transformational parenting/coaching will be associated with their reporting intentions directly and through the athlete’s motivation for playing their sport regardless of household income. Methods: A national survey of 1023 high-school athletes measured athlete perceptions of transformational parenting/coaching, sport motivation, and reporting intentions. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine hypotheses. Results: Transformational parenting was directly associated with reporting intentions (β: Reporting Intentions = .265; Scenario 1 = 0.206; Scenario 2 = 0.260) and indirectly through increased autonomous/decreased controlled motivation. Transformational coaching was not directly associated with Reporting Intentions (β = 0.008, p = .816) or Scenario 2 (β = 0.046, p = .198) but was for Scenario 1 (β = 0.077, p = .003). Transformational coaching was also associated with reporting intention indirectly through increased autonomous, but not controlled motivation. Athletes with household income of $50,000+ were more likely to report transformational parenting/coaching; however, the effects of transformational parenting/coaching did not differ for athletes from higher versus lower-income households. Conclusions: Transformational parenting/coaching may encourage greater concussion reporting intentions primarily through increased autonomous (i.e., self-directed) sport motivation regardless of socioeconomic status. Cultivating transformational leadership in parents/coaches can have a positive impact on the athlete’s intention to report concussion-like symptoms.