top of page

Well-being in the Domains of Finances and Health

Netemeyer, Richard, Dee Warmath, Daniel Fernandes, and John G. Lynch, Jr. 2018. How Am I Doing? The Role of Financial Well-Being in Assessing, Achieving, and Experiencing General Well-Being. Journal of Consumer Research 45(1):68-89.

Though perceived financial well-being is viewed as an important topic of consumer research, the literature contains no accepted definition of this construct. Further, there has been little systematic examination of how perceived financial well-being may affect overall well-being. Using consumer financial narratives, several largescale surveys, and two experiments, we conceptualize perceived financial wellbeing as two related but separate constructs: 1) stress related to the management of money today (current money management stress), and 2) a sense of security in one’s financial future (expected future financial security). We develop and validate measures of these constructs (web appendix A) and then demonstrate their relationship to overall well-being, controlling for other life domains and objective measures of the financial domain. Our findings demonstrate that perceived financial well-being is a key predictor of overall well-being and comparable in magnitude to the combined effect of other life domains (job satisfaction, physical health assessment, and relationship support satisfaction). Further, the relative importance of current money management stress to overall well-being varies by income groups and due to the differing
antecedents of current money management stress and expected future financial security. Implications for financial well-being and education efforts are offered. 

O'Connor, Genevieve E., Casey E. Newmeyer, Nancy Yee Ching Wong, Julia B. Bayuk, Laurel A. Cook, Yuliya Komarova, Cazilla Loibl, L. Lin Ong, and Dee Warmath. 2019. Conceptualizing the Multiple Dimensions of Consumer Financial Vulnerability. Journal of Business Research 100: 421-430.

Though the majority of Americans report they are financially stable, they do not have sufficient savings to handle an unplanned emergency. There appears to be a disconnect between an individual's perception of their financial situation and their actual financial state. Nevertheless, only scant research focuses on financial vulnerability from both a subjective and objective perspective, and a clear and consistent definition of this construct is missing in the literature. To fill this gap, this review draws across disciplines to consolidate extant knowledge on financial vulnerability. First, we propose a novel definition of financial vulnerability that includes both its subjective and objective dimensions. Next, we create a framework to assess a consumer's financial vulnerability. We then identify interventions for varying degrees of financial vulnerability that are tailored to the individual's fiscal situation. Finally, we present a research agenda to guide future research on financial vulnerability.

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. 2022. Financial Literacy and Financial Well-Being. In Brenda Cude and Giani Niccolini (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Financial Literacy. London: Routledge.

Financial well-being is an inherently subjective construct that is related to, but distinct, from an individual’s objective financial situation or their financial satisfaction. As the individual’s assessment of how well they are doing, financial well-being represents an important outcome of financial literacy. Previous studies have inferred the presence of financial well-being rather than measuring it directly. Yet, the direct study of financial well-being offers the opportunity to inform our current knowledge of financial literacy as well as to suggest novel requirements to be financially literate. This chapter examines the evolution of financial well-being, its relationships to one’s objective financial situation and financial satisfaction, and its implications for research, policy, and practice related to financial literacy. 

bottom of page