Problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies in household financial management: Income expansion versus money devaluation

It comes as no surprise that countless families daily encounter emotional stress associated with the pressures of household finances. These pressures come from events connected with household financial management that are recognized by the family as taxing or exceeding the family's resources. Typically the family determines various responses and behaviors, termed coping, to endure or successfully overcome the threats.; In coping with financial pressure, one family may attempt to change its environment (a problem-focused coping behavior) while another family will seek to handle the psychological impact of stress (an emotion-focused coping behavior). This research has focused on two particular coping behaviors, income expansion (a problem-focused behavior) and money devaluation (an emotion-focused behavior). Income expands by increasing the number of labor market hours worked and money devaluation has been operationalized is an attitude that reduces the value of money.; These two behaviors were measured in a sample of the target population. The data from the measures were used to test several research hypotheses. All but one research hypothesis were supported. A brief review of the findings related to problem-focused coping behavior shows that (1) total household income has a strong inverse relationship on perceived financial strain, (2) the amount of financial strain has a strong positive relationship to financial stress, and (3) financial strain significantly increases the likelihood that the family will increase its labor market hours.; Correspondingly, the findings from the research hypotheses related to emotion-focused behaviors show that (1) a money devaluing attitude only moderately reduces financial stress and (2) financial strain has a negative effect or diminishes the money devaluing attitude. The unsupported hypothesis was the finding was that as total household income increases, it has a negative effect or diminishes the money devaluing attitude.