Experiencing financial hardship has many detrimental effects on mental health and often leads to avoidance coping, which only exacerbates the financial difficulties. As educational programs have...Show moreExperiencing financial hardship has many detrimental effects on mental health and often leads to avoidance coping, which only exacerbates the financial difficulties. As educational programs have not effectively addressed avoidance coping, this study examines the effectivity of a self-compassion intervention on avoidance coping through reducing financial shame and financial stigma. Furthermore, we explored the effects of the intervention on problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping and financial stress. We surveyed N = 199 U.K. participants using the participant recruitment website Prolific. We performed a randomized, controlled two-group experiment where the effect of a self-compassion intervention on coping-styles was tested against no intervention. Results showed no significant effect of the self-compassion intervention, neither on avoidance coping nor on other forms of coping and financial stress. However, financial shame and financial stigma positively correlated with avoidance coping. Future research could investigate effective interventions addressing shame and stigma to reduce avoidant coping when experiencing financial hardships. Keywords: self-compassion, coping-styles, financial hardship, shame, stigma, avoidance-coping.Show less
The lack of contact between a debtor and creditor has been identified as a big problem in overcoming financial stress and debt. This study aimed to investigate whether inducing control results in...Show moreThe lack of contact between a debtor and creditor has been identified as a big problem in overcoming financial stress and debt. This study aimed to investigate whether inducing control results in greater willingness to contact creditors. Furthermore, financial self-efficacy was investigated as a moderator of this relationship. A total of 134 participants were assigned to either an induced control group or a baseline group. The participants were asked to recall a negative financial experience and were then presented with a fictional letter from an imaginary creditor, urging them to contact the creditor as soon as possible. The creditor letter was left unchanged from a standard creditor letter in the baseline group, while in the control group, the letter offered two possibilities to help repay outstanding debt. After reading the letter, participants were asked if they would be willing to contact the creditor. The study found that there was a significant difference in the participants' willingness to contact creditors. However, financial self-efficacy was not found to be a significant moderator. The present study provides additional support to previous findings that increasing perceived control led to a higher willingness to contact in the context of financial hardship.Show less
Research indicates that financial hardship is often accompanied by feelings of shame which in general leads to individuals to showing avoidance behavior. Particularly, individuals experiencing...Show moreResearch indicates that financial hardship is often accompanied by feelings of shame which in general leads to individuals to showing avoidance behavior. Particularly, individuals experiencing financial shame oftentimes partake into avoidance behavior when it comes to financial support. This study aimed to investigate whether shame resilience increases the willingness to contact a creditor and whether shame resilience decreases avoidance action tendencies of individuals experiencing financial hardship. A between-subject design was implemented whereat participants in the shame resilience group (N = 64) were compared to participants in the control group (N = 69). Within an online experiment, the randomly assigned participants recalled a financial hardship experience, read one out of two creditor letters, and were presented with several Likert-scale questions. Participants in the shame resilience group reported higher levels of a willingness to contact compared to the participants in the control group. Regarding the voidance action tendencies, three items were analysed separately due to a low reliability. No differences were found on refuse action and distract action tendencies between the participants in both groups. However, participants in the shame resilience group reported lower levels of ignore action tendencies compared to the participants in the control group. Potential explanations for this, additional findings, strengths, and limitations are discussed and implications for future research are proposed.Show less
Research on financial help-seeking behaviour has found shame to be one of the underlying components in help avoidance. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether increasing shame...Show moreResearch on financial help-seeking behaviour has found shame to be one of the underlying components in help avoidance. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether increasing shame-resilience leads to an increased willingness to contact a creditor and to a reduced use of avoidant action tendencies. Additionally, the study examined whether men and women differ in their experience of financial shame. Participants (N = 133) were assigned to two conditions (shame-resilience and control condition) and they were asked to recall a negative financial situation. After this, the participants were shown an email from an imagined creditor, which asked them to be in contact with the creditor as soon as possible. In the control condition the communication style of the email was neutral whereas in the shame resilience condition the communication style aimed to induce a sense of connectedness with other people, who also share experiences of financial hardship. After the email, the participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire that assessed their behavioural action tendencies regarding their situation. The intervention was found to significantly increase the participants’ willingness to contact the creditor and to significantly reduce a tendency to ignore a severity of the situation. However, no significant effects were found on a tendency to refuse to believe the situation or on a tendency to distract oneself with other activities. Also, no gender differences were found. The study provides valuable information on how to encourage people in financial hardship to take action to improve their financial situation.Show less
