Financial Infidelity Scale

Is your partner cheating on your shared financial values? Take this test to find out.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | February 07, 2024

Financial infidelity is defined as participating in any financial behavior that one's romantic partner is likely to disapprove of and purposefully withholding this information from them.

When a person engages in financial infidelity, they are most likely to:

Hide their spending habits
Hide or lie about their savings
Hide personal financial matters
Engage secretly in gambling
Lie about their income
Hide their debts
Give money to others

As a diagnostic tool, the Financial Infidelity Scale enables psychologists to delve deeper into the underlying motivations and psychological factors driving financial deceit, facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of interpersonal dynamics and trust issues within partnerships. This understanding can inform therapeutic strategies aimed at fostering communication, rebuilding trust and promoting financial transparency.

For lay people, the scale offers a practical tool for self-assessment and reflection, empowering individuals to recognize and confront deceptive financial behaviors within their own relationships. By identifying red flags and assessing the severity of financial infidelity, individuals can initiate constructive conversations with their partners, seek appropriate support or counseling, and take proactive steps to address trust issues and strengthen their financial partnership.

You can take this test here. Please follow all of the steps to receive your results.

Step 1: Rate the following statements based on how much you agree with them on a scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree.

1. If I really wanted to purchase something but my partner did not approve of the price, I would consider buying it anyway and not telling them.

2. I do not want my partner reading my purchase receipts, in case they disapprove of my spending.

3. I am never honest with my partner about the amount of savings I have.

4. Sometimes I pretend to be saving money when, in reality, I am not.

5. I would hide a bill from my partner to avoid upsetting them.

6. If I needed the money just for a few days, I would take out credit and not tell my partner.

7. Sometimes I avoid telling my partner how much money I spend on gifts to avoid confrontation.

8. My partner doesn’t know exactly how much money I spend on gifts for friends and relatives.

9. I would not tell my partner if I lost money gambling.

10. If I won a bet, I might buy myself a treat and not tell my partner.

11. If I received an unexpected inheritance, it would be nice to buy things without my partner having to know.

12. I prefer to keep information about my income private from my partner.

Step 2: Enter your age, gender, region, and first name so we can provide you with a detailed report that compares your test scores to people similar to you.

What is your age?

What is your gender?

What region of the world do you live in?

What is your first name?

Step 3: Check to make sure you've provided answers to all of the statements/questions above. Once you've done that, click the button below to send your responses to Awake Therapy's Lead Psychologist, Mark Travers, Ph.D. He will provide you with an overview of how you scored relative to others (all answers are anonymized and confidential to protect users' privacy). He can also answer any follow-up questions you may have.

References: Garbinsky, E. N., Gladstone, J. J., Nikolova, H., & Olson, J. G. (2019). Love, lies, and money: Financial infidelity in romantic relationships. Journal of Consumer Research, 47(1). 1–24.