Financial aversion and its link to attachment anxiety

Recent research has identified a pattern of anxious and averse reactions towards the management of personal finances that particularly affects the young. A correlational study was conducted including 168 UK university students to investigate the nature of financial aversion within an attachment theory framework. It was hypothesised that, in addition to attachment style, financial aversion would be linked to financial stressors, dyslexia, and general anxiety. According to the findings, financial aversion was linked to probable dyslexia, symptoms of anxiety, attachment anxiety, and attachment dependency. Regression analysis identified attachment anxiety as the only independent predictor and suggested that it also moderated the effects of general anxiety on financial aversion. Findings may interest professionals counselling university students or other groups vulnerable to the experience of financial stress.