Bank Account Structure and Couples’ Relationship Dynamics Study 1, 2017

230 male–female couples (460 individuals) were recruited via social media, Craigslist, word-of-mouth at bridal shows, wedding blogs, and mailing letters to customers on a jeweler’s mailing list for a 2-year longitudinal study examining the transition to marriage. To be eligible, both partners had to be entering their first marriage and currently be either (1) engaged to be married or (2) married for less than 1 year. The couple had to consist of one male and one female and be currently living in the United States. They were also required to have entirely separate bank accounts at study entry, a requirement they were unaware of when completing the screener. On average, partners had known each other for 5 years and were romantically involved for 3 years. Ten percent of couples had children. Partners’ median age was 28 (range: 18–58), and the median household income was $50,000 (range: $0–$450,000); 52% had earned at least a bachelor’s degree, and 74% identified as White or Caucasian. After completing the intake survey, couples were assigned to one of three bank account structure conditions. In the Separate Condition, couples were told to continue using separate checking and savings accounts. In the Joint Condition, couples were told to open and only use joint checking and/or savings account(s). In the No-Intervention Condition, couples were told that they could manage their money however they liked. Across all three conditions, participants independently completed 5 follow-up assessments over the course of the study: 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 months after the intake survey. The surveys contained a variety of measures commonly used in relationships research (e.g., Couples Satisfaction Index, Funk and Rogge, 2007), as well as many measures assessing the couples' finances and financial attitudes (e.g., Financial Harmony Scale, Rick, Small, and Finkel, 2011). This research was approved by The University of Michigan’s Institutional Review Board (# HUM00058917).