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 NORCAL
NorCal Open Access Publications
Journal of Psychiatry and Behaviour
Therapy
OPEN ACCESS PUBLICATION Volume 2; Issue 1
Santos EJR and Campos AF

Review Article ISSN 2638-9959

Symbolic Uses of Money and Disorders of Financial

Consumption: State-of-the-art and Research Proposal
Eduardo JR Santos1* and Adriana Fayad Campos1
1
Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Human and Social Development, University of Coimbra, Portugal

Corresponding author: Eduardo JR Santos, Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Human and Social Develop-
*

ment, University of Coimbra, Portugal. E-mail: santoseduardo56@gmail.com

Received Date: 31 January 2019; Accepted Date: 07 February 2019; Published Date: 00 January 2019

Introduction nancial consumption behavior [3,4].

We can situate the beginning of these reflections in the field of

The problem of the symbolic use of money and financial con-
human and social sciences in the theoretical body of the psy-
sumption disorders that the authors present is of great relevance
chodynamic approach, namely of Marxist-Freudian influence
and timeliness, considering the aggravated problems in the use
[5]. But also sociological reflection has produced very relevant
of the money we are seeing, either by circumstantial factors or
theoretical pieces [6]. It was, however, with the emergence of the
by individual factors, knowing that we will not be able to ana-
discipline of Behavioral Economics [7, 8] that there was a real
lyze them separately. Here we must assume that this question is
increase in research on these subjects, although much focused
a multidimensional problem, considering, for example, that the
on a cognitive approach to financial decision-making processes.
misuse of money can be result of not earning enough money for
daily subsistence. Money has diverse symbolisms expressed in its
At the confluence of these sources of research and reflection,
various forms of use, and sometimes it assumes contours of be-
what can be called today as Economic, or Financial Psychology
havioral and psychopathological disorder of financial consump-
[9, 10]. Here, and in the context of this article, there are inno-
tion. It is therefore necessary to situate the problem in psycho-
vative contributions such as those that allow us to understand
social thinking on this subject, from the first Freudian-Marxist
that our symbolic relationship with money, and their disorders,
psychodynamic reflections, to the subsequent sociological ap-
have "money scripts" [1], i.e, unconscious, transgenerational ma-
proaches, to behavioral economics, to economic psychology, and
trices, acquired in childhood, and which give rise (as predictors)
finally to models of psychological counseling and psychotherapy,
to the psychological variables that begin to be investigated, such
base for the development of research programs, aimed at the pre-
as beliefs [12], attitudes [13] and behaviors related to money uses
vention and treatment of psychopathological behaviors. Finally,
[14], which may take psychopathological character [15 ]. This
we must highlight this problem presenting some statistics. For
process can be traced through "moneygrams", that is, specific
example, in government prevalence study conducted in Spain in
genograms for the processes of transgenerational socialization of
2015 it was found that the percentage of problematic gambling
the symbolic use of money [16]. The knowledge produced has,
reached 5% in the population; there are some indicators that
on the other hand, generated implications for the process of psy-
point out that this number is increasing, situation aggravated
chological counseling and psychotherapy [17] in the context of
with dual pathologies like alcoholism.
difficulties and problems related to the use of money [18].
State-of-the art At this moment, it is diagnosed the need to carry out studies that
The use of money, whether in its material form or in its digital can integrate the diverse knowledge already produced, situate
form, and the symbols that surround it, have been the subject of them in populations that by their developmental characteristics
growing reflection in the social and human sciences. In a com- are in a process of entry into the professional world and, conse-
plex and problematic economic context such as the one we are quently, of the autonomous use of money, such as the students
currently living in, the uses of money and its symbolism have of higher education [19], but also with individuals who already
raised questions about its social and individual impact, at levels have individual and social issues in problematic situations re-
such as poverty and social inequalities [1,2], and disorders of fi- garding their management [20]. Therefore, more descriptive

NorCal Open Access Publications .01.

Citation: : Santos EJR, Campos AF (2019) Symbolic Uses of Money and Disorders of Financial Consumption: State-of-the-art and Research Proposal.
J Psychiatry Behav Ther 2019: 33-36.
and contextual, but also more ideographic, approaches will be
necessary to allow us to deepen psychological disorders in the
symbolic use of money [21].
Defining a research program
Goals
Regarding the research that needs to be done on this issue, the
authors present the following lines of work and their objectives.
I. To situate the problem of the disorders of financial consump-
tion behavior in the psychosocial context of the symbolic uses
of money, both conceptually and empirically, through the elabo-
ration of a broad state-of-art from the theoretical and empirical
point of view, following a process of sociohistorical contextual-
ization.
II. To carry out empirical studies, of a quantitative and qualita-
tive nature, with significant samples from the psychosocial point
of view (e.g., students of higher education in transition to the la-
bor market and autonomous use of money, people with problems
of indebtedness and / or pathological gambling), with the inten-
tion of mapping scientifically the problematic of the appropriate
and unsuitable uses of money and associated symbolism.
III. Adapt to different cultures a set of psychological assessment
tools that can function as diagnostic tools and scientific research
instruments in the field of symbolic uses of money and associat-
ed financial consumption behavior disorders.
IV. Outline practical implications for psychological intervention
and research in this field at the levels of prevention and psycho-
social counseling / psychotherapy, in the sense of elaborating and
disseminating action agendas with the various actors in the eco-
nomic and financial scenarios, as well as research projects broad-
er and intercultural in nature.
Tasks
In the light of the objectives outlined above, the necessary inves-
tigative tasks would be as follows:
Task 1: literature review and state-of-the-art writing, sequential-
ly organized through the critical analysis of foundational models
on the symbolic uses of money, namely, psychodynamics, soci-
ology, behavioral economics, economic psychology, and psycho-
logical / psychotherapy in situations of financial consumption
behavior disorder. In addition to the conceptual review, a review
of the main empirical investigations on this issue would also be
carried out, in order to construct a comprehensive synthesis of
the main conclusions. At this stage, the main arguments that
will support the operationalization of research questions and hy-
potheses will be elaborated.
Task 2: adaptation to different cultures of the battery of psycho-
logical assessment instruments, which the authors propose, to
use in collecting data of the variables selected for a first quanti-
J Psychiatry Behav Ther 2019: 33-36.
tative study:
a) Klontz Money Script Inventory (Klontz et al., 2011).
b) Money Beliefs and Behavior Scale (Furnham, 1984).
c) Money Ethic Scale (Tang, 1992).
d) Money Attitude Scale (Yamauchi & Templer, 1982).
e) Financial Management Behavior Scale (Dew & Chiao, 2011).
f) Money Sanity / Pathology Scale (Forman, 1987).
g) Moneygram Scale (Furnham, von Stumm & Milner, 2014).
Task 3: semi-structured interviews with a group of people with
financial consumption problems, complemented with the indi-
vidual application of Moneygram Scale (Furnham, von Stumm
& Milner, 2014) and elaboration of transgenerational financial
genograms using the thematic content analysis tecnique, accord-
ing to the Braun and Clarke model.
Conclusion
The authors believe that this will be a promising avenue for psy-
chiatric and psychotherapeutic intervention in the field of finan-
cial consumption disorders, which increasingly devastate our
communities.
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 Citation: : Santos EJR, Campos AF (2019) Symbolic Uses of Money and Disorders of Financial Consumption: State-of-the-art and Research Proposal.
J Psychiatry Behav Ther 2019: 33-36.
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Citation: : Santos EJR, Campos AF (2019) Symbolic Uses of Money and Disorders of Financial Consumption: State-of-the-art and Research Proposal.
J Psychiatry Behav Ther 2019: 33-36.

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