Money and Emotions: How University Students Cope with Personal Financial Management

Have you ever stopped to think about how your emotions influence your financial decisions? Anxiety, impulsiveness, attitudes toward mathematics, and even emotional well-being might be shaping the way you manage your money — and a new academic study seeks to understand exactly that.

The research, titled “Perceptions of Emotional and Sociodemographic Factors in the Personal Financial Management of University Students in Brazil,” is being conducted by PhD candidate Henrique Cananosque Neto from UNESP Bauru. The study invites undergraduate students from all regions of Brazil — including Brazilians studying abroad — to answer an online questionnaire. The goal is to investigate how emotional and demographic aspects influence financial behaviour among young adults in academic training.

📌 Take part in the study here: https://tinyurl.com/dinheiro-e-emocoes

Why does this matter?

Personal financial management is an essential life skill. Knowing how to plan expenses, save, invest, and handle unexpected costs is just as important as academic knowledge. However, many students struggle to organise their finances — and those difficulties are not always due to a lack of technical understanding.

Everyday challenges

University life comes with academic, social, and financial pressures. Many students face difficulties managing their own money, and those struggles often go beyond mathematics. They involve emotions, habits, and social context.

Without a solid foundation in financial education, it’s common for students to fall into debt — through credit cards, student loans, or instalment purchases. The absence of financial planning — such as tracking expenses, setting goals, or building an emergency fund — can lead to a cycle of instability that extends well into adulthood.

Emotional spending and social pressure

Social expectations, digital marketing, and the desire to belong often drive impulsive spending among young people. Buying things without real need or reflection can quickly harm one’s budget and lead to feelings of dissatisfaction and regret.

Anxiety, stress, and mental health

Constant financial worries can cause anxiety, disrupt sleep, reduce concentration, and impact academic performance. The feeling of losing control over personal finances can turn into chronic stress — and, over time, lead to emotional exhaustion or depression.

Understanding these emotional and psychological factors is crucial to promoting a more humane approach to financial education — one that takes into account not only numbers, but also feelings, context, and individual choice.

What does the research aim to discover?

The central question guiding the study is: To what extent do emotional and sociodemographic factors influence the personal financial management of university students in Brazil?

To answer this, the study applies validated scales that measure:

• Personal financial management

• Attitudes toward mathematics

• Financial anxiety

• Impulsive buying behaviour

• Financial well-being

A detailed sociodemographic questionnaire helps draw a profile of participants, considering factors such as family income, field of study, gender, ethnicity, and housing conditions. The target is to gather data from at least 1,000 students across the five major regions of Brazil.

How participation works

Participation is completely voluntary, anonymous, and secure. The form takes about 15 minutes to complete and is available online. All data will be used exclusively for academic and scientific purposes and has been approved by the UNESP Research Ethics Committee.

A chance for reflection

Beyond contributing to science, participants have the opportunity to reflect on their own relationship with money and the emotions that surround it — an important first step toward improving financial health. The questionnaire invites students to examine their spending habits, financial planning (or lack thereof), and emotional reactions to economic challenges.

This self-reflection may reveal hidden patterns, such as impulsive spending, discomfort with numbers, or anxiety about the future. Recognising these patterns allows participants to gain greater awareness of their decisions, identify areas of vulnerability, and seek healthier strategies for managing money.

Why should you participate?

• You’ll help build scientific knowledge about a topic that directly affects students’ lives.

• You may recognise your own habits and reflect on your financial behaviour.

• You’ll contribute to improving public policies and educational practices in financial literacy.

What comes next?

The collected data will be statistically analysed to identify patterns and relationships between emotional and sociodemographic factors. The research aims to generate scientific articles and practical recommendations to improve financial education among university students.

If you are a university student — Brazilian or studying in Brazil — and would like to take part in an innovative project combining psychology, behavioural economics, and financial education, access the form below:

👉 https://tinyurl.com/dinheiro-e-emocoes

Participating means more than filling out a form — it’s an invitation to self-knowledge and to building a more conscious and balanced financial life.