A Covert Way Out?: Financial Infidelity Buffers the Harms of Economic Abuse

Background Economic abuse has enduring negative consequences on survivors/victims. Yet little is known about how women cope with this type of IPV, particularly through covert strategies that are especially likely to emerge under conditions of coercion and control. To address this gap, we employed conservation of resource theory as a framework. Objective The primary aim was to test whether women's tendency for financial infidelity buffers the associations from economic abuse victimization to financial well‐being and, in turn, depressive symptoms. Methods We collected survey data from 882 Chinese women who have lived with a male partner for 1 year or longer and conducted structural equation models. Results Evidence for links between the tendency for financial infidelity and depressive symptoms was sparse; its dual implications for mental health were conditional and indirect via financial well‐being. The tendency for financial infidelity demonstrated main associations with low financial well‐being and, in turn, high depressive symptoms. However, the same tendency also attenuated the association between high economic abuse and low financial well‐being, thereby indirectly implying fewer depressive symptoms. Conclusions Although derogated as dishonest and transgressive in normative relationships, the intention for financial infidelity can be understood as a self‐protection strategy under coercive control. Implications We call for a shift from moralized “infidelity” framing to understanding covert strategy as a response to constrained autonomy. However, instead of simply encouraging financial infidelity, practitioners should help economic abuse survivors to take more sustainable actions that support financial capability and autonomy‐building in ways that do not increase risk.