Temptation’s Itch: Goals, Self-Discourse and Money Management Practices While in a Debt Management Program

This study examines long-term consumer temptation. We chose the context of consumers enrolled in a debt management program (DMP) as their history of getting into debt, and relatively constrained resources should result in high temptation to spend. In 2011, more than 3 million consumers received financial counseling and education from a consumer credit counseling service (CCCS). The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) has 90 member agencies and 700 offices throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico (National Foundation for Credit Counseling), (2013). The program only works if consumers are able to live within their means and pay off their debts. Consumers in the program work with counselors to design their budgets with little room for discretionary spending. Research on temptation originates in psychology, where self-regulation theory predicts giving into or resisting various short-term temptations (cf. Baumeister 2002; Tice, Baumeister et al. 2007; Faber & Vohs 2004; Vohs and Faber 2007). These studies usually measure short-term self-regulation and involve small temptations. Our research focuses on the lived experience of temptation while in a DMP. Consumers in a DMP are especially likely to face difficult tradeoffs between long-term goals and short-term temptations that have real consequences for their financial well-being.