--- title: Worried About Money? Here's a Research-Backed Way to Stress Less description: People who discuss their finances experience increased feelings of control, which leads to reduced anxiety, according to a new paper. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 597 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2025-07-28T18:19:17.000Z' modified: '2025-07-28T18:19:17.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - News word_count: 632 canonical: https://money.com/worry-less-about-money-study/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Man looking stressed with money sign speech bubbles around him](https://img.money.com/2025/07/News-Anxiety-Money-Talking.jpg) Talking about money can be awkward, difficult or even impolite depending on the cultural context. And yet new research suggests that having these conversations may actually be the secret to overcoming financial anxiety. Americans who discuss their personal finances experience increased feelings of control. That sense of control leads to reduced anxiety, according to a [new paper](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597825000421?via%3Dihub) in *Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes* by Emily Garbinsky of Cornell University, Matt Meister of the University of San Francisco and Joe Gladstone of the University of California at San Diego. ## Start building your emergency fund by opening a High-Yield Savings Account from SoFi® ### Secure your financial future now by selecting your state today. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/dd663f6404d0?ap_referrer=%2Fworry-less-about-money-study%2F) The research found that the frequency of an individual's "financial disclosures" matters: Anxiety reduction was observed when disclosures were repeated, whereas one-off instances had less of a link. A financial disclosure is an individual's sharing of any personal information with others through digital, spoken or written means, like a social media post, in-person conversation or text message. "Financial anxiety represents a critical public health challenge that significantly impacts psychological well-being and performance at work," the researchers wrote. "Across eight studies, we demonstrate that personal financial disclosure consistently reduces financial anxiety." ## Should you talk about money? Cultural norms are just one barrier to discourse about money. Americans also tend to be concerned about stress or discomfort — their own as well as their conversation partner's. While this new research suggests that leaning into difficult personal finance conversations is valuable, it's important to consider the social or professional setting. Over time, Americans have become more comfortable talking about money. Society still looks down on "pocketwatching" — and you shouldn't ask someone how much they make at the dinner table. But even the folks who write *Emily Post's Etiquette,* a best-selling book on etiquette rules, say that [talking about money is in](https://money.com/new-money-etiquette-rules/). "When approaching the subject of money, try to raise it tactfully. 'I'm looking to get a better sense of what salaries for my job look like in this market, would you be willing to discuss it?' is more polite than, 'What do you make? It's no big deal to share,'" according to the latest 2022 edition of the text. The university researchers' paper mentions that [recent salary transparency laws](https://money.com/job-posts-include-salary-ranges-indeed/) and the popularity of internet personal finance communities are likely indications of an increasing openness to talking about money. "Taken together, these trends suggest that talking about money may no longer be as taboo as it once was in Western societies," the researchers wrote. "This change potentially allows individuals to reap the hypothesized benefits of personal financial disclosure — specifically, greater feelings of financial control that help reduce financial anxiety." In one of the studies, subjects were instructed to talk about money with someone else on a regular basis, and then their anxiety levels were compared to control groups. In addition to documenting a stronger effect when conversations were more frequent, the researchers also found that the content being discussed mattered. Talking about factors people can control, like budgeting, spending and saving, led to the strongest benefits, exceeding the impact of conversations around uncontrollable events like job loss or unexpected expenses. Another study involved an analysis of over 500,000 threads posted to the Reddit community r/PersonalFinance. As researchers expected, they found that users showed fewer expressions of anxiety in their online activity the more they posted about personal finance. Interestingly, the paper found that talking about money anonymously on discussion forums like Reddit led to as strong — if not stronger — benefits compared to IRL conversations. Regardless of the platform, their key finding is an apparent benefit to facing financial realities head-on simply by talking about them. ## Reduce payments and make debt manageable with a Debt Relief program ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/d152c8758719?bidid=4030862683&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662450818&ptoken=c55fd2555665e22be22ab03cc472688e) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/23879/medium_3847e650-29eb-411b-9b8c-05deb0d02cbc.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/9e23446b3bda?bidid=4030862687&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662450818&ptoken=0beba00fd8ed2155fa29cc4637520bcb) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/15565/medium_832cc4b7-74f8-4735-8fe1-6917816cbe8d.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/1862753919b2?bidid=4030862681&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662450818&ptoken=328df4671917ba6547712fb0c95a279f) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/22445/medium_ba73f26a-1e1e-4e49-9739-df1298783de6.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/b6ba29e1f481?bidid=4030862696&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662450818&ptoken=2e90ae1ac86ee9594bd5e23bc4e4c7c3) ![VISIT SITE](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/9246/medium_94931930-28cf-46b5-b09d-683979caec81.png) Our Partner [VISIT SITE](https://money.com/go/100de6625814?bidid=4030862691&pmeta=p129-c628-u31158&ptid=662450818&ptoken=600778dff29c739bfdbdcd56e1226389) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/25289/medium_2e7b27ce-b30d-40a3-beef-0139ecba6b47.png) If you owe over $20,000 or more, Freedom Debt Relief can help you get back on your feet! [Get Started](https://money.com/pr/u5c2defb44d4?ap_referrer=%2Fworry-less-about-money-study%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/worry-less-about-money-study/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Worried About Money? 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