Money Separation Anxiety (MSA): A Proposed Construct

Money Separation Anxiety (MSA) is an anxiety response triggered by the act of paying (at a till/register, a card tap, handing over cash) with symptoms that might include blushing and flushing, heart-rate variability, sweating and elevated body temperature. This anxiety response occurs even when the purchase is affordable, needed, heavily desired and it originates in prolonged past experience of financial deprivation. The note distunguishes MSA from financial anxiety, the pain of paying and related constructs, and outlines a research agend including scale development. MSA at this point is proposed as a construct and not a clinical diagnosis.