Generational Financial Stress
I grew up hearing stories about my dad’s upbringing – growing up on a farm in Indiana with his parents and five other siblings. Those stories always included the variability of my grandfather’s income. At specific points in time, he earned a good income as a manager at his family’s canvas company and later in leadership roles for various corporations in Indiana.
Another part of the story involves the unfortunate reality that the family went bankrupt due to poor financial decisions. My dad subsequently had to work his way through his undergraduate and post-graduate studies. This happened, of course, during a time when it was possible to afford a year’s tuition and fees by working a summer job. That’s for another blog post, though, because I have lots of opinions about the economics of why that’s not possible anymore.
Managing the uncertainties of affording tuition, rent, books, and other expenses has shaped his perspective on financial security as an adult. I always remember him talking about how his biggest financial goal was to be secure, because, after all, he knows what it feels like when that security is yanked away.
What’s The Source Of These Worries?
I’m grateful that during my upbringing, my parents were able to maintain financial security. Because of this, though, I’ve always wondered where my money worries came from. Since I can remember, I’ve thought about money: Do I have enough? Can I afford this? Do I have enough savings if something catastrophic happens? Why am I so loss averse? Constantly monitoring my accounts and bank statements, and tracking down the best deals for things I want or need.
This behavior has been a puzzle I’ve tried to figure out. Since I haven’t personally experienced financial devastation, why does it seem to loom like a dark cloud?
It wasn’t until I was an undergrad majoring in Psychology that I started to put the pieces together and theorize that epigenetics might play a role.
Epigenetics: How Our Environment Influences Gene Expression
As you’re probably familiar, genes are the code that dictates many things about you, for example, your eye color or height. They provide instructions for the creation of proteins and other cellular molecules. Genes are with you for life, and you inherit them from your mother and father.
Epigenetics, by contrast, is the study of how one’s environment can influence the way one’s genes are expressed. Epigenetic changes do not alter the sequence of your genetic code; instead, they steer development by influencing whether or not the body produces specific proteins.
There are many applications of epigenetics; however, I’ll be focusing on how it relates to psychology.
In essence, our environment plays a role in which behavioral, psychological, and mental health genes “turn on.”
For example, if a woman experiences extraordinary stress while she’s pregnant, the child might grow up to experience stress reactivity, neurobehavioral outcomes, and psychiatric conditions, according to a 2024 review. It was the mother’s stress that inadvertently “turned on” these genes in her child. Other examples of factors that can influence epigenetics include the quality of care provided by those around us and the attachment styles we develop with these caregivers.
Throughout our lives, from embryo to adulthood, our environment continues to influence our epigenetic profile.
Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: A Theory
Now that we’ve covered epigenetics, I want to introduce a concept within the realm of epigenetics that is the source of academic debate: transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. This theory suggests that previous generations pass down epigenetic changes, which may potentially influence our psychological predispositions.
While in undergrad, I learned about an intergenerational epigenetic study involving rats. In 2014, two researchers at Emory University School of Medicine reported evidence of such a pathway operating through sperm. In their study, researchers administered a mild electric shock to male mice whenever they encountered the scent of acetaminophen, resulting in the mice developing a fear of the odor. Epigenetic modifications in both the brain and sperm accompanied this learned response.
Interestingly, the male offspring of these mice also displayed heightened fear toward the scent of acetaminophen and exhibited similar epigenetic alterations, despite never having experienced the shock themselves. These effects persisted for two subsequent generations.
In other words, the association formed by the grandfather mouse, that the scent of acetaminophen signaled danger, was passed down.
These research findings certainly sparked debate: “Although the inheritance of epigenetic characters can certainly occur—particularly in plants,” one set of academics argued in 2014, “—how much is due to the environment and the extent to which it happens in humans remain unclear.”
How Epigenetics Could Relate to Financial Stress
Even though the concept of transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is the subject of debate and further research, no research has unequivocally disproved it. This grey area has allowed me to wonder about the extent to which my dad’s experiences with financial instability have influenced my own worries.
As an introspective person, epigenetics is the only theory that helps me explain the behavior I’ve noticed within my own life. Yes, researchers should conduct further studies, and I will always support endeavors driven by scientific curiosity. However, in my mind, there isn’t a better answer to explain why I would be so worried about significant financial instability as someone who hasn’t experienced it.
After all, if generations of mice maintained a fear of acetaminophen, who’s to say that I didn’t inherit a trauma response related to money? If money were a source of stress for my dad, I likely would have picked up on that stress as an empathetic person. Since we know that stress can trigger changes in one’s epigenetic environment, it stands to reason that it impacted mine.
What We Do for Ourselves and Future Generations?
If you’ve made it far, chances are that you relate to at least part of my story. Based on what I’ve written thus far, it might seem like you are doomed if you, too, have a parent who went through financial hardship.
There is good news, however. As you navigate life’s challenges, stressful environments can indeed alter your epigenetic profile. Learning, memory storage, and memory formation, however, also involve epigenetic mechanisms. When acquiring new memories, knowledge, and skills, epigenetic modifications occur in our brain, promoting the formation of new neural pathways.
With this in mind, I plan to learn more not only about how to manage my money so I’m less concerned, but also to gain a deeper understanding of myself and the specific situations that trigger a stress response. My theory is that by arming myself with knowledge, I can combat the stress response and rewire my brain to not associate finances with stress.
Furthermore, following the concepts of epigenetics, if one were to disassociate money from stress, one may be able to equip their children and future generations with financial resilience and confidence.
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