CAREGIVING AND CONSUMPTION SACRIFICE: HOW CAREGIVING AFFECTS CHOICES FOR THE SELF

Billions of consumers worldwide have caregiving responsibilities. In this talk, I will discuss my latest research on how caregiving affects choices for the self in key ways with well-being implications for caregivers. A central theme in my talk is the concept of “consumption sacrifice”—wherein caregiving prompts consumers to give up consumption choices that may best serve their own well-being. I will first briefly highlight our published research on whether, why, and when making healthy choices for one’s child leads parents to make different choices for themselves. Then, I will mainly present our latest in-progress research that examines whether, why, and when caregiving responsibilities, relative to other responsibilities, uniquely discourage leisure activities due to their perceived “time unboundedness.” Altogether, this work aims to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of how the prevalent act of caregiving shapes consumers’ choices for the self, with the aim of facilitating our understanding of theory-consistent interventions to support caregiver well-being.