Financial Education and Sustainability: a conceptual framework

Financial education and sustainability are highly relevant aspects of the contemporary context and for the direction of society. This research stems from the theoretical gap identified between these fields and the research problem sought to understand which dimensions they involved. The study assumes an exploratory nature and a qualitative-descriptive approach since the intention is to deepen the discussions of a little- explored problem and not to carry out objective observations of reality. A conceptual framework was proposed with the dimensions and their relationships, based on Skinner's concept of triple contingency (1969), containing seven dimensions. For the antecedent factor, financial education and sustainability dimensions were assumed and considered attributes of knowledge, understanding, and awareness. As for the behavior factor, the dimensions of personal and domestic budget, credit and indebtedness, savings and investment, and consumption and waste were attributed, considering attributes of practices and behaviors. Finally, the consequent factor included the dimension of future and legacy and considered the attributes of expectations and assessment of consequences. The framework does not intend to predict behaviors but to present dimensions in which they can be structured. This work intends to encourage future research involving financial education and sustainability, simultaneously; preparing a fertile environment for the emergence of better approaches. The main limitation of this study is its strictly theoretical character; therefore, it is suggested that in subsequent research, measurable attributes be listed for the dimensions, making it possible to test the model in different types of samples and contexts.