Girl Math: How Internet Trends Influence Perceptions of Financial Decision-Making

The 2023 viral social media trend "girl math" popularized humorous financial justifications that reframe costly purchases as rational through exaggerated mental accounting. Although presented playfully, the trend raises questions about how gendered framing influences perceptions of financial competence. Drawing on research in mental accounting, framing effects, gender stereotypes, and impression formation, this study examined whether labeling a purchase justification as "girl math" alters social evaluations. Participants included 264 adults who viewed TikTok-style videos in which a woman described purchasing $250 boots under one of three conditions: neutral (no reframing), implicit girl math (cost reframed through a return), or explicit girl math (reframing labeled "girl math"). Participants rated the target's overall impression, reasonability, intelligence, and responsibility. Math literacy and endorsement of traditional gender norms were assessed as moderators. There was no main effect of condition on evaluations. However, a significant Condition × Gender interaction emerged: in the implicit condition, women evaluated the target more positively than men. Math literacy and gender-norm endorsement did not moderate the effects. Findings suggest that humorous, gendered financial framing does not uniformly reduce perceived competence but may be interpreted differently across observers.