IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joepsy/v31y2010i3p435-443.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Confidence mediates how investment knowledge influences investing self-efficacy

Author

Listed:
  • Forbes, James
  • Kara, S. Murat

Abstract

A comprehensive investment literacy questionnaire surveyed potential sources (viz., knowledge, confidence) of investing self-efficacy in a large sample of working adults. As expected, the effect of investment knowledge on belief in one's future capability of orchestrating a plan to achieve investment goals was mediated by confidence. Overall, employees' applied investment knowledge accuracy was low: 57%. In general, investment knowledge was reliably related to confidence. However, confidence and investment knowledge accuracy were completely independent for 9 of 21 items, implying an inability to inhibit poor investment decisions or an inability to exploit investment opportunities. A policy of required investment training could be implemented so as to not impede individuals' freedom of choice, which would likely help the truly uninformed to become more informed and ultimately successful investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Forbes, James & Kara, S. Murat, 2010. "Confidence mediates how investment knowledge influences investing self-efficacy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 435-443, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:31:y:2010:i:3:p:435-443
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167-4870(10)00019-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Rooij, Maarten & Lusardi, Annamaria & Alessie, Rob, 2011. "Financial literacy and stock market participation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 449-472, August.
    2. Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein, 2023. "Libertarian paternalism," Chapters, in: Cass R. Sunstein & Lucia A. Reisch (ed.), Research Handbook on Nudges and Society, chapter 1, pages 10-16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Shlomo Benartzi & Richard Thaler, 2007. "Heuristics and Biases in Retirement Savings Behavior," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 81-104, Summer.
    4. Carol C. Bertaut, 1998. "Stockholding Behavior Of U.S. Households: Evidence From The 1983-1989 Survey Of Consumer Finances," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(2), pages 263-275, May.
    5. Malcolm Baker & Jeffrey Wurgler, 2007. "Investor Sentiment in the Stock Market," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 129-152, Spring.
    6. Meier, Katja & Kirchler, Erich & Hubert, Angela-Christian, 1999. "Savings and investment decisions within private households: Spouses' dominance in decisions on various forms of investment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 499-519, October.
    7. Daniel, Kent & Hirshleifer, David & Teoh, Siew Hong, 2002. "Investor psychology in capital markets: evidence and policy implications," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 139-209, January.
    8. van Ginkel, Wendy P. & van Knippenberg, Daan, 2009. "Knowledge about the distribution of information and group decision making: When and why does it work?," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 218-229, March.
    9. Berg, Nathan & Lein, Donald, 2005. "Does society benefit from investor overconfidence in the ability of financial market experts?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 95-116, September.
    10. van Rooij, Maarten & Lusardi, Annamaria & Alessie, Rob, 2011. "Financial literacy and stock market participation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 449-472, August.
    11. Paese, Paul W. & Sniezek, Janet A., 1991. "Influences on the appropriateness of confidence in judgment: Practice, effort, information, and decision-making," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 100-130, February.
    12. Hershey, Douglas A. & Walsh, David A. & Read, Stephen J. & Chulef, Ada S., 1990. "The effects of expertise on financial problem solving: Evidence for goal-directed, problem-solving scripts," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 77-101, June.
    13. Cass R. Sunstein & Richard H. Thaler, 2003. "Libertarian paternalism is not an oxymoron," Conference Series ; [Proceedings], Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, vol. 48(Jun).
    14. Chen, Haiyang & Volpe, Ronald P., 1998. "An Analysis of Personal Financial Literacy Among College Students," Financial Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 107-128.
    15. Terrance Odean, 1999. "Do Investors Trade Too Much?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1279-1298, December.
    16. repec:use:tkiwps:2323 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Dan Lovallo & Colin Camerer, 1999. "Overconfidence and Excess Entry: An Experimental Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 306-318, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Farrell, Lisa & Fry, Tim R.L. & Risse, Leonora, 2016. "The significance of financial self-efficacy in explaining women’s personal finance behaviour," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 85-99.
    2. Abreu, Margarida & Mendes, Victor, 2012. "Information, overconfidence and trading: Do the sources of information matter?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 868-881.
    3. Yao, Zheying & Rabbani, Abed G., 2021. "Association between investment risk tolerance and portfolio risk: The role of confidence level," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    4. George Mihaylov & Alfred Yawson & Ralf Zurbruegg, 2015. "The decision to seek advice in the self-directed retirement fund industry," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(32), pages 3367-3381, July.
    5. Di Wang & Frank McGroarty, 2022. "Does perfectionism influence individual financial risk tolerance and financial well-being? Evidence from an online survey data from the US," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(11), pages 1-32, November.
    6. Wookjae Heo & Abed G. Rabbani & Jae Min Lee, 2021. "Mediation between financial risk tolerance and equity ownership: assessing the role of financial knowledge underconfidence," Journal of Financial Services Marketing, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(3), pages 169-180, September.
    7. K.S. Muehlfeld & G.U. Weitzel & A. van Witteloostuijn, 2012. "Fight or freeze? Individual differences in investors’ motivational systems and trading in experimental asset markets," Working Papers 12-18, Utrecht School of Economics.
    8. Nicholas W. Maynard & Preeti Mehta & Jonas Parker & Jeffrey Steinberg, 2012. "Can Games Build Financial Capability? Financial Entertainment: A Research Overview," Working Papers WR-963-SSA, RAND Corporation.
    9. Stevenson, Regan M. & Ciuchta, Michael P. & Letwin, Chaim & Dinger, Jenni M. & Vancouver, Jeffrey B., 2019. "Out of control or right on the money? Funder self-efficacy and crowd bias in equity crowdfunding," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 348-367.
    10. Calcagno, Riccardo & Monticone, Chiara, 2015. "Financial literacy and the demand for financial advice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 363-380.
    11. Muehlfeld, Katrin & Weitzel, Utz & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen, 2013. "Fight or freeze? Individual differences in investors’ motivational systems and trading in experimental asset markets," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 195-209.
    12. Mukhtar Shakira & Jan Anisa & Zahoor Adil, 2023. "Beyond the Big Five: How Dynamic Personality Traits Predict Financial Risk Tolerance?," Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 93-114, October.
    13. Shulin Xu & Kangqi Jiang, 2024. "Knowledge creates value: the role of financial literacy in entrepreneurial behavior," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    14. Sheza Riaz & Hadi Hassan Khan & Bilal Sarwar & Wahab Ahmed & Noor Muhammad & Sajjida Reza & Sheikh Muhammad Nabeel Ul Haq, 2022. "Influence of Financial Social Agents and Attitude Toward Money on Financial Literacy: The Mediating Role of Financial Self-Efficacy and Moderating Role of Mindfulness," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, August.
    15. Tang, Ning, 2021. "Cognitive abilities, self-efficacy, and financial behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    16. Shekinah E. Dare & Wilco W. Dijk & Eric Dijk & Lotte F. Dillen & Marcello Gallucci & Olaf Simonse, 2023. "How Executive Functioning and Financial Self-efficacy Predict Subjective Financial Well-Being via Positive Financial Behaviors," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 232-248, June.
    17. Zhu, Alex Yue Feng, 2019. "Financial risk tolerance of Hong Kong adolescents: A hierarchical model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 193-200.
    18. Jinhee Kim & Mariana K. Falconier & C. Andrew Conway, 2023. "Relationships Among Emotion Regulation, Financial Self-Efficacy, and Financial Management Behaviors of Couples," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 342-355, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francisco Gomes & Michael Haliassos & Tarun Ramadorai, 2021. "Household Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 919-1000, September.
    2. Luigi Guiso & Tullio Jappelli, 2008. "Financial Literacy and Portfolio Diversification," Economics Working Papers ECO2008/31, European University Institute.
    3. David Hirshleifer, 2008. "Psychological Bias as a Driver of Financial Regulation," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 14(5), pages 856-874, November.
    4. Reyers, Michelle & van Schalkwyk, Cornelis Hendrik & Gouws, Daniël Gerhardus, 2015. "Rational and behavioural predictors of pre-retirement cash-outs," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 23-33.
    5. Beshears, John & Kosowsky, Harry, 2020. "Nudging: Progress to date and future directions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 161(S), pages 3-19.
    6. Geiger, Martin & Luhan, Wolfgang J. & Scharler, Johann, 2016. "When do fiscal consolidations lead to consumption booms? Lessons from a laboratory experiment," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-20.
    7. C. Andrew Lafond & Bruce Leauby, 2014. "Integrating Financial Literacy Concepts into the Introductory Financial Accounting Course," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 4(5), pages 12-24, May.
    8. Nicolas Aubert & Thomas Rapp, 2010. "Employee's investment behaviors in a company based savings plan," Finance, Presses universitaires de Grenoble, vol. 31(1), pages 5-32.
    9. Bucher-Koenen, Tabea & Ziegelmeyer, Michael, 2011. "Who lost the most? Financial Literacy, Cognitive Abilities, and the Financial Crisis," MEA discussion paper series 11234, Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA) at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy.
    10. Leonardo Ivarola & Gustavo Marqués, 2012. "Behavioural Procedural Models – a multipurpose mechanistic account," The Journal of Philosophical Economics, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, The Journal of Philosophical Economics, vol. 5(2), pages 84-108, May.
    11. Guiso, Luigi & Sodini, Paolo, 2013. "Household Finance: An Emerging Field," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1397-1532, Elsevier.
    12. Barnea, Amir & Cronqvist, Henrik & Siegel, Stephan, 2010. "Nature or nurture: What determines investor behavior?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 583-604, December.
    13. Barber, Brad M. & Odean, Terrance, 2013. "The Behavior of Individual Investors," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1533-1570, Elsevier.
    14. David Blake & Tom Boardman, 2014. "Spend More Today Safely: Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Retirement Expenditure Decisions With SPEEDOMETER Plans," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 17(1), pages 83-112, March.
    15. Marinos Stefanitsis & Irene Fafaliou & Joseph Hassid, 2013. "Similarities and Differences between Households’ and SME’s Financial Knowledge and Behaviour: A Greek Survey," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 63(1-2), pages 7-30, June.
    16. Brown, Jeffrey R. & Farrell, Anne M. & Weisbenner, Scott J., 2016. "Decision-making approaches and the propensity to default: Evidence and implications," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(3), pages 477-495.
    17. David Hirshleifer & Siew Hong Teoh, 2009. "The Psychological Attraction Approach to Accounting and Disclosure Policy," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 1067-1090, December.
    18. C. Andrew Lafond & Bruce Leauby, 2014. "Integrating Financial Literacy Concepts into the Introductory Financial Accounting Course," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 4(5), pages 12-24, May.
    19. Tina Vohra & Mandeep Kaur, 2017. "Women Investors: A Literature Review," Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research, , vol. 16(1), pages 11-19, June.
    20. Pereira Reichhardt, Joaquín & Iqbal, Tabassum, 2014. "Investment Decisions: Are we fully-Rational?," MPRA Paper 57686, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:31:y:2010:i:3:p:435-443. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/joep .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.