Gender, behavioral finance and the investment decision

Abstract

As per classical economic theory, humans are completely rational decision makers who carefully evaluate all facts and evidences before making decisions that aim at maximizing outcomes. However, it has been found that in real life humans are not totally rational, rather they are influenced by various behavioural factors while making decisions. Behavioural Finance has thus emerged as an emerging field that studies the influence of psychology on financial decisions. However, it still remains to be investigated whether the impact of behavioural factors is homogenous on all individuals or whether the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the individuals in any way influence the behavioural investment decision. This research takes up one demographic variable, gender, and attempts to investigate the extent to which gender differences influence behavioural investment decisions.