How can Financial Literacy Mitigate the Relationship between Behaviour Biases and Investment Decision-making? Evidence from Pakistan Stock Exchange

The study aims to analyse the influence of behavioural biases, such as overconfidence, risk aversion, and herding on investment decision-making. The authors additionally investigate how financial literacy moderates the association between behaviour biases and investing decision-making. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. The survey gathered data from 284 individual investors of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) using a standardized questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the data were assessed using the Cronbach's alpha test, respectively. The study employed regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The study findings indicate that risk-aversion and herding have a negative and statistically significant impact on investment decision-making among investors. On the other hand, overconfidence has a positive and statistically significant influence on investment decision-making. Research has shown that financial literacy has a notable impact on the investment choices made by investors. The statistical analysis revealed that the interface effect of financial literacy with overconfidence, risk aversion, and herding was shown to be significant among individual investors. According to this current research, the study is particularly useful for portfolio managers and politicians when creating investment portfolios for investors, taking into account their behavioural biases. The study suggests that investors should participate in training programmers and seminars to improve their financial literacy and understanding. This would enable them to effectively address behavioural biases while making investment decision-making. The present study seeks to investigate the potential impact of various behavioural biases on investment decision-making. Additionally, the authors aim to investigate if these connections are influenced by the level of financial knowledge. Financial knowledge may play a significant role in predicting investments. This study is maybe the first to investigate the moderating impact of financial literacy on the investors in the PSX. References Almansour, B. Y., Elkrghli, S., & Almansour, A. Y. (2023). Behavioral finance factors and investment decisions: A mediating role of risk perception. Cogent Economics & Finance, 11(2), 2239032. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2023.2239032 Andersson, U., Cuervo-Cazurra, A., & Nielsen, B. B. (2020). Explaining interaction effects within and across levels of analysis. Research methods in international business, 331-349. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22113-3_15 Apergis, N. (2023). The role of COVID-19 in herding: evidence from the Croatian stock market. Applied Economics, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2023.2168032 Asif, M., Pasha, M. A., & Shahid, A. (2025). Energy scarcity and economic stagnation in Pakistan. Bahria University Journal Of Management & Technology, 8(1). Butt, H., Sajjad, A., Awan, K. Z., & Shakil, M. H. (2023). The Role of Behavioral Factors on Investment Decision Making: Moderating Role of Financial Literacy. Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(4), 4533-4547. Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297-334. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555 E Kaniz , R., Rahman Lindon, A., Rahman, M. A., Hasan, M. A., & Hossain, A. (2025). The Impact of Project Management Strategies on the Effectiveness of Digital Marketing Analytics for Start-up Growth in the United States. Inverge Journal of Social Sciences, 4(1), 8–24. https://doi.org/10.63544/ijss.v4i1.109 Ensafi, M., Thabet, W., Afsari, K., & Yang, E. (2023). Challenges and gaps with user-led decision-making for prioritizing maintenance work orders. Journal of Building Engineering, 66, 105840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.105840 Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Prentice Hall. Han, X., Zhang, H., & Zhu, W. (2023). The impact of digital finance on women's bargaining power: Evidence from China. China Economic Review, 78, 102007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2023.102007 Hassan Al‐Tamimi, H. A., & Anood Bin Kalli, A. (2009). Financial literacy and investment decisions of UAE investors. The Journal of Risk Finance, 10(5), 500-516. https://doi.org/10.1108/15265940911001385 Hon, T. Y., Moslehpour, M., & Woo, K. Y. (2021). Review on behavioral finance with empirical evidence. Advances in Decision Sciences, 25(4), 1-30. Huang, Y., Baruah, B., & Ward, T. (2023). Founder-entrepreneurs' personality characteristics and their influence on risk strategies within high-tech software SMEs in China. International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 13(2), 138-164. Inyang, U., G. Etuk, S., & Effiom, M. (2024). Employees’ Assessment of Impact of Information Systems on Operational Efficiency of Insurance Companies. Inverge Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.63544/ijss.v3i3.86 Kurdoglu, R. S., Ates, N. Y., & Lerner, D. A. (2023). Decision-making under extreme uncertainty: eristic rather than heuristic. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 29(3), 763-782. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-05-2022-0414 Lin, B., & Wang, C. (2023). Does industrial relocation affect regional carbon intensity? Evidence from China's secondary industry. Energy Policy, 173, 113339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113339 Lin, H. M., Wu, J. Y., Liang, J. C., Lee, Y. H., Huang, P. C., Kwok, O. M., & Tsai, C. C. (2023). A review of using multilevel modeling in e-learning research. Computers & Education, 198, 104762. Lin, H. W. (2011). Elucidating rational investment decisions and behavioral biases: Evidence from the Taiwanese stock market. African Journal of Business Management, 5(5), 1630-1643. Mamidala, V., Kumari, P., & Singh, D. (2023). Should I invest or not? Investigating the role of biases and status quo. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 15(2), 145-163. Mustafa, W. M. W., Islam, M. A., Asyraf, M., Hassan, M. S., Royhan, P., & Rahman, S. (2023). The effects of financial attitudes, financial literacy and health literacy on sustainable financial retirement planning: The moderating role of the financial advisor. Sustainability, 15(3), 2677. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032677 Ogunlusi, O. E., & Obademi, O. (2021). The Impact of behavioural finance on investment decision-making: A study of selected investment banks in Nigeria. Global Business Review, 22(6), 1345-1361. Parveen, S., Satti, Z. W., Subhan, Q. A., Riaz, N., Baber, S. F., & Bashir, T. (2023). Examining investors' sentiments, behavioral biases and investment decisions during COVID-19 in the emerging stock market: a case of Pakistan stock market. Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, 39(3), 549-570. Purwidianti, W., Rahmawati, I. Y., & Dwiyanti, R. (2023). Overconfidence and herding bias on investment decisions the role of risk perception as a mediator. Asian Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting, 23(18), 36-45. Qayyum, A., & Khalid, W. (2025). The Impact Of Behavioral Biases On Investment Decision-Making: Evidence From Pakistan. Journal of Management & Social Science, 2(1), 412-429. https://doi.org/10.63075/ddr17d74 Rajasekar, A., Pillai, A. R., Elangovan, R., & Parayitam, S. (2023). Risk capacity and investment priority as moderators in the relationship between big-five personality factors and investment behavior: a conditional moderated moderated-mediation model. Quality & Quantity, 57(3), 2091-2123. Saber, A. (2023). Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in Saudi Arabia. Remittances Review, 8(4), 45-62. Saeed, A., & Khan, A. A. (2025). Heuristics Influence on Investment Decision Making at Pakistan Stock Exchange: Mediation of Digital Financial Literacy and Moderation of AI Adoption . Journal of Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies, 11(1), 57-66. https://doi.org/10.26710/jafee.v11i1.3293 Singh, Y., Adil, M., & Haque, S. I. (2023). Personality traits and behaviour biases: The moderating role of risk-tolerance. Quality & Quantity, 57(4), 3549-3573. Suresh, G. (2024). Impact of financial literacy and behavioural biases on investment decision-making. FIIB Business Review, 13(1), 72-86. Weber, E. U., Blais, A. R., & Betz, N. E. (2002). A domain‐specific risk‐attitude scale: Measuring risk perceptions and risk behaviors. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 15(4), 263-290. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.414 Zaimovic, A., Torlakovic, A., Arnaut-Berilo, A., Zaimovic, T., Dedovic, L., & Nuhic Meskovic, M. (2023). Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends. Sustainability, 15(12), 9358. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129358 Zayadin, R., Zucchella, A., Anand, A., Jones, P., & Ameen, N. (2023). Entrepreneurs' decisions in perceived environmental uncertainty. British Journal of Management, 34(2), 831-848. Zehra, N., & Singh, U. B. (2023). Household finance: a systematic literature review and directions for future research. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 15(1), 1-25.

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Inverge Journal of Social Sciences
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2025-06-30
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https://doi.org/10.63544/ijss.v4i2.148
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Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
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article

How can Financial Literacy Mitigate the Relationship between Behaviour Biases and Investment Decision-making? Evidence from Pakistan Stock Exchange

Raheel Mumtaz, Sajida Mushtaq, Adeel Mumtaz, Nasir Nadeem et al.
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Inverge Journal of Social Sciences
Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
article

How can Financial Literacy Mitigate the Relationship between Behaviour Biases and Investment Decision-making? Evidence from Pakistan Stock Exchange

Raheel Mumtaz, Sajida Mushtaq, Adeel Mumtaz, Nasir Nadeem, Muhammad Farooq
article en

Abstract

The study aims to analyse the influence of behavioural biases, such as overconfidence, risk aversion, and herding on investment decision-making. The authors additionally investigate how financial literacy moderates the association between behaviour biases and investing decision-making. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. The survey gathered data from 284 individual investors of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) using a standardized questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the data were assessed using the Cronbach's alpha test, respectively. The study employed regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The study findings indicate that risk-aversion and herding have a negative and statistically significant impact on investment decision-making among investors. On the other hand, overconfidence has a positive and statistically significant influence on investment decision-making. Research has shown that financial literacy has a notable impact on the investment choices made by investors. The statistical analysis revealed that the interface effect of financial literacy with overconfidence, risk aversion, and herding was shown to be significant among individual investors. According to this current research, the study is particularly useful for portfolio managers and politicians when creating investment portfolios for investors, taking into account their behavioural biases. The study suggests that investors should participate in training programmers and seminars to improve their financial literacy and understanding. This would enable them to effectively address behavioural biases while making investment decision-making. The present study seeks to investigate the potential impact of various behavioural biases on investment decision-making. Additionally, the authors aim to investigate if these connections are influenced by the level of financial knowledge. Financial knowledge may play a significant role in predicting investments. This study is maybe the first to investigate the moderating impact of financial literacy on the investors in the PSX. References Almansour, B. Y., Elkrghli, S., & Almansour, A. Y. (2023). Behavioral finance factors and investment decisions: A mediating role of risk perception. Cogent Economics & Finance, 11(2), 2239032. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2023.2239032 Andersson, U., Cuervo-Cazurra, A., & Nielsen, B. B. (2020). Explaining interaction effects within and across levels of analysis. Research methods in international business, 331-349. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22113-3_15 Apergis, N. (2023). The role of COVID-19 in herding: evidence from the Croatian stock market. Applied Economics, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2023.2168032 Asif, M., Pasha, M. A., & Shahid, A. (2025). Energy scarcity and economic stagnation in Pakistan. Bahria University Journal Of Management & Technology, 8(1). Butt, H., Sajjad, A., Awan, K. Z., & Shakil, M. H. (2023). The Role of Behavioral Factors on Investment Decision Making: Moderating Role of Financial Literacy. Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(4), 4533-4547. Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297-334. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02310555 E Kaniz , R., Rahman Lindon, A., Rahman, M. A., Hasan, M. A., & Hossain, A. (2025). The Impact of Project Management Strategies on the Effectiveness of Digital Marketing Analytics for Start-up Growth in the United States. Inverge Journal of Social Sciences, 4(1), 8–24. https://doi.org/10.63544/ijss.v4i1.109 Ensafi, M., Thabet, W., Afsari, K., & Yang, E. (2023). Challenges and gaps with user-led decision-making for prioritizing maintenance work orders. Journal of Building Engineering, 66, 105840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.105840 Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, R. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Prentice Hall. Han, X., Zhang, H., & Zhu, W. (2023). The impact of digital finance on women's bargaining power: Evidence from China. China Economic Review, 78, 102007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2023.102007 Hassan Al‐Tamimi, H. A., & Anood Bin Kalli, A. (2009). Financial literacy and investment decisions of UAE investors. The Journal of Risk Finance, 10(5), 500-516. https://doi.org/10.1108/15265940911001385 Hon, T. Y., Moslehpour, M., & Woo, K. Y. (2021). Review on behavioral finance with empirical evidence. Advances in Decision Sciences, 25(4), 1-30. Huang, Y., Baruah, B., & Ward, T. (2023). Founder-entrepreneurs' personality characteristics and their influence on risk strategies within high-tech software SMEs in China. International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 13(2), 138-164. Inyang, U., G. Etuk, S., & Effiom, M. (2024). Employees’ Assessment of Impact of Information Systems on Operational Efficiency of Insurance Companies. Inverge Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.63544/ijss.v3i3.86 Kurdoglu, R. S., Ates, N. Y., & Lerner, D. A. (2023). Decision-making under extreme uncertainty: eristic rather than heuristic. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 29(3), 763-782. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-05-2022-0414 Lin, B., & Wang, C. (2023). Does industrial relocation affect regional carbon intensity? Evidence from China's secondary industry. Energy Policy, 173, 113339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113339 Lin, H. M., Wu, J. Y., Liang, J. C., Lee, Y. H., Huang, P. C., Kwok, O. M., & Tsai, C. C. (2023). A review of using multilevel modeling in e-learning research. Computers & Education, 198, 104762. Lin, H. W. (2011). Elucidating rational investment decisions and behavioral biases: Evidence from the Taiwanese stock market. African Journal of Business Management, 5(5), 1630-1643. Mamidala, V., Kumari, P., & Singh, D. (2023). Should I invest or not? Investigating the role of biases and status quo. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 15(2), 145-163. Mustafa, W. M. W., Islam, M. A., Asyraf, M., Hassan, M. S., Royhan, P., & Rahman, S. (2023). The effects of financial attitudes, financial literacy and health literacy on sustainable financial retirement planning: The moderating role of the financial advisor. Sustainability, 15(3), 2677. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032677 Ogunlusi, O. E., & Obademi, O. (2021). The Impact of behavioural finance on investment decision-making: A study of selected investment banks in Nigeria. Global Business Review, 22(6), 1345-1361. Parveen, S., Satti, Z. W., Subhan, Q. A., Riaz, N., Baber, S. F., & Bashir, T. (2023). Examining investors' sentiments, behavioral biases and investment decisions during COVID-19 in the emerging stock market: a case of Pakistan stock market. Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, 39(3), 549-570. Purwidianti, W., Rahmawati, I. Y., & Dwiyanti, R. (2023). Overconfidence and herding bias on investment decisions the role of risk perception as a mediator. Asian Journal of Economics, Business and Accounting, 23(18), 36-45. Qayyum, A., & Khalid, W. (2025). The Impact Of Behavioral Biases On Investment Decision-Making: Evidence From Pakistan. Journal of Management & Social Science, 2(1), 412-429. https://doi.org/10.63075/ddr17d74 Rajasekar, A., Pillai, A. R., Elangovan, R., & Parayitam, S. (2023). Risk capacity and investment priority as moderators in the relationship between big-five personality factors and investment behavior: a conditional moderated moderated-mediation model. Quality & Quantity, 57(3), 2091-2123. Saber, A. (2023). Financial Literacy and Retirement Planning in Saudi Arabia. Remittances Review, 8(4), 45-62. Saeed, A., & Khan, A. A. (2025). Heuristics Influence on Investment Decision Making at Pakistan Stock Exchange: Mediation of Digital Financial Literacy and Moderation of AI Adoption . Journal of Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies, 11(1), 57-66. https://doi.org/10.26710/jafee.v11i1.3293 Singh, Y., Adil, M., & Haque, S. I. (2023). Personality traits and behaviour biases: The moderating role of risk-tolerance. Quality & Quantity, 57(4), 3549-3573. Suresh, G. (2024). Impact of financial literacy and behavioural biases on investment decision-making. FIIB Business Review, 13(1), 72-86. Weber, E. U., Blais, A. R., & Betz, N. E. (2002). A domain‐specific risk‐attitude scale: Measuring risk perceptions and risk behaviors. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 15(4), 263-290. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdm.414 Zaimovic, A., Torlakovic, A., Arnaut-Berilo, A., Zaimovic, T., Dedovic, L., & Nuhic Meskovic, M. (2023). Mapping Financial Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review of Determinants and Recent Trends. Sustainability, 15(12), 9358. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129358 Zayadin, R., Zucchella, A., Anand, A., Jones, P., & Ameen, N. (2023). Entrepreneurs' decisions in perceived environmental uncertainty. British Journal of Management, 34(2), 831-848. Zehra, N., & Singh, U. B. (2023). Household finance: a systematic literature review and directions for future research. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 15(1), 1-25.

Inverge Journal of Social SciencesVol. 4(2)
Islamia University of Bahawalpur (PK), Government College University, Faisalabad (PK), Superior University (PK)
Openalex Percentile: Top 71%
Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis
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