A influência dos traços de personalidade na alfabetização financeira de indivíduos

Abstract

Financial literacy consists of three dimensions and demonstrates the ability of a citizen to have good financial behavior, knowledge and attitudes in order to promote better financial decisionmaking throughout life and, consequently, provide well-being in relation to finances. However, psychological approaches, such as personality traits, which are uniquely attributed to each citizen, have not been considered in the analysis of this specific capacity of the population to verify how these traits influence financial literacy. The aim of this paper is to understand the influence of personality traits on the financial literacy of university students. To capture information on personality traits, financial literacy and sociodemographic characteristics, a data collection instrument was applied, containing ninety-eight questions to two hundred and thirty-seven university students from selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), in the region metropolitan area of the capital of the State of Goiás. To test the research hypotheses, the data were submitted to multiple linear regression analysis by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and, for robustness test, to analysis through logistic regression based on the Generalized Structural Equations (GSEM logit). The results showed that only the statistically significant personality traits, conscientiousness and intellect, positively affect the level of financial literacy in the sample, both for OLS and for the logistic regression based on the GSEM logit. In short, the more aware and intellectual a person is, the greater the level of perceived financial literacy or the likelihood of perceiving. As a contribution, this work brought a modern expectation of the effects of human personality on financial literacy and considering the method of logistic regression by GSEM, the results showed that the conceptual model is robust.