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1 – 10 of 465Pendo Shukrani Kasoga and Amani Gration Tegambwage
The purpose of the paper is to examine the financial management behavior (FMB) mediation mechanism in self-control, optimism, deliberative thinking and investment decisions in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to examine the financial management behavior (FMB) mediation mechanism in self-control, optimism, deliberative thinking and investment decisions in the Tanzanian stock market.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 268 individual investors in the Tanzanian stock market was obtained through questionnaires. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings show that self-control, optimism and deliberative thinking are significantly and positively related to FMB and investment decisions. The findings also confirmed the mediating role of FMB in the influence of self-control, optimism and deliberative thinking on investment decisions among Tanzanian individual investors. These findings imply that people with good self-control, optimistic and deliberative thinking are more likely to save money, have better FMB and prefer to make investment decisions.
Research limitations/implications
The study deals with individual investors. Future research could examine the effects of psychological traits on investment decisions by adding or modifying the items of particular constructs and studying institutional investors.
Practical implications
Individual investors can use the information to study and evaluate their financial behavior and stock investment decisions. This research can be used by security firms to better understand investor behavior, forecast future market trends and advice investors. Individual investors require psychological features to manage their behavior in various aspects, ranging from affective behavior to cognition, which are relevant for investing decisions.
Originality/value
Few studies have examined the influence of self-control, optimism and deliberative thinking on the investment decisions of individual investors. The unique empirical analysis developed in this paper is that it examines the mediation mechanisms of FMB with respect to self-control, optimism and deliberative thinking and investment decisions among individual investors in the Tanzanian stock market.
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Eoin Whelan, Willie Golden and Monideepa Tarafdar
Social networking sites (SNS) are heavily used by university students for personal and academic purposes. Despite their benefits, using SNS can generate stress for many people…
Abstract
Purpose
Social networking sites (SNS) are heavily used by university students for personal and academic purposes. Despite their benefits, using SNS can generate stress for many people. SNS stressors have been associated with numerous maladaptive outcomes. The objective in this study is to investigate when and how SNS use damages student achievement and psychological wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
Combining the theoretical perspectives from technostress and the strength model of self-control, this study theoretically develops and empirically tests the pathways which explain how and when SNS stressors harm student achievement and psychological wellbeing. The authors test the research model through a two-wave survey of 220 SNS using university students.
Findings
The study extends existing research by showing that it is through the process of diminishing self-control over SNS use that SNS stressors inhibit achievement and wellbeing outcomes. The study also finds that the high use of SNS for academic purposes enhances the effect of SNS stressors on deficient SNS self-control.
Originality/value
This study further opens up the black box of the social media technostress phenomenon by documenting and validating novel processes (i.e. deficient self-control) and conditions (i.e. enhanced academic use) on which the negative impacts of SNS stressors depend.
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Justice Mensah, Kwesi Amponsah-Tawiah and Nana Kojo Ayimadu Baafi
This study aims to extend the literature on psychological contracts, employee mental health, self-control and equity sensitivity among employees in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to extend the literature on psychological contracts, employee mental health, self-control and equity sensitivity among employees in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study came from a sample of 484 employees from an organisation in the telecommunication sector of Ghana. The details of the study were discussed with employees after which they were given the choice to participate in the study.
Findings
The present study found that psychological contract breach is directly associated with mental health and indirectly related to mental health through equity sensitivity and self-control.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that psychological contracts are important aspects of the employment relationship that could be used to enhance employee mental health. Furthermore, enhancing employees’ self-control and resolving issues of individuals high on equity sensitivity are effective ways that organisations can deploy to sustain mental health in the face of psychological contract breaches.
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Fei Kang, Ying Zhang and Han Zhang
This study aims to use the ego depletion theory to examine the impact of hindrance stressors on knowledge sharing behaviors by investigating the mediating role of ego depletion…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use the ego depletion theory to examine the impact of hindrance stressors on knowledge sharing behaviors by investigating the mediating role of ego depletion and the moderating role of self-enhancing humor.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained from a two-wave sample of 226 dyads, including employees in the manufacturing industry and their direct supervisors. The hypotheses were tested by hierarchical regression analyzes and Hayes’ PROCESS macro.
Findings
The results demonstrated that employees’ self-enhancing humor style could alleviate the impact of hindrance stressors on employees’ ego depletion state and buffer the negative indirect effect of hindrance stressors on employees’ knowledge-sharing behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
Although the authors collected mediator and dependent variables from different sources, this study used a cross-sectional research design, making it difficult to draw causal conclusions. Besides, hindrance stressors, ego depletion and self-enhancing humor style were all reported by employees.
Originality/value
Through the study, the authors highlight the important role of the self-control view in explaining proactive behavior in the workplace and a great awareness of the unforeseeable consequences of ego depletion for employees.
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Christian Diego Alcocer, Julián Ortegón and Alejandro Roa
The relevance of present consumption bias on personal finance has been confirmed in several studies and has important theoretical and practical implications. It has important…
Abstract
Purpose
The relevance of present consumption bias on personal finance has been confirmed in several studies and has important theoretical and practical implications. It has important, measurable implications when analyzing commitment or self-control, adherence to healthy habits (e.g. exercising or dieting), procrastination tendencies or savings. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of these issues by postulating a model of income uncertainty within a hyperbolic discounting framework that measures the cost of financial intertemporal inconsistencies related to this bias. The emphasis is on the analysis of this cost. We also propose experimental designs and consistent estimation methods, as well as agent-based modelling extensions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors develop a finite-horizon model with hyperbolic preferences. Individuals have a present bias distinct from their discount rate so their choices face intertemporal inconsistencies. The authors further extend the analysis with uncertainty about future incomes. Specifically, individuals live for three periods, and the authors find the optimal consumption levels in the perfect-information benchmark by backward induction. They then proceed to add biases and uncertainty to characterize their implications and measure the costs of the intertemporal inconsistencies they cause.
Findings
The authors measure how an agent's utility is greater when they “tie their hands” than when they are free to re-evaluate and change their consumption schedule. This “cost of being vulnerable to falling into temptation” only depends (increasingly) on the measure of the present bias and (decreasingly) on the discount factor. They analyze the varying effects on utility and consumption of changes in impatience and optimism. They conclude by discussing theoretical and practical implications; they also propose agent-based simulations, as well as empirical and experimental designs, to further test the relevance and applications of the results.
Practical implications
This model has important, measurable implications when analyzing commitment or self-control, adherence to healthy habits (e.g. exercising or dieting), procrastination tendencies or savings.
Social implications
The results enhance the estimation of the costs of present biases such that employers can better identify the incentives required to acquire and retain human capital. The authors provide evidence that workers are vulnerable to contract renegotiations and about the need for a regulator that restores ex-ante efficiency. Similarly, in the private sector, firms could recognize the postulated consumer profiles and focus their resources on anxious, too-optimistic or potentially addictive consumers; this, again, provides some justification about the need for a regulator.
Originality/value
In traditional exponential discounting, the marginal rate of substitution of consumption between two points depends only on their distance; thus, it allows none of the intertemporal inconsistencies we often observe in real life. Therefore, hyperbolic discounting better fits the data. The authors model choice under uncertainty and focus on the costs caused when present biases (ex-post) push behaviour away from ex-ante optimality. They conclude by proposing experimental designs to further enhance the estimation and implications of these costs. The postulated refinements have the potential to improve previous analyses on commitment devices and commitment-related regulation.
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Thiago Borges Ramalho and Denis Forte
People are increasingly responsible for making sound financial decisions to foster their financial satisfaction and well-being, which magnifies the importance of financial…
Abstract
Purpose
People are increasingly responsible for making sound financial decisions to foster their financial satisfaction and well-being, which magnifies the importance of financial literacy, and this concept and measurement is still not yet crystallized in the literature, specifically capturing different behavior perceptions. Moreover, there is not a distinction based on different classifications of behavior, such as over or underconfidence, to understand the relation between literacy and decision process. To fill this gap, this paper aims to investigate whether the financial literacy conceptual model proposed applies similarly to every group independently of their previous self-confidence perception. For this purpose and quality control, OECD (2016) data were used with a final sample of 1,487 Brazilian citizens. Quantitative analysis technique using partial least squares structural equations path modeling and differences between groups using multi-group analysis was applied. In line with general studies, when analyzing the financial literacy usual model for the group as a whole, financial knowledge construct positively influences self-confidence, and both together positively affect financial behavior. However, for individuals with low financial knowledge and low self-confidence, as well as for those with too much or too little confidence, the model did not hold. Therefore, self-confidence perception influences the way financial knowledge is used for financial decisions and should be addressed in financial education and training to be more effective.
Design/methodology/approach
To operationalize the variables and test the paper’s hypotheses, the authors used the methodology developed in OECD (2016), based on the research instrument’s Brazilian application adapted from the questionnaire developed in OECD (2015), with data initially used and made available by Garber and Koyama (2016). Based on the recommendations of Hair Jr et al. (2017a, 2017b), the authors used partial least squares modeling PLS-PM (SmartPLS 3.2.6) to estimate the structural models.
Findings
Concerning structural relationships, the final model showed knowledge with a positive influence on self-confidence, self-confidence with a positive effect on behavior and knowledge with a positive influence on behavior, both directly and, through its relationship with self-confidence, indirectly. This underscores that, for the total sample, the greater people’s knowledge and self-confidence, the better their behavior. The unexpected absence of attitude in the final model, even allowing for potential measurement problems, brings up an important reflection on the mediating effect that the self-control variable may exert between attitude and behavior. A person may believe that saving for the future is important (attitude) but whether they actually save (behavior) may depend on self-control, which is needed to prevent immediate gains from being prioritized in practice.
Research limitations/implications
The findings reported so far concern the study’s total sample. However, as expected from the literature review that provides the basis for the sixth and the most important hypothesis, respondents were found to be heterogeneous in terms of knowledge and self-confidence levels. These differences were evaluated by means of multi-group analyses that indicated that the model does not apply to respondents with low knowledge and low self-confidence and to those who are over- and underconfident. This implies inferring that financial education programs may be of little use if they only address technical knowledge development and fail to consider behavioral aspects such as those related to self-confidence, as this paper points out, and others. This signals the importance of diagnosing people’s profiles to enable developing solutions capable of minimizing the presence of behavioral biases. This need to be studied further.
Practical implications
The results imply inferring that financial education programs may be of little use if they only address technical knowledge development and fail to consider behavioral aspects such as those related to self-confidence, as this paper points out, and others. Models must be reviewed in light of natural diferences of cognition and lead to customized financial education.
Social implications
This signals the importance of diagnosing people’s profiles to enable developing solutions capable of minimizing the presence of behavioral biases. Therefore, not only training topics in personal finance but also a deeper education program since the kindergarden must be considered.
Originality/value
Its practical contribution is to suggest the development of financial education programs that also take account of the potential presence of behavioral biases, which may prevent the misallocation of (scarce) public- and private-sector funds stemming from a limited focus on developing the population’s actual financial knowledge.
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Mohammad Yasser Arafat and Sonal Atreya
The study investigates the relationship between hospital environmental factors and the well-being of geriatric in-patients. It aims to identify the impact of architectural design…
Abstract
Purpose
The study investigates the relationship between hospital environmental factors and the well-being of geriatric in-patients. It aims to identify the impact of architectural design on comfort, safety, privacy and stress levels experienced by elderly patients during their hospital stays.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a mixed-methods approach, the research assesses the experiences of 100 geriatric in-patients across various hospital types through surveys, observational checklists and state anxiety measurements. The methodology involves examining architectural features, patient perceptions and correlations among environmental variables and patient experiences. Statistical analyses, including correlations and chi-square tests, were employed to discern associations between environmental variables and patient experiences.
Findings
The research identified key architectural features significantly impacting geriatric patients' experiences. Factors such as sturdy beds, furniture quantity, lighting conditions, proximity to facilities and ward occupancy levels were found to influence spatial, sensory and social comfort. Notably, proximity to facilities and control over the immediate environment were crucial for self-control and safety perceptions. Privacy, highly valued by patients, correlated with the presence of curtains and ward occupancy. Moreover, patient stress levels exhibited correlations with autonomy, privacy and ward occupancy.
Originality/value
This research offers significant insights into the criticality of specific architectural elements in enhancing comfort and reducing stress for geriatric in-patients. These findings hold substantial value for healthcare facility design, emphasizing the need to prioritize certain design aspects to promote the well-being of elderly patients during hospitalization.
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Hajer Chenini and Anis Jarboui
A separate study of the different behavioral biases does not allow for a full understanding of the complexity and stability of the heterogeneity of beliefs. Therefore, through a…
Abstract
Purpose
A separate study of the different behavioral biases does not allow for a full understanding of the complexity and stability of the heterogeneity of beliefs. Therefore, through a more global view of these anomalies, the authors wish to show that they can converge on a single concept, which is the heterogeneity of beliefs.
Design/methodology/approach
It is therefore essential to stress that the importance of this study is mainly reflected in the methodological approach used in the construction and analysis of the map and not only in the results achieved. This contribution states that structural analysis, as a means of building the cognitive map, can facilitate the task of investors and other decision-makers, in the identification and analysis of the heterogeneity of beliefs that can therefore guide investors' strategy in decision-making.
Findings
The authors have studied the behavior of the investor and its way of interpreting the information and the authors have emphasized the value of studying the concept of heterogeneity of beliefs in its complexity. So that part of the work seems to be relevant and crucial to filling, if you will, that void. In this sense, the authors have shown that behavioral abnormalities are multidimensional concepts: “self-deception”, “cognitive bias”, “emotional bias” and “social bias”.
Originality/value
In particular, this article will aim to achieve the objective of proposing a model for measuring the heterogeneity of beliefs. Thus, the authors want to show that the heterogeneity of beliefs can be measured directly through the different behavioral anomalies.
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