Purpose: The objective of the present study is to assess the financial literacy levels of students at a Brazilian university and investigate how these levels are affected by profile characteristics and personality traits.Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected using SurveyMonkey, and a link to the questionnaire was sent by e-mail. The questionnaire contains three blocks of questions: demographics, financial literacy and personality traits. Ordered logistic regression was applied to a sample of 1,312 students.Findings: Younger participants, those with higher incomes and men were more likely to have a high level of financial literacy. The same was true of those who were less extrovert, i.e. assertive, sociable, optimistic and communicative students. These results contribute to the field by indicating which population segments should be prioritized in efforts to promote financial literacy.Originality/value: To the best of our knowledge, no study has compared Financial Literacy and Personality Traits in Brazil, a developing country that is only beginning to develop national financial literacy strategies.

This article estimates association coefficients between measures of market sentiment and risk in the U.S., German and Chinese markets. In terms of risk, four measures were considered: standard deviation, value at risk, expected shortfall and shortfall deviation risk. For market sentiment, data was collected using the Psych Signal technology, which is based on the behavior of investors on social networks. The results indicate significant statistical associations, with the direction of association having financial meaning. Moreover, the empirical findings are valid for all risk measurements. The results are in keeping with the Prospect Theory, since in moments when the sentiment indicates low liquidity (a negative value for the difference between Bullish and Bearish Intensities) investors try to reduce the negotiation volume, which has a positive impact on risk. On the other hand, under the inverted scenario, when sentiment indicates high liquidity, there is an increase in the negotiation volume and a consequent decrease in risk. This article is important because its observations of market sentiment as measured by social media data show a consistent relationship with measures of financial risk.

Sunk Costs: does group decision make a difference?

This study examined the influence of cognitive biases on financial literacy test outcomes across four generational groups: Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. Using the National Financial Capability Test and an online in silico experiment, we analyzed how cognitive biases influence the likely responses of each generation. The results indicate that the current test format aligns more closely with Baby Boomers, who are less affected by certain biases but tend to exhibit resistance to new financial strategies. A key contribution of this research is the identification of generational bias profiles and actionable recommendations for tailoring financial literacy assessments to reflect these differences. Our approach not only advances behavioral finance literature but also introduces innovative methodology through AI-driven simulations, providing a replicable framework for exploring cognitive influences in decision-making. The findings underscore the need for tailored financial education programs that consider these cognitive biases, aiming to foster unbiased financial decision-making across age groups.

Objetivos: diversas pesquisas apresentam as mulheres como menos educadas financeiramente do que os homens. No entanto, este artigo inova ao buscar explicar se as diferenças de gênero são influenciadas pela estrutura dos instrumentos utilizados para avaliar a educação financeira, ou seja, o efeito framing das categorias de resposta. Metodologia: foi realizado um quase-experimento com 489 estudantes universitários, os quais responderão a dois questionários, um seguido do outro, diferindo-se nas questões de conhecimento financeiro, com ou sem a opção de resposta “não sei” em cada questão. Já para análise dos dados foram utilizadas estatísticas descritivas e técnicas de análise multivariada. Resultados: comprovou-se a hipótese do estudo de que parte das diferenças de gênero em educação financeira é devida ao fato das mulheres marcarem mais a opção “não sei”, especialmente nas questões que representam níveis mais avançados de conhecimento financeiro. Mais especificamente, constatou-se que o uso do “não sei” aumenta, em média, a diferença de gênero em 67%, comprovando a existência do efeito framing. Contribuições: como principal contribuição deste trabalho, evidencia-se a importância dos pesquisadores analisarem em quais situações o uso da alternativa “não sei” é realmente importante e qual tratamento deverá ser incorporado às suas análises para avaliação do seu impacto, especialmente em estudos de gênero. Além disso, fica evidente a necessidade de metodologias mais específicas a fim de promover cursos de educação financeira, não apenas focados para o ensino de conceitos financeiros, mas com ações que desenvolvam a autoconfiança dos indivíduos, em especial, das mulheres.