<p> </p><p>The statistics has shown that men and women have different investing strategies, where men tend to choose riskier investments and women lean towards less risky investments. The financial theory states that individuals are risk averse in general, and some prior studies have shown that women are more so than men. Moreover, financial knowledge and experience have been pointed out to be one of the factors affecting one’s financial risk tolerance. This paper researches these issues by addressing the following to questions: Are there any gender differences in Financial Risk Tolerance? Does knowledge and experience have impact on Financial Risk Tolerance? A literature search has been done and relevant theory has been gathered and review, which served as a base and a framework for conducting this study. A quantitative methodological study has been carried out by handing out questionnaires, based on a 13-item Financial Risk Tolerance scale developed by Grabble & Lytton (1999). The target population was the Umeå University students. The size of the sample was 139. The findings of this paper confirm prior studies which state that women, in general, are less risk tolerant then men – female students scored lower on the Financial Risk Tolerance Score than male students. Furthermore, this study also shows that one’s Financial Risk Tolerance is affected by experience and knowledge in the field of finance – students that are studying economics had higher Financial Risk Tolerance score than students that were studying other subjects.</p><p> </p>

The statistics has shown that men and women have different investing strategies, where men tend to choose riskier investments and women lean towards less risky investments. The financial theory states that individuals are risk averse in general, and some prior studies have shown that women are more so than men. Moreover, financial knowledge and experience have been pointed out to be one of the factors affecting one’s financial risk tolerance. This paper researches these issues by addressing the following to questions: Are there any gender differences in Financial Risk Tolerance? Does knowledge and experience have impact on Financial Risk Tolerance? A literature search has been done and relevant theory has been gathered and review, which served as a base and a framework for conducting this study. A quantitative methodological study has been carried out by handing out questionnaires, based on a 13-item Financial Risk Tolerance scale developed by Grabble &amp; Lytton (1999). The target population was the Umeå University students. The size of the sample was 139. The findings of this paper confirm prior studies which state that women, in general, are less risk tolerant then men – female students scored lower on the Financial Risk Tolerance Score than male students. Furthermore, this study also shows that one’s Financial Risk Tolerance is affected by experience and knowledge in the field of finance – students that are studying economics had higher Financial Risk Tolerance score than students that were studying other subjects.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Martin Seay / For many decades, the American Dream of homeownership has been a source of pride and one of the traditional ways to improve financial and non-financial well-being for American households. However, during the recent housing crisis, millions of homeowners lost their homes or experienced negative home equity due to job loss, reductions in work hours, or a decline in home values. The recent housing crisis made many individuals and families rethink their American Dream. As with most investments, there are some risks associated with owning a home, especially when housing markets are volatile and the economy is uncertain. Understanding the relationship between household’s risk preference and homeownership decisions may help households make better and more informed decisions regarding their housing tenure choice. This study investigates the relationship between household’s risk preference and homeownership decisions among young adults made during the stability in the housing market, which occurred around 1993, and during the decline in the housing market, which occurred around 2010. This study also examined demographic and economic characteristics of homeowners during those periods. Two separate datasets from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 and the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 were utilized to address research questions and research hypotheses under the lens of the expected utility theory. The results showed shifts in household’s rick preferences, homeownership rates, and demographic and economic characteristics between periods. Compared to households who preferred lowest risk level, households who preferred highest risk level were more likely to own a home in both periods. The relationships between household’s risk preference and homeownership decisions did not change between periods. However, some relationships between household’s demographic and economic characteristics and homeownership decisions changed between periods. The findings of this study have several important implications for potential homebuyers, lenders, and personal financial planning practitioners. Household’s risk preference, as well as demographic and economic characteristics, should be considered during the home purchase process. The findings also expand the literature on expected utility theory, household’s risk preference, and homeownership research areas.

O tema central deste trabalho é a influência da cultura nacional na tolerância ao risco individual. Os capitulo 1 aborda os objetivos, fases e justificativa da pesquisa, apresentando os aspectos principais acerca do objetivo e delineamento da pesquisa.. O capitulo 2 apresenta a revisão bibliográfica, onde se busca levantar os principais conceitos sobre as Finanças Comportamentais, as chamadas anomalias dos modelos de equilíbrio, e a psicologia aplicada a finanças e economia. Também é abordada a teoria de tolerância a risco e também as principais pesquisas sobre Cultura e suas conseqüências na administração de empresas O capitulo 3 apresenta a metodologia de pesquisa, onde se enfoca a metodologia de pesquisa deste trabalho, apresentando os questionários da pesquisa piloto e da pesquisa de campo. Apresentase, também os instrumentos de análise estatística que serão usados no trabalho e os modelos de regressão múltipla que serão efetuadas para se buscar os resultados da pesquisa. O capitulo 4 apresenta os resultados de pesquisa, quando são mostrados em detalhes os dados demográficos dos respondentes da pesquisa, e o cálculo das dimensões de Hofstede, dos scores RTS de tolerância ao risco, assim como os resultados principais dos modelos de regressão múltipla. O capitulo 5 apresenta as conclusões de pesquisa, focando os principais resultados, as limitações de pesquisa e sugestões para pesquisas futuras. O capitulo 6 apresenta a bibliografia consultada. O capítulo 7 apresenta os principais apêndices elaborados neste trabalho. O capítulo 8 apresenta alguns anexos deste trabalho. / The central theme of this study is the relationship between Culture and Risk Tolerance. On the chapter 1, we present the general objectives, main phases and the importance of this investigation. On the chapter 2, we present a review on the academic literature of behavioral finance, risk tolerance and culture. On the chapter 3, we present a discussion on the methodology that we would apply in the investigation, showing the questionnaires that we have applied. We also show the regression models that we have used on this study. On the chapter 4, we show the results of the investigations. On chapter 5 we discuss the main results, the main limits and suggestions for future investigations.

The traditional view of financial theory proposes an implicit rationality in decision making. But the decisions taken by individuals have been inconsistent with such assumptions. In this context, the study of risk tolerance has become increasingly more significant in today's society, because the understanding of risk tolerance forms of investment decisions and in providing products that can meet these needs. Despite the significance of the research topic has been inconsistent, particularly with respect to its determinants. Historically, research has revolved around heuristics demographic and socioeconomic assumptions neglecting emotional, cognitive and behavioral related to financial decision-making. This study aims to evaluate what are the determinants of risk tolerance. For this, we conducted a survey to survey with 815 individuals living in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul Data were collected through questionnaire and analyzed via factor analysis, statistical tests (ANOVA, t test and correlation) and analysis of regression. The results show three factors that explain the risk tolerance, which are: Emotion factor, factor effect Staying Out of Factor and Self-attribution. Regression were added six variables analized in Behavioral Finance, which are: banking money effect, cognitive dissonance, self-protection, over-confidence, perception of risk and opportunity, effect cost already incurred and two other variables associated with the materialism that are spending with expensive things and join before you spend. It was explained 34.92% of the total variance of the data through these exogenous variables. Overall, and consistent, the assumptions of unlimited rationality have been refuted, but consistent with prospect theory, which agrees with the numerous studies that demonstrate the violation of assumptions of rationality unlimited. The heuristics traditionally used for determining the level of risk tolerance, which implies a strong correlation between the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were not significant in this study. The cognitive, emotional and behavioral decision making were more significant than this traditional vision of risk. / A visão tradicional da teoria financeira propõe uma implícita racionalidade na tomada de decisão. Mas as decisões tomadas pelos indivíduos tem se mostrado inconsistentes com tais pressupostos. Sob este contexto, o estudo da tolerância ao risco tem se mostrado cada vez mais significativo na sociedade atual, pois a compreensão da tolerância ao risco dá forma a decisões de investimento e de oferta de produtos capazes de atender tais necessidades. Apesar da significância do tema as pesquisas tem se mostrado inconsistentes, especialmente quanto aos seus determinantes. Historicamente as pesquisas têm girado em torno de heurísticas demográficas e socioeconômicas negligenciando as suposições emocionais, cognitivas e comportamentais relacionadas à tomada de decisão financeira. Neste sentido, este estudo objetiva avaliar quais são os fatores determinantes da tolerância ao risco. Para isto, foi realizada uma pesquisa survey junto a 815 indivíduos residentes na cidade de Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário e analisados via análise fatorial, testes estatisticos (ANOVA, teste t e correlação) e análise de regressão. Os resultados apresentam três fatores que explicam a tolerância ao risco, que são: fator Emoção, fator Efeito Ficar de Fora e Fator Auto-atribuição. Na regressão foram adicionadas seis variáveis estudadas na Finança Comportamental que são: efeito dinheiro da banca, dissonância cognitiva, auto-proteção, excesso de confiança, percepção de risco como oportunidade, efeito custo já incorridos e outras duas variáveis associadas ao Materialismo que são: gastar com coisas caras e juntar antes de gastar. Explicou-se 34,92%, da variância total dos dados através destas variáveis exógenas. De maneira geral, e consistente, as suposições de racionalidade foram refutadas, mas consistentes à Teoria dos Prospectos, corroborando com os inúmeros estudos que demonstram a violação das suposições de racionalidade. As heurísticas tradicionalmente utilizadas para a determinação do nível de tolerância ao risco e que supõem uma forte correlação entre as características demográficas e socioeconômicas não se mostraram significativas neste trabalho. As dimensões cognitivas, emocionais e comportamentais, da tomada de decisão, mostraram-se significativas.

With the current technological trends pointing to people having more capabilities to independently manage their financial future, the financial knowledge a person possesses will become evermore essential to create a sustainable financial future. Simultaneously, the growth of social media platforms and users have substantially increased over the past ten years, which has allowed people to find and create countless types of content. The potential problem culminating from these trends is that people who do not have the necessary financial knowledge to make educated investment decisions will have the opportunity to do so. Furthermore, if people have a lack of understanding about financial concepts, supplementing their lack of knowledge with information and recommendations from social media could lead to people making investment decisions based on unknown individuals' opinions. As a result, this study aims to determine if there is a connection between the financial literacy a person possesses and the usage of social media. We found that the financial literacy of university students in Sweden was not a determinant of social media influences on their investment decisions. Despite this overall conclusion, it was apparent that every participant in this study had been influenced by social media in some capacity when making investment decisions whether they intentionally or unintentionally used social media as a reference or unexpected circumstance.

In the United States, faith-based and other small credit unions are vanishing at the rate of nearly a credit union each workday. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to provide managers of faith-based credit unions with information about differences in financial performance and risk tolerance between faith-based and non-faith-based credit unions in order to improve their investment strategy and long-term sustainability. The study included a comparison of ratios measuring the financial performance and risk tolerance of randomly selected faith-based credit unions in the United States with the corresponding ratios of non-faith-based credit unions of similar size and location from 2003 to 2012. The data were collected from the National Credit Union Association, the U.S. government regulator of federally insured credit unions. The data analysis involved t tests and one-way ANOVAs to determine the differences in mean ratios of financial performance and risk tolerance between faith-based and non-faith-based credit unions. The findings demonstrated mixed support for the theoretical framework based on the Protestant ethic theory, which holds that certain traits associated with religion (e.g., thrift and debt avoidance) might influence financial performance and risk tolerance. The findings revealed significant differences between faith-based and non-faith-based credit unions in capital adequacy, liquidity risk, and credit risk, but not in profitability and interest rate risk. The implications for social change include the potential to strengthen the risk management and investment strategies for faith-based credit unions, thereby helping to ensure the continuation of vital financial services valued by members and their communities.

Den svenska aktiemarknaden har genomgått en märkbar förändring de senaste åren, med en ökning av intresset för aktier bland unga. Samtidigt står samhället inför utmaningar att hantera bristen på kunskap när det gäller att fatta ekonomiska beslut. Det är av stor betydelse att kunna fatta välgrundade finansiella val, då det har en omfattande påverkan på både individen och samhällets ekonomiska välbefinnande.  Mot bakgrund av att allt fler unga människor tar ekonomiska beslut redan i tidig ålder är det nödvändigt att undersöka vad som påverkar finansiell läskunnighet. Finansiell läskunnighet innebär att ha en grundläggande förståelse för finansiella begrepp och att ha förmågan att fatta välgrundade beslut. Tidigare forskning betonar att flera faktorer har en viktig roll vid undersökning av finansiell läskunnighet, inklusive kön, ålder och utbildning. Dessutom är det avgörande att framhäva vikten av att förstå risktolerans vid finansiella beslut. Den finansiella risktoleransen avser den grad av osäkerhet som en individ är villig att acceptera.  Syftet med studien är att genomföra en undersökning av finansiell läskunnighet bland individer i Norra Sverige och identifiera faktorer som kan påverka och främja en ökning av finansiell läskunnighet. Med hänsyn till den växande trenden som unga människor har på aktiemarknaden, är det särskilt relevant att undersöka vad som bidrar till ökad finansiell läskunnighet. För att besvara studiens syfte har en enkätundersökning konstruerats och svaren har analyserats med hjälp av statistiska tester.  Resultaten av studien, som baserar sig på ett stickprov om 100 individer, visar att kön inte har någon betydande påverkan på finansiell läskunnighet. Däremot är ålder en faktor som påverkar nivån av finansiell läskunnighet, individer i åldersgruppen 18–44 år visade sig ha högre finansiell läskunnighet än de som var 45 år och äldre. I den här studien är också utbildningsnivå en betydande faktor för att förstå finansiell läskunnighet, vilket stöder tidigare forskning. Sambandet mellan finansiell läskunnighet och risktolerans kunde inte bekräftas i denna studie. Därmed kan det konstateras att utbildning och ålder är de faktorer som bidrar till högre nivå av finansiell läskunnighet, vilket understryker vikten av att främja utbildning i finansiell läskunnighet i tidig ålder. Studien bidrar till en ökad medvetenhet om finansiell läskunnighet i Norra Sverige och lägger grund för fortsatt forskning kring faktorer som kan bidra till att öka finansiell läskunnighet och främja en mer hållbar ekonomisk framtid för individer och samhället som helhet.

Do investment portfolios meet the needs and preferences of investors? Can the portfolio selection process be improved? Traditionally, investor preferences have been identified using risk tolerance questionnaires. These questionnaires have recently attracted a fair deal of criticism. However, there has been little focus as to whether the questionnaires are useful in predicting investors' risk-taking behaviour. In this thesis, an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach was employed to find answers to the primary research question: what factors determine risk-taking behaviour in investment decisions? This thesis looked at the risk-taking behaviour of investors in Canada (N=192) and the risk-taking advice provided by financial advisers in Canada (N=155), collectively risk-taking decisions. The results suggested that return expectations and demographic variables were important predictors of risk-taking decisions, whereas risk tolerance questionnaires were not. Further investigation suggested that investment literacy impacted risk-taking decisions while investment experience impacted both return expectations and risk-taking decisions. In a novel contribution by this thesis, additional perspective was provided by qualitative analysis using semi-structured interviews with investors and advisers. From the results of the qualitative analysis, the author suggests that discovery and self-discovery, a consistent approach and a focus on process versus outcome are key attributes valued by both investors and advisers. The thesis concluded with implications and recommendations for stakeholders, including a greater focus on return expectations, more training in discovery for advisers, simulating investment experience for prospective investors and including investment literacy in school curricula.

Existing research investigating human judgment and decision making describes patterns of systematic biases in the way people process information and make decisions. Framing effects, for example, demonstrate that logically equivalent alternatives presented in divergent linguistic frames can lead to systematically different choice outcomes; in general, people demonstrate a preference for risk-averse behaviour when information is framed positively and risk-seeking behaviour when information is framed negatively. Similarly, the status quo bias describes a tendency for decision makers to maintain current or previous decisions when confronted with the availability of new options, demonstrating that people possess a predisposition to continue with established behaviour. This research proposes that the goals a decision maker adopts and the hedonic tone of the stimulus being evaluated influence whether framing effects are observed; similarly, the past performance of the status quo and complexity of available options influence whether participants exhibit a preference for the status quo. Using a survey-based experimental methodology, the aforementioned propositions are investigated by systematically manipulating characteristics of decision problems in order to reveal the mechanisms which influence the emergence of framing effects and the status quo bias. The results demonstrate that when positive goals or stimuli are emphasized, usual framing effects are observed; that is, participants demonstrate a preference for risk-averse behaviour in the positive frame and risk-seeking behaviour in the negative frame. Conversely, when negative goals or stimuli are emphasized, participants fail to demonstrate the expected shift in risk-preference. Past performance and complexity of the available alternatives are also shown to influence preference for the status quo; specifically, participants demonstrate greater preference for the status quo when past performance is strong compared to when it is weak, and when the number of available options is low compared to when it is high. The findings of this research improve our understanding of how contextual factors influence shifts in preference and the emergence of decision making biases; moreover, the current research demonstrates the need for future research to consider the influence of situational and contextual factors when investigating decision making in particular and human behaviour in general.