Default rules in investment decision-making: trait anxiety and decision-making styles

Elisa Gambetti (), Micaela Maria Zucchelli (), Raffaella Nori () and Fiorella Giusberti ()
Additional contact information
Elisa Gambetti: University of Bologna
Micaela Maria Zucchelli: University of Bologna
Raffaella Nori: University of Bologna
Fiorella Giusberti: University of Bologna

Financial Innovation, 2022, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-26

Abstract: Abstract This study investigates the role of default options in the relationship between trait anxiety, and decision-making styles and financial decisions. One hundred and ninety-four participants were divided into three groups and subjected to three different conditions. Under each experimental condition, they had to decide whether to accept or reject investment proposals. In the first group, they had been enrolled in investment plans by default (opt-out condition), in the second group, they had not been automatically enrolled in these plans (opt-in condition), and in the third group they had to choose whether to enroll or not (control condition). The results showed that the investment decisions of anxious, avoidant, rational and dependent individuals could be facilitated by default options. In conclusion, using default options as a “nudge” can support specific groups of people to improve their financial decisions.

Keywords: Nudge; Default options; Anxiety; Decision-making styles; Investments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40854-021-00329-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:fininn:v:8:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1186_s40854-021-00329-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nomics/journal/40589

DOI: 10.1186/s40854-021-00329-y

Access Statistics for this article

Financial Innovation is currently edited by J. Leon Zhao and Zongyi

More articles in Financial Innovation from Springer, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().