Psychodynamics of Investments: Study on ‘Fear’ and ‘Love’ Among Financially Literate Investors in India

This study examines the emotional undercurrents of individual investors. Earlier finance theory was based on the assumption that investors would act rationally. According to the findings, it is the investors’ collective expectations and anxieties that have an impact on their investment fortunes. This necessitates a high level of emotional stability on the side of the investors. Investors must have a firm foundation in financial literacy to have the requisite level of emotional stability. This study aims to add to existing theory and practice by analyzing whether investors who have received business-related education are less emotional than those who have not. For the survey inquiry of individual investors, ‘fear’ and ‘love’ are considered among the emotional undercurrents of individual investors. The research is based on a survey of 875 individual investors in India, 342 of whom had a business background and the others have none. It has been discovered that no investor, regardless of their level of business education, is emotion-free. Investors with and without a business education display emotional stability in many behavioral aspects of fear and love to varying degrees.