Can personality traits influence Brazilian university students' financial literacy?

Abstract

PurposeThe 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/approachData 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.FindingsYounger 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/valueTo 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.