The impact of financial education on non-financial biases

: opportunities and limitations to foster critical thinking

Abstract

The present thesis investigates the spillover-effect of critical thinking developed through financial education on nonfinancial biases. More specifically, this paper examines whether financial education influence the Dunning-Kruger-Effect, the Barnum-Effect and Representation-Effect. To test for reliability of the survey and analysis, the author also includes the financial biases disposition-effect and endowment-effect as controlling-tests. Throughout the path of the research, the author finds evidence that for the three defined nonfinancial biases not only the significance-levels satisfied highest confidence thresholds, but also the explanatory power matched those of existing literature on the impact of financial education on financial biases. Advancing in the process, the author also adds the topic offinancial literacy as an independent to the analysis, showing how financial education and literacy yield chances to influence situational behavior beyond purely financial situations. Lastly, the author looks deeper into the financial education and finds ambiguous impact of the determinates of financial education “origin of financial education” and “extent of financial education”. These variables however show largely differing impact on the non-financial biases researched on, yielding low further explanatory power on the opportunities to foster critical thinking through financial education. Thus, not being able to explain fully there searched impact, the author concludes the paper with strong evidence about the extent to which financial education supports the fight for critical thinking.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Daniel Fernandes (Supervisor)