skip to main content

The economic implications of personality traits on investment behaviour: Evidence from an emerging market with sustainability orientation

1Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2Management Department, Kongu Engineering College, India, India

3Management Department, Sanata Dharma University, Indonesia, Indonesia

Open Access Copyright 2026 Diponegoro International Journal of Business under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.

Citation Format:
Abstract
This study investigates the economic implications of personality traits for individual investment Behaviour in an emerging market context, focusing on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Specifically, it examines how emotional stability and prudence trait influence investment Behaviour, and how sustainability orientation moderates these relationships. Using data collected from 242 individual investors and analysed through Structural Equation Modelling–Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS), the results show that emotional stability has a significant positive effect on investment Behaviour, while prudence trait does not directly influence them. However, sustainability orientation strengthens the role of emotional stability and alters the effect of prudence trait. These findings provide practical insights for financial managers and policymakers to better understand Behavioural drivers of sustainable investment in emerging markets.

Note: This article has supplementary file(s).

Fulltext View|Download |  Data Set
Raw Data Musaroh et for DIJB
Subject
Type Data Set
  View (96KB)    Indexing metadata
Email colleagues
Keywords: personality traits; investment behaviour; sustainability orientation; emerging markets

Article Metrics:

Article Info
Section: Articles
Language : EN
  1. Aren, S., Hamamci, H. N., & Özcan, S. (2021). Moderation effect of pleasure seeking and loss aversion in the relationship between personality traits and risky investment inten-tion. Kybernetes. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-05-2020-0278
  2. Agyemang, O. S., & Ansong, A. (2015). Factors influencing the investment decisions of indi-vidual investors on the Ghana Stock Ex-change. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(12), 94–110. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v10n12p94
  3. Ahmad, M., & Wu, Q. (2022). Does herding Behav-iour matter in investment management and perceived market efficiency? Evidence from an emerging market. Management Deci-sion, 60(8), 2148–2173. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-07-2020-0867
  4. Baker, H. K., Kumar, S., & Goyal, N. (2019). Per-sonality traits and investor sentiment. Re-view of Behavioural Finance, 13(4), 354–369. https://doi.org/10.1108/RBF-08-2017-0077
  5. Busic-Sontic, A., Czap, N. V, & Fuerst, F. (2020). The role of personality traits in green deci-sion-making. Journal of Economic Psychol-ogy, 62(December 2015), 313–328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2017.06.012
  6. Chatterjee, S., Singh, N. P., Goyal, D. P., & Gupta, N. (Eds.). (2015). Managing in recovering markets. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1979-8
  7. Chaudary, S. (2019). Does salience matter in in-vestment decision? Differences between individual and professional investors. Ky-bernetes, 48(8), 1894–1912. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-09-2018-0490
  8. Chen, E. Te, & Nainggolan, Y. A. (2018). Distance bias of socially responsible investment. So-cial Responsibility Journal, 14(1), 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-02-2017-0021
  9. Cohn, M, A., & Fredrickson, L, B. (2011). In search of durable positive psychology interventions: Predictors and consequences of long-term positive. Behaviour change. 5(5), 355–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2010.508883
  10. Conlin, A., Kyröläinen, P., Kaakinen, M., Järvelin, M.-R., Perttunen, J., & Svento, R. (2015). Personality traits and stock market partici-pation. Journal of Empirical Finance, 33, 34–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jempfin.2015.06.001
  11. Daniel, K., Hirshleifer, D., & Teoh, S. H. (2002). Investor psychology in capital markets: Evi-dence and policy implications. In Journal of Monetary Economicl. 49(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3932(01)00091-5
  12. De Zwaan, L., Brimble, M., & Stewart, J. (2015). Member perceptions of ESG investing through superannuation. Sustainability Ac-counting, Management and Policy Journal, 6(1), 79–102. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-03-2014-0017
  13. DeYoung, C. G., Quilty, L. C., & Peterson, J. B. (2007). Between Facets and Domains: 10 Aspects of the Big Five Between Facets and Domains: 10 Aspects of the Big Five. December. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.93.5.880
  14. Durand, R., Newby, R., Tant, K., & Trepongkaru-na, S. (2013). Overconfidence, overreaction and personality. Review of Behavioural Fi-nance, 5(2), 104–133. https://doi.org/10.1108/RBF-07-2012-0011
  15. Escrig-Olmedo, E., Rivera-Lirio, J. M., Muñoz-Torres, M. J., & Fernández-Izquierdo, M. Á. (2017). Integrating multiple ESG investors’ preferences into sustainable investment: A fuzzy multicriteria methodological approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 162, 1334–1345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.06.143
  16. Frantz, A., Olivo, R. L. de F., Sales, G. A. W., & Silva, F. (2021). Toward enhanced excel-lence in Brazilian investment firms: the role of investors’ personality assessment tools. Benchmarking: An International Journal, ahead-of-p(ahead-of-print). https://doi.org/10.1108/bij-09-2020-0488
  17. Galbreath, J. (2013). ESG in Focus: The Australian Evidence. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(3), 529–541. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1607-9
  18. Gambetti, E., & Giusberti, F. (2019). Personality, decision-making styles and investments. Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, 80(March), 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2019.03.002
  19. Gao, S., Meng, F., Gu, Z., Liu, Z., & Farrukh, M. (2021). Mapping and clustering analysis on environmental, social and governance field a bibliometric analysis using scopus. Sus-tainability (Switzerland), 13(13), 7304. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137304
  20. Gutsche, G., Nakai, M., & Arimura, T. H. (2021). Revisiting the determinants of individual sustainable Investment—The case of Ja-pan. Journal of Behavioural and Experi-mental Finance, 30, 100497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbef.2021.100497
  21. Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2016). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th ed.). Pearson
  22. Husnain, B., Shah, S. Z. A., & Fatima, T. (2019). Effect of neuroticism, conscientiousness on investment decisions: Mediation analysis of financial self-efficacy. City University Re-search Journal, 9(1), 15–26
  23. Jaiyeoba, H. B., Abdullah, M. A., & Ibrahim, K. (2020). Institutional investors vs retail inves-tors: Are psychological biases equally appli-cable to investor divides in Malaysia? Inter-national Journal of Bank Marketing, 38(3), 671–691. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-07-2019-0242
  24. Jiang, Y., Kang, Y., & Liang, H. (2024). The exter-nalities of ESG disclosure. Journal of Ac-counting Research. Advance online publica-tion. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-679X.12567
  25. John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 114–158). Guilford Press
  26. Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica, 47(2), 263–291. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185
  27. Khawaja, M. J., & Alharbi, Z. N. (2021). Factors influencing investor Behaviour: an empirical study of Saudi Stock Market. International Journal of Social Economics, 48(4), 587–601. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-07-2020-0496
  28. Khemir, S., Baccouche, C., & Ayadi, S. D. (2019). The influence of ESG information on in-vestment allocation decisions: An experi-mental study in an emerging country. Jour-nal of Applied Accounting Research, 20(4), 458–480. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAAR-12-2017-0141
  29. Kourtidis, D., Chatzoglou, P., & Sevic, Z. (2017). The role of personality traits in investors trading Behaviour: Empirical evidence from Greek. International Journal of Social Eco-nomics, 44(11), 1402–1420. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-07-2014-0151
  30. Kumari, S., Chandra, B., & Pattanayak, J. K. (2019). Personality traits and motivation of individual investors towards herding Behav-iour in Indian stock market. Kybernetes, 49(2), 384–405. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-11-2018-0635
  31. Li, T.-T., Wang, K., Sueyoshi, T., & Wang, D. D. (2021). ESG: Research progress and future prospects. Sustainability, 13(21), 11663. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132111663
  32. Mooradian, T. A., & Olver, J. M. (1997). "I Can't Get No Satisfaction": The impact of per-sonality and emotion on post-purchase pro-cesses. Psychology & Marketing, 14(4), 379–393. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)15206793(199707)14:4<379 ::AIDMAR5>3.0.CO;2-6
  33. Mueller, G., & Plug, E. (2006). Estimating the ef-fect of personality on male and female earn-ings. ILR Review, 60(1), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979390606000101
  34. Nga, J. K. h., & Ken Yien, L. (2013). The influence of personality trait and demographics on fi-nancial decision making among Generation Y. Young Consumers, 14(3), 230–243. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-11-2012-00325
  35. Pedersen, L. H., Fitzgibbons, S., & Pomorski, L. (2021). Responsible Investing: The ESG-Efficient Frontier. Journal of Financial Economics, 142(2), 572–597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2020.11.001
  36. Raja, U., & Ntalianis, F. (2004). The Impact of Per-sonality on Psychological Contracts. June 2004. https://doi.org/10.2307/20159586
  37. Rasheed, M. H., Rafique, A., Zahid, T., & Akhtar, M. W. (2018). Factors influencing investor’s decision making in Pakistan: Moderating the role of locus of control. Review of Behav-ioural Finance, 10(1), 70–87. https://doi.org/10.1108/RBF-05-2016-0028
  38. Renner, W. (2002). A psychometric analysis of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory in an Austrian sample. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 18(3), 291–300. https://doi.org/10.1027//1015-5759.18.3.291
  39. Roberts, B. W., Chernyshenko, O. S., Stark, S., & Goldberg, L. R. (2005). The structure of conscientiousness: An empirical investiga-tion based on seven major personality ques-tionnaires. Personnel Psychology, 58(1), 103–139. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.17446570.2005.00301.x
  40. Ritter, J. R. (2003). Behavioural finance. Pacific Basin Finance Journal, 11(4), 429–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0927538X(03)00048-9
  41. Rizvi, S., & Fatima, A. (2015). Behavioural finance: A study of correlation between personality traits with the investment patterns in the stock market. In S. Chatterjee & N. P. Singh (Eds.), Managing in recovering mar-kets (pp. 143–155). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1979-8_11
  42. Sayyadi Tooranloo, H., Azizi, P., & Sayyahpoor, A. (2020). Analyzing causal relationships of ef-fective factors on the decision making of in-dividual investors to purchase shares. Inter-national Journal of Ethics and Systems, 36(1), 12–41. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOES-03-2019-0053
  43. Scott, S. G., & Bruce, R. A. (1995). Decision-making style: The development and as-sessment of a new measure. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 55(5), 818–831. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164495055005017
  44. Shahid, M. S., & Abbas, M. (2019). Does corporate governance play any role in investor confi-dence, corporate investment decisions rela-tionship? Evidence from Pakistan and India. Journal of Economics and Business, 105(April), 105839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconbus.2019.03.003
  45. Shefrin, H., & Statman, M. (1985). The disposition to sell winners too early and ride losers too long: Theory and evidence. The Journal of Finance, 40(3), 777–790. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15406261.1985.tb05002.x
  46. Shefrin, H., & Statman, M. (1993). Behavioural aspects of the design and marketing of fi-nancial products. Financial Management, 22(2), 123–134
  47. Tauni, M. Z., Rao, Z. U. R., Fang, H. X., & Gao, M. (2017). Does investor personality mod-erate the relationship between information sources and trading Behaviour? Evidence from Chinese stock market. Managerial Fi-nance, 43(5), 545–566. https://doi.org/10.1108/MF-08-2015-0231
  48. Teoh, H. Y., & Shiu, G. Y. (1990). Attitudes to-wards corporate social responsibility and perceived importance of social responsibility information characteristics in a decision context. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(1), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382566
  49. Thaler, R. H. (1980). Toward a positive theory of consumer choice. Journal of Economic Be-haviour & Organization, 1(1), 39–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(80)90051-7
  50. Yoo, B., Donthu, N., & Lenartowicz, T. (2011). Measuring Hofstede’s five dimensions of cultural values at the individual level: Devel-opment and validation of CVSCALE. Jour-nal of International Consumer Marketing, 23(3–4), 193–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/08961530.2011.578059

Last update:

No citation recorded.

Last update:

No citation recorded.