Psychological and Social Factors Determining Investment Decisions in Cryptocurrency: Exploring the Mediating Role of Cognitive Biases

Abstract

This empirical research investigates whether investment decisions of cryptocurrency investors in Pakistan are influenced by a set of cognitive biases, as propagated by the theories in behavioural finance. To fill a dearth in the existing literature, this study evaluates the psychological and social sources of the cognitive biases that in turn affect investment decisions in cryptocurrency, therefore, this research essentially examines the mediating role of cognitive biases (Herding, Overconfidence, Representativeness, and Self-serving biases) between the linkages of socio-psychological factors (Money Anxiety, Social Interactions, Stress and Internal Locus of Control) and investment decisions in cryptocurrencies. Sample size of 313 respondents has been used, employing snowball sampling method, to analyze the data using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling. The results reveal that herding bias, overconfidence bias and representativeness bias partially mediate the relationship between money anxiety, social interactions, stress and investment decisions in cryptocurrencies whereas self-serving bias fails to exert any mediation effect between internal locus of control and investment decisions. The results reveal that money anxiety causes herding bias which, in turn, affects the investment decisions in cryptocurrency positively; Stress leads to representativeness bias which, in turn, undermines investment decisions in cryptocurrency and social interactions generate overconfidence bias which, in turn, affects the investment decisions negatively.