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Emotional finance: investment and the unconscious

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  • Richard Taffler

Abstract

Unconscious mental processes are ubiquitous. However, little attention has been paid in the finance literature to date to how people’s unconscious fantasies, needs and desires help drive their investment decisions, and markets more generally. Emotional finance which is informed by the psychoanalytic understanding of the human mind sets out to explore such issues directly. This paper first describes the underlying theory and then examines some of its potential insights and empirical applications. How emotional finance more generally may help explain asset pricing bubbles and the Global Financial Crisis is also discussed, as well as the paradox the asset management industry represents. Recognising that investors are often driven by not-always conscious emotions of excitement, anxiety and denial, and markets by parallel collusive group-wide processes, this paper concludes by suggesting that the key role unconscious mental processes play in all human activity is worthy of greater attention in finance. Appropriate research methodologies and the way forward in terms of future work are also outlined.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Taffler, 2018. "Emotional finance: investment and the unconscious," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7-8), pages 630-653, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurjfi:v:24:y:2018:i:7-8:p:630-653
    DOI: 10.1080/1351847X.2017.1369445
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    Cited by:

    1. Vecchi, Edoardo & Berra, Gabriele & Albrecht, Steffen & Gagliardini, Patrick & Horenko, Illia, 2023. "Entropic approximate learning for financial decision-making in the small data regime," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Aren Selim & Hamamci Hatice Nayman, 2023. "Mediating Effect of Pleasure-Seeking and Loss Aversion in the Relationship Between Phantasy and Financial Risk Tolerance and the Moderating Role of Confidence," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 23(2), pages 24-44, December.
    3. Kallinterakis, Vasileios & Karaa, Rabaa, 2023. "From dusk till dawn (and vice versa): Overnight-versus-daytime reversals and feedback trading," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Hasso, Tim & Pelster, Matthias & Breitmayer, Bastian, 2020. "Terror attacks and individual investor behavior: Evidence from the 2015–2017 European terror attacks," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).
    5. Consoli, Sergio & Pezzoli, Luca Tiozzo & Tosetti, Elisa, 2021. "Emotions in macroeconomic news and their impact on the European bond market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    6. Pelster, Matthias, 2019. "Attracting attention from peers: Excitement in social trading," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 158-179.
    7. Schneider, Julian & Oehler, Andreas, 2021. "Competition for visibility: When do (FX) signal providers employ lotteries?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Gavriilidis, Konstantinos & Kallinterakis, Vasileios & Öztürkkal, Belma, 2020. "Does mood affect institutional herding?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    9. Andrikopoulos, Panagiotis & Gebka, Bartosz & Kallinterakis, Vasileios, 2021. "Regulatory mood-congruence and herding: Evidence from cannabis stocks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 842-864.
    10. Juan Carlos Matallín-Sáez & Amparo Soler-Domínguez & Diego Víctor Mingo-López, 2021. "On management risk and price in the mutual fund industry: style and performance distribution analysis," Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(1), pages 150-171, June.
    11. Muhammad Irfan & Raima Adeel & Muhammad Shaukat Malik, 2023. "The Impact of Emotional Finance, and Market Knowledge and Investor Protection on Investment Performance in Stock and Real Estate Markets," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    12. Eran Rubin & Amir Rubin, 2021. "On the economic effects of the text completion interface: empirical analysis of financial markets," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(3), pages 717-735, September.
    13. Bruce Burton & Satish Kumar & Nitesh Pandey, 2020. "Twenty-five years of The European Journal of Finance (EJF): a retrospective analysis," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(18), pages 1817-1841, December.
    14. Goodell, John W. & Kumar, Satish & Rao, Purnima & Verma, Shubhangi, 2023. "Emotions and stock market anomalies: A systematic review," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    15. Francesco Moscone & Elisa Tosetti & Giorgio Vittadini, 2023. "The Role of Economic News in Predicting Suicides," Working Papers 2023: 32, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    16. Rachel Shields & Samer Ajour El Zein & Neus Vila Brunet, 2021. "An Analysis on the NASDAQ’s Potential for Sustainable Investment Practices during the Financial Shock from COVID-19," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, March.
    17. Andreas Oehler & Julian Schneider, 2023. "Social trading: do signal providers trigger gambling?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1269-1331, May.

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