Behavioral Finance. The Influence of Psychological Effects on Investor Behavior

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Banking, Stock Exchanges, Insurance, Accounting, grade: 1,0, Ferdinand Porsche FernFH, language: English, abstract: The behavior of actors in the financial market cannot be explained solely by the assumptions of traditional capital market theory, which assumes rationality on the part of investors. In this paper, we investigated which anomalies of human behavior influence investors in their decision-making behavior. Using the findings of the "Behavioral Finance" theory, it was found that, in addition to fundamental and technical analyses, a large number of psychological effects act on investors. This leads to a distorted perception of information, information processing and ultimately influences one's own decision. Especially in boom and crash phases, market participants often overreact, which can be explained by behavioral economic approaches. The findings provide investors with valuable input to optimize their investment behavior.