Exploring Trait Anxiety as a Psychological Construct: Impacts of Gender, Educational Attainment and Financial Training

Description

Page: 499-504

Jaspreet Dhingra and Navdeep Aggarwal (School of Business Studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

Anxiety is a significant psychological trait influencing financial decision-making, characterized by heightened apprehension and vigilance. This study investigates trait anxiety affecting retail investors by identifying two key factors: Anxiety Negative Worded and Anxiety Positive Worded. Using a structured questionnaire administered to 754 active stock market investors in Ludhiana and Amritsar, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) on 250 responses revealed a clear two-factor structure. This was confirmed via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the remaining 504 responses. This study examines how Gender, education level and financial training impact two distinct dimensions of anxietynegatively worded and positively worded. The results revealed that education level significantly influenced negatively worded anxiety; individuals with a Doctorate reported lower levels of anxiety compared to those with only Year 12 education. Conversely, financial training was associated with reduced anxiety across both dimensions, with higher levels of training correlating with lower anxiety scores. These findings underscore the importance of education and financial literacy in mitigating anxiety, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address financial stress and promote psychological well-being.