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Financial decisions are among the most important decisions individuals make in their lives. This is because individuals need an income and they need to manage this income to sustain their lives. Managing financial assets requires instant, short-term, or long-term decisions, and in doing so, individuals follow certain behavioral patterns. Therefore, it is important to investigate attitudes and behaviors that individuals exhibit when making financial decisions. All of these can be considered as a measure of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about the world and an aspect of psychological characteristics (Adiputra & Patricia, 2020).
Financial attitudes and financial behaviors are different concepts, although closely related. Financial attitudes refer to individuals’ beliefs and feelings about financial issues including attitudes toward saving, spending, investing, budgeting, debt, risk-taking, and financial planning. Financial attitudes are often shaped by experiences, cultural influences, upbringing (Ullah et al., 2024), education, and social norms. Examples of financial attitudes include beliefs about saving, debts, financial risk, and investment opportunities (Alkaya & Yagli, 2015). In short, financial attitudes include awareness, knowledge, skills, tendencies, and behaviors that require healthy decision-making related to financial matters (Atkinson & Messy, 2012). Therefore, financial attitudes are important factors for shaping financial behaviors. Financial behaviors refer to actions and decisions that individuals take in relation to finances. These include actual choices and behaviors associated with earning, spending, saving, investing, borrowing, budgeting, and financial planning. Indeed financial behaviors are observable and measurable and reflect the ways in which individuals manage their financial resources in daily life. Examples of financial behaviors include saving a portion of income, sticking to a budget, making investment decisions, paying bills on time, using credit responsibly, and seeking financial advice. Financial behaviors also include behaviors such as monitoring financial situations, purchasing and loan management, saving, and investing (Alkaya & Yagli, 2015). According to Hilgert et al. (2003), financial behaviors include four main subfactors: managing cash, managing credits, saving, and investing. Financial behaviors also encompass planning and tracking the ways in which money is spent, taking into account standard expenses, budgeting, and thus the use and management of money (Xiao, 2008).
Although financial attitudes can influence financial behaviors, they are not always perfectly reflected in individuals’ behaviors. Several factors can contribute to differences between financial attitudes and behaviors (Ajzen, 1991). One...