The Impact of Self-Serving Bias on Selection of Stocks by Retail Investors in Equity Market: A Study of the Urban Middle Class of India

Abstract

The field of standard finance states that an equity market investor acts as a judicious individual who is capable of dealing with all forms of data in a fair-minded way. On the other hand, the rapidly evolving field of behavioral finance relies upon true experience expressing that any and every equity market investor has his own set of inclinations which most of the times are unreasonable. Thus, feelings and behaviour have assumed a significant position in the sort of investment decisions embraced by equity market investors. For quite a long time, financial therapists and social experts have stood up in opposition to the principles of standard finance and managerial economics, contending that individuals do not behave logically every time and it is asking for way too much to expect investors to become utility-expanding players in a market which is not efficient in reality. The area of knowledge called as behavioural finance emerged in the early stages of 1970s in order to resolve such matters and collect a broad number of instances when individuals deliberately act "unreasonably."