A influência dos vieses de excesso de confiança e aversão à perda na relação entre alfabetização financeira e bem-estar financeiro: uma análise com os servidores do IFBA

Abstract

The growth of household indebtedness in Brazil, intensified by the expansion of access to credit and digital financial platforms, has heightened concerns regarding the population’s financial health. Among public servants, this scenario takes on particular contours: due to job stability and income predictability, patterns of consumption and resource management are established that may have repercussions for financial well-being. In this context, it becomes essential to understand how psychological and cognitive factors modulate the use of financial knowledge. The main objective of this study was to analyze the role of overconfidence and loss aversion biases as mediators in the relationship between financial literacy and the financial well-being of employees at IFBA. Methodologically, a quantitative, explanatory, and cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 331 professionals, comprising Administrative Technicians (42.6%) and Faculty Members (57.4%). Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), supported by the bootstrapping technique. The results revealed that the direct effect of financial literacy on financial well-being was statistically significant (b = 5.661; p < 0.001), while the total indirect effect had a coefficient of 1.744, with high statistical significance (p < 0.001), indicating partial mediation by overconfidence bias. Loss aversion did not act as a mediating variable in this relationship. The modeling results suggest that financial well-being depends less on the stock of knowledge and more on how the individual perceives their reality, regulates emotions, and makes decisions, which translates into behaviors such as financial planning, saving, and controlling impulsive spending. Therefore, it is recommended that institutional financial literacy policies move beyond a strictly technical model toward behavioral approaches focused on calibrating perceptions and managing emotions.