The Dual Personalities of Investors

Link: The Dual Personalities of Investors

Conclusion:

There are numerous emotional factors that influence investor thinking and behavior and that drive the formation of our personalities as investors. Our view of ourselves in the world is profoundly impacted by early life experiences, and messages we get from others about money, wealth and risk-taking. As adults, our life experiences manifest themselves in the type of investor personality we take on: Fixer, Survivor or Protector. Each personality type has unique emotional characteristics that drive investment behaviors, and each personality type morphs emotionally as market conditions shift from low to high stakes.

By understanding ourselves as emotional beings, we can bring greater self-awareness to the investing process and to the behaviors that impel us both in low-stakes and high-stakes situations. By becoming self-aware investors, we can recognize and manage our emotional triggers and make better, more reality-based decisions about investing. In so doing, we can avoid excessively emotional responses to the marketplace that undermine otherwise well-constructed wealth management plans and consistent achievement of our financial goals.