Based on Mental Accounting, the Impact of Income Differences on the Irrational Biases in Family Investment

School of Finance, Henan University of Economics and Law, 45000, Henan, China

^* Corresponding author: skangwei76@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper systematically reviews the research results of the impact of income differences on the irrational behavior of family investment from the perspective of Mental Accounting, deeply analyzes the characteristics of investment behavior of different income groups and the mechanism of Mental Accounting, discusses in detail the psychological changes and account division strategies of each income class in the face of investment decisions, summarizes the contributions and limitations of existing research, and on this basis, puts forward the future research direction with foresight. Research shows that income differences not only significantly affect the division mode of Mental Accounting but also lead to irrational investment bias through a variety of complex factors, such as non-substitution effect and psychological expectation bias. Different income groups have different forms of expression. Low-income groups tend to prefer conservative investment, while high-income groups may show higher risk preference. This review not only provides a rich theoretical basis for deepening the research on household investment behavior but also provides an important reference for decision makers in the financial market when formulating relevant policies, which helps to optimize the allocation of market resources and improve the stability and efficiency of the financial system.