Influência da alfabetização financeira, do autocontrole e do viés de contabilidade mental no bem-estar financeiro: um estudo em uma cooperativa de crédito do centro-oeste de Minas Gerais

Abstract

This dissertation analyzed the influence of financial literacy and the behavioral biases of self-control and mental accounting on financial well-being (FWB), with an innovation proposal for a credit cooperative located in the Central-West region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study was structured into three complementary products. The first consisted of a bibliometric review of the literature on FWB and cognitive biases, based on 136 documents indexed in the Web of Science between 2006 and 2024. The results revealed an increase in scientific production from 2018 onward, a predominance of studies related to financial literacy, financial behavior and financial knowledge, and a less consolidated position of self-control in the FWB literature. The second product comprised an empirical study with a quantitative approach, based on a survey conducted with 318 cooperative members and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in R software. The findings indicated that most cooperative members presented an intermediate level of FWB. Financial behavior had the strongest direct effect on FWB, followed by financial attitude, whereas financial knowledge influenced well-being indirectly. The self-control bias, understood as a lower capacity for self-regulation in financial decisions, negatively affects FWB by compromising consistent financial attitudes and behaviors. Mental accounting could not be tested in the final model due to the psychometric inadequacy of the scale in this sample. The third product consisted of the development of an application for the diagnosis and longitudinal monitoring of FWB, offering personalized guidance focused on financial education and behavioral change. The study concludes that the FWB of cooperative members depends not only on financial knowledge, but mainly on its conversion into attitudes and behaviors capable of strengthening financial autonomy and security.