The effects of behavioral biases on investment decisions: Evidence from İstanbul stock exchange

Every investment decision at the macro or micro scale carries with it the desire to profit. At this point, profit assumes the driving role and continuity of capital. Information assumes a crucial role in the realization of this role. The field of behavioral finance, which opens a different window to the finance literature, argues that investors do not act completely rationally in financial decisions. Behavioral finance argues that there are subconscious factors that affect information. This study aims to detect the factors of behavioral bias factors influencing the investment decisions of individuals trading in Istanbul stock exchange (BIST). The importance of this study stems from the scarcity of local studies focusing on behavioral finance within the scope of stock market investment. Accordingly, it is expected that the study will enrich this awareness in the field. Therefore, the effects of nonrational cognitive elements such as loss aversion, expectation, certainty, herding effect, intuitive factors, and anchoring on individuals' investment decisions were investigated in the study. As a result, the findings obtained from the research provide useful information to investors trading in BIST to adopt scientific foundations within the scope of behavioral finance in stock investments.