HOW DEPRESSION AND SOCIAL MEDIA PREFERENCES AFFECT FINANCIAL INVESTMENT&GAMBLING RISK TAKING BEHAVIOURS

Abstract

This study mainly examines the relationship between financial investment and gambling risk-taking tendencies and depression. In addition, how financial investment and gambling risk taking attitudes and depression level change with respect to age, gender and social media preferences are also analyzed in this study. DOSPERT Scale with subscales of financial investment and gambling and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) are used for evaluating financial investment&gambling risk-taking tendencies and depression level respectively. According to this study, female chooses the less risky financial tool that is female prefers financial investment instead of financial gambling. Moreover, when the subject come to the topic that whether there is a relation between social media preferences and financial risk taking behaviors or not, it is founded that social media users prone to take more financial investment risks with respect to non-users. In this research, it is founded that while depression score is decreasing, financial investment risk taking tendency is increasing. On the contrary, another finding shows us that while depression score is increasing, financial gambling risk taking tendency is also increasing. Analysis also shows us that depression is increasing with age and depression levels are lower in who prefers to use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Swarm and WhatsApp than in who does not prefer.