Publicação
Financial literacy and financial wellbeing: dual capability pathways and contextual moderation in Portugal
| dc.contributor.author | Magano, José | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mendes, Victor | |
| dc.contributor.author | Santos, Mário Coutinho dos | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-01T14:58:11Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-01T14:58:11Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026-06-24 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study examines how two forms of financial literacy—objective financial literacy (OFL; demonstrated knowledge of interest rates, inflation, and diversification) and perceived financial literacy (PFL; self-assessed confidence in financial matters)—relate to financial wellbeing through distinct capability pathways, and whether self-regulation conditions these links. We use three nationally representative cross-sections from Portugal (2015, 2020, 2023; N = 3648), a European setting marked by declining objective literacy and constrained market participation. Guided by capability theory, we propose a dual-lane model in which OFL operates through behavioural capability (BC; enacted saving, investing, and planning behaviours) to shape objective financial wellbeing (OFW; resilience, assets, and saving), while PFL operates through perceived capability (PC; financial self-efficacy and perceived control) to shape subjective financial wellbeing (SFW; perceived security, satisfaction, and freedom from financial stress). We also test whether non-impulsive, future-oriented behaviour (NIB) strengthens the associations along the objective lane. Structural equation models provide partial support for the dual-lane model, revealing three asymmetries with implications for European policy: (1) the link between behavioural capability and objective financial wellbeing weakens in 2023, suggesting that macroeconomic conditions can undercut even prudent financial behaviour; (2) perceived financial literacy directly predicts subjective financial wellbeing, but perceived capability does not mediate this association, indicating that financial confidence shapes wellbeing independently of self-efficacy; and (3) non-impulsive, future-oriented behaviour amplifies the association between objective literacy and objective wellbeing in 2015 and 2023 but not in 2020, showing that the benefits of self-regulation are context-dependent. The findings inform financial education and policy across Europe by distinguishing intervention levers for objective versus subjective outcomes and identifying conditions under which behavioural interventions are most effective. | eng |
| dc.identifier.doi | 10.3390/jrfm19070459 | |
| dc.identifier.other | 96ba1946-c7f1-448c-a8c7-877c8ac43dde | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/58426 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | |
| dc.publisher | MDPI | |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | |
| dc.subject | Financial literacy | eng |
| dc.subject | Financial capability | eng |
| dc.subject | Financial wellbeing | eng |
| dc.subject | Associational pathways | eng |
| dc.subject | Non-impulsive behaviour | eng |
| dc.title | Financial literacy and financial wellbeing: dual capability pathways and contextual moderation in Portugal | |
| dc.type | research article | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.citation.issue | 7 | |
| oaire.citation.volume | 19 | |
| oaire.version | http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 |
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