FINANCIAL LITERACY AND PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS AMONG NIGERIAN UNDERGRADUATES: EVIDENCE FROM A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY

Despite increasing financial inclusion in Nigeria, research on how financial literacy influences undergraduate investment behaviour is lacking. This study explores the association between financial literacy and personal investment decisions among 441 Nigerian undergraduates from federal, state, and polytechnic universities, who were polled using stratified random sampling. Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression showed high subscale reliability (α = 0.968-0.995). Financial literacy (r = 0.684, p < 0.01; β = 0.521, p < 0.001), academic discipline (β = 0.214, p < 0.001), and socioeconomic background (β = 0.143, p = 0.001) were significant predictors of investment decision quality, accounting for 39.8% of variance (R² = 0.398, F(3,437) = 96.42, p < 0.001). A knowledge-action gap was discovered: attitudinal agreement (SA+A = 81.6%-89.8%) significantly outperformed actual investment involvement (SA+A = 71.7%), which was explained by loss aversion and income constraints. Gender moderation is merely directional due to sample imbalance (F:M = 2.7:1). The study contributes to the literature by identifying the knowledge-action gap, revealing the moderating effects of socioeconomic background and academic discipline, and presenting multi-institutional inferential evidence. To overcome the knowledge-action divide in Nigeria's institutions of higher learning, financial education must be supplemented with accessible investment platforms and gender-sensitive techniques.