Effect of Money Psychology on Financial Decision-Making Behavior among Employees in Public and Private sector Institutions in Rwanda

Financial decision-making has become increasingly complex due to changing economic conditions, expanding consumer credit, and digital financial transformation, yet poor financial outcomes persist despite stable incomes and improved access to financial services.This study examined the effects of money attitudes, financial self-control, financial anxiety, and financial confidence on financial decision-making behavior among employees in public and private sector institutions in Rwanda, while assessing the moderating role of financial literacy.Guided by Money Attitude Theory, Self-Control Theory, Behavioral Life-Cycle Theory, and the Theory of Planned Behavior, the study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional design targeting 650 employees using a census approach stratified by public and private sectors.Data were collected through a structured five-point Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 28.Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and mean-centered moderated regression were employed.Results showed that the four money-psychology dimensions significantly and positively predicted financial decision-making behavior, jointly explaining 55.4% of its variance (R² = .554,F(4, 645) = 200.50,p < .001).Financial confidence was the strongest predictor (β = .488),followed by financial self-control (β = .184),financial anxiety (β = .135),and money attitudes (β = .130),all significant at p < .001.Financial literacy significantly moderated all four relationships, with modest negative interaction effects.All five null hypotheses were rejected.The study recommends interventions to strengthen financial confidence and self-control, promote constructive money attitudes, address financial anxiety, and enhance financial literacy.