The Influence of Greed on Investor Behavior in High-Volatility Markets: A Bibliometric Review

Abstract

This is a systematic literature review that examines the intricate interaction between greed and financial behavior of investors, particularly, high-volatility markets, specifically PSX. This paper has analyzed 523 articles published between 2010 and 2025, and sourced by Lenz.org, using bibliometric and analytical tools, including R Studio and VOSviewer. The study followed the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework to assure methodological rigor, transparency, and reproducibility. This was analyzed based on a multi-faceted methodology incorporating the evaluation of internationally well-known documents, the analysis of corresponding frequency of keywords and the visualization of thematic topics in terms of tree maps, frequency-over-time graphs, trend topics graphs, thematic maps, as well as the network of keywords co-occurrence. The findings indicate that greed plays a significant psychological role in shaping investors’ decisions. It often manifests as a behavioral bias, driving individuals toward speculative trading, emotionally influenced decisions, and a tendency to follow market trends or herd behavior rather than relying on rational analysis. The most influential documents on the world research point to greed as one of the main factors that aggravate financial decisions and lead to the instability of markets and irrational decisions.