Behavioral finance: Evolution from the classical theory and remarks

Abstract Behavioral finance has emerged from the divergences observed to explain and address the traditional theories of finance and serves as supplement to classical finance by introducing behavioral aspects to decision‐making. This study provides academics with a comprehensible and complete synopsis of the evolution of behavioral finance, as well as critical insight is provided. The synopsis was based on the search for publications in Web of Science ( WoS ) and Scopus and the use of R, Gephi and Tree of Science ‐ToS‐ software, using citation analysis, graphos and classification analysis. The results showed psychological aspects, investment in stocks and cognitive biases with the highest visibility. A tree‐like structure of hierarchization was developed by ToS. The clusters of publications with the greatest literary contribution were analyzed and the publications with the greatest visibility in each cluster identified. This study provides insights into the current trend in finance towards better understanding of the essential factors in the investor´s decision making.