The Research Department of Economics and Management of Tadbir Nikan Business, Marketing, and Finance Open In Press 2027 05 01 Investigating the Impact of Digital Games on Managers’ Financial Decision-Making Styles: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Biases and the Moderating Roles of Gender and Educational Level Investigating the Impact of Digital Games on Managers’ Financial Decision-Making Styles: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Biases and the Moderating Roles of Gender and Educational Level 1 23 EN Journal Article 2026 04 10 <p>This study aimed to investigate the impact of digital gaming patterns on managers’ financial decision-making styles, considering the mediating role of cognitive biases and the moderating roles of gender and educational level. This applied, cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study was conducted among senior Iranian managers and financial decision-makers in 2025. Using purposive, snowball, and professional-network sampling, 321 valid questionnaires were obtained from chief executive officers, chief financial officers, board members, investment and risk managers, budget managers, entrepreneurs, and senior financial analysts. Data were collected using a composite questionnaire assessing challenge-oriented gaming, immediate reward, social competition, surface progression, cognitive biases, and five financial decision-making styles. The instruments demonstrated acceptable reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. Data were analyzed using SPSS 28 and SmartPLS 4 through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling, 5,000-resample bootstrapping, mediation analysis, and permutation-based multi-group analysis. Challenge-oriented gaming negatively predicted cognitive biases (β = -.14, p = .007) and positively predicted analytical decision-making (β = .28, p &lt; .001). Immediate reward (β = .31), social competition (β = .19), and surface progression (β = .24) positively predicted cognitive biases (all p &lt; .001). Cognitive biases negatively predicted analytical decision-making (β = -.39, p &lt; .001) and positively predicted intuitive (β = .33), dependent (β = .29), avoidant (β = .46), and spontaneous styles (β = .42; all p &lt; .001). Significant indirect effects confirmed mediation through cognitive biases. Multi-group analysis further showed significant gender and educational-level differences in several structural paths. Digital gaming patterns are differentially associated with managers’ financial decision-making, with cognitive biases functioning as an important explanatory mechanism and gender and educational level shaping selected relationships.</p> https://bmfopen.com/index.php/bmfopen/article/download/540/492