Suicidal ideation of helpless COVID affected street vendors: positive religious coping as a buffer

Purpose Street vending has a significant economic impact in the developing nations. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has put street vendors in a terrible financial situation, which has led to mental health problems like suicidal ideation and self-harm. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and integrated motivational-volitional theory, this study aims to examine the causes and consequences of suicidal ideation among street vendors. Design/methodology/approach Data have been collected from 249 street vendors in Chennai, India, and the time-lagged data from 212 vendor were finally considered for analysis. The relationship between perceived stress and suicidal ideation with mediating role of helplessness has been verified. Also, the study has examined the moderating role of positive religious coping and creative self-efficacy in this relationship. Findings The study found that learned helplessness and suicide ideation are positively impacted by pandemic stress. In addition, the results of this study show that religious coping helps as it moderates the relationship between pandemic stress and learned helplessness. Originality/value This study has tried to verify the conservation of resources theory and integrated motivational-volitional theory in the present work. Moreover, the study has carried out the study on a population, i.e. street vendors, which is usually an unattended section by the business researchers.