It's hard to live in a tourist city: Explaining residents' responses to tourism pressure through stress and self-efficacy

Purpose Research on residents' attitudes toward tourism has relied on cost-benefit frameworks, offering limited insight into how tourism pressure is experienced in everyday life. This study applies Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory to examine how sustained tourism exposure shapes residents' responses. Focusing on Lisbon's historic parish of Santa Maria Maior, the study analyses how perceived negative impacts influence tourism acceptance through psychological processes. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 1496 residents using a combined online and face-to-face survey. The model was tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, enabling the assessment of mediation and moderation effects. Findings Tourism-related impacts are internalised through stress, with effects that vary across domains. Environmental degradation and congestion reduce tourism acceptance through both stress and disruptions to everyday urban life, while economic drawbacks act through stress alone. Self-efficacy attenuates the negative effects of perceived pressures on tourism acceptance. Originality/value The study reframes residents' attitudes as coping processes shaped by resource conditions. It introduces a process-based explanation of how tourism pressure translates into attitudes and links tourism research with environmental psychology. Practical implications Sustaining tourism in urban environments requires attention to environmental quality, spatial access and residents' capacity to cope with pressure. Measures addressing congestion, housing dynamics and resident participation are necessary to maintain tourism acceptance under high intensity.