Financial stress and quit intentions among business students: The protective role of self-efficacy

Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examines whether the relationship between financial stress and business students’ intention to quit college is explained by loneliness and varies according to levels of academic self-efficacy. Survey data from 687 students enrolled in a business college at a public university in the Midwestern United States were analyzed using Hayes’s PROCESS macro. Results suggest that higher levels of financial stress are associated with greater loneliness, which is, in turn, associated with stronger quit intentions. Critically, self-efficacy buffers the loneliness–quit intention relationship, such that the indirect effect of financial stress on quit intention through loneliness is significant only at low and moderate levels of self-efficacy. Practical implications for business education administrators and student support professionals are discussed.