Financial Stress and Well-being of Filipino Students: The Moderating Role of External Locus-of-hope

Abstract

One of the core principles of positive psychology is that character strengths buffer the effects of adverse experiences on well-being. This study investigated whether external locus-of-hope (LOH) moderates the effects of financial stress on Filipino students’ well-being. Students from various universities answered questionnaires that included scales for financial stress, internal and external LOH, and satisfaction with life; all the relevant scales had good psychometric properties with the current sample. As expected, life satisfaction was negatively predicted by financial stress and positively predicted by three LOH dimensions. More importantly, external-family LOH moderated the relationship between financial stress and life satisfaction; there was no negative relationship between financial stress and life satisfaction among students with high external-family LOH. But the results also suggest that financial stress moderates the relationship between external-spiritual LOH and life satisfaction; external-spiritual LOH’s positive relationship with life satisfaction is found only among those who experience low financial stress.