Self-Control as a Mediator Between Financial Literacy, Lifestyle, and University Students' Consumptive Behavior

This study aimed to analyze the effect of financial literacy and lifestyle on the consumptive behavior of university students in Sintang Regency, as well as to examine the role of self-control as a mediating variable. The object of this study was active university students, with a total population of 5,293 students across six higher education institutions in Sintang Regency. Using a proportionate stratified random sampling technique with the Slovin formula approach and a 10% margin of error, 100 respondents were selected. This study utilized primary data collected through a Likert-scale questionnaire distributed online. This study adopted a quantitative approach with a causal-associative method and was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares assisted by SmartPLS 4.0 software. The results showed that financial literacy had a direct, positive, and significant effect on consumptive behavior, with a coefficient value of 0.246 and a probability value of 0.020. Lifestyle also had a direct, positive, and significant effect on consumptive behavior, with a coefficient value of 0.248 and a probability value of 0.004. Self-control significantly mediated the effect of both financial literacy and lifestyle on students' consumptive behavior, with indirect effect coefficients of 0.158 and 0.106, respectively. This research model contributed moderately to the variance of consumptive behavior, with an R-squared value of 0.389. This study highlighted a unique finding that in the digital era, a high level of financial understanding paradoxically created overconfidence in shopping smartly, while success in self-discipline triggered a psychological justification to loosen financial constraints as a self-reward mechanism.