Mediating Role of Financial Literacy on Financial Behavior and Financial Sustainability

Authors

Jhastine Hilario

Department of Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Accountancy, Tarlac State University, Tarlac, Philippines (Philippines)

Jennylynn Junio

Department of Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Accountancy, Tarlac State University, Tarlac, Philippines (Philippines)

Katrina Valen

Department of Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Accountancy, Tarlac State University, Tarlac, Philippines (Philippines)

Sander Martinez

Department of Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Accountancy, Tarlac State University, Tarlac, Philippines (Philippines)

Krissana Serafino

Department of Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Accountancy, Tarlac State University, Tarlac, Philippines (Philippines)

Diana Hilario

Department of Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Accountancy, Tarlac State University, Tarlac, Philippines (Philippines)

Dr. Elvira Mercado

Department of Entrepreneurship, College of Business and Accountancy, Tarlac State University, Tarlac, Philippines (Philippines)

Article Information

DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI.2026.1309000006

Subject Category: Finance and Business

Volume/Issue: 13/9 | Page No: 66-85

Publication Timeline

Submitted: 2026-09-08

Accepted: 2026-09-29

Published: 2026-09-29

Abstract

This paper investigates the mediating role of financial literacy on financial behavior and financial sustainability of the College of Business and Accountancy students. Specifically, it aims to determine the relationship between financial behavior and financial sustainability with a mediation of financial literacy. The study is quantitative and uses a cross-sectional as its research design. Employed data gathering with 371 students participating by answering a printed survey questionnaire that is adapted with different validated research instruments. The findings revealed that there is a moderate, positive, significant relationship between students’ financial behavior and financial sustainability, with a weak positive significant mediation role of financial literacy. In conclusion, results suggest that it is financial literacy through either knowledge, attitude, or savings that structures the relationship between financial behavior and financial sustainability. Moreover, academic institutions may further explore ways to improve the curriculum programs to align with the students’ needs, and instill not just knowledge but a habit.Future researchers exploring similar topics may gain insights into the role of financial literacy on financial behavior and financial sustainability through the data and analysis provided in this study. This research may also support other investigations by offering relevant literature.

Keywords

Financial Literacy, Financial Behavior, Financial Sustainability, Mediation Role, Mediation Analysis

Downloads

References

1. Abidin et al., (2019). The Effect of Financial Knowledge and Financial Attitudes on Financial Behavior among University Students http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i8/6205 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Ahmad & Yaacob (2024) The Impact of Financial Literacy and Financial Behavior on Financial Stability Among Polytechnic Students in Malaysia https://journal.fkpt.org/index.php/gves/article/view/1680 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Anastasia, N. and Michaela, O. (2021). THE EFFECT OF SAVING BEHAVIOR AND FINANCIAL LITERACY ON INVESTMENT DECISIONS IN THE GENERATION Z CAPITAL MARKET IN [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. SURABAYA https://repository.petra.ac.id/20528/1/Publikasi1_00017_9533.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Amagir et al., (2018). Financial literacy of high school students in the Netherlands: Knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavior. Citizenship, Social and Economics Education, 17(2), 106-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/2047173418813702 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Bantilan, J. C. (2024, June 1). Financial behavior and well-being of college students in University of Mindanao main campus. https://repository.umindanao.edu.ph/handle/20.500.14045/1262?fbclid=IwY2xjawKXUq1leHRuA2FlbQ IxMABicmlkETFLTVN [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Bawalle et al., (2024). Navigating Time-Inconsistent Behavior: The Influence of Financial Knowledge, Behavior, and Attitude on Hyperbolic Discounting. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11591072/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Choowan et al., (2024). Effects of financial literacy and financial behavior on financial well-being: Meta-analytical review of experimental studies. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijfs13010001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Elgharib, W.A. (2024). Financial inclusion, financial development and financial stability in MENA. Review of Accounting and Finance, 23(4), 489-505. https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/rafpps/raf-05-2023-0146.html [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Firli, A. and Hidayati, N., (2021). The Influence of Financial Knowledge, Financial Attitude, and Personality Toward Financial Management Behavior on Productive Age Population https://buscompress.com/uploads/3/4/9/8/34980536/riber_10-s3_04_k21-018_43-55.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Guntur, Y. S., & Soares, J. (2022). Financial Literacy as a Mediation of Financial Attitudes and Financial Experience on Financial Management Behaviour. International Conference On Economics Business Management And Accounting (ICOEMA), 392–404. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Hira, T. K. (2016) Financial Sustainability and Personal Finance Education https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Financial-Sustainability-and-Personal-Finance-Hira/6d5ede42cfcc19e60c2ebc1b243a0a2c55d3847f [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Ibarrientos et al., (2024). The relationship between Financial Self-Efficacy and financial behavior of college students. The Relationship Between Financial Self-Efficacy and Financial Behavior of College Students, 1(1), 103–112. https://doi.org/10.70847/587962 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Khatib et al., (2025). Digital Transformation and Financial Sustainability. 10.4018/979-8-3693-6386-7.ch002 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Kelihu et al., (2024). Analyzing the Influence of Financial Attitude, Financial Knowledge, and Lifestyle on Saving Behavior through SelfControl as Mediation in the Millennial Generation in Ambon.https://www.ijceronline.com/papers/Vol14_issue3/1403135139.pdf? [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Loke, V. (2017). The influence of financial literacy, financial attitudes, and financial management on financial satisfaction among university students. International Journal of Business and Society, 18(3), 449-460. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

18. Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2017) How Ordinary Consumers Make Complex Economic Decisions: Financial Literacy and Retirement Readiness https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S2010139217500082 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

19. Lusardi, A. (2019) Financial literacy and the need for financial education: evidence and implications https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330599981_Financial_literacy_and_the_need_for_financial_ed ucation_evidence_and_implications [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

20. Moko et al., (2022). The effect of financial knowledge, financial attitude, and personality on financial managementbehavior. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

21. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366585091_The_effect_of_financial_knowledge_financial_atti tude_and_person ality_on_financial_management_behavior [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

22. Mudzingiri et al., (2018) Financial behavior, confidence, risk preferences and financial literacy of university students https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2018.1512366 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

23. Ngo et al., (2024) A comprehensive study on factors influencing online impulse buying behavior: Evidence from Shopee video platform https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11336989/ [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

24. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2020). OECD/INFE 2020 International survey of adult financial literacy. OECD Publishing. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

25. https://www.oecd.org/financial/education/globalfinlit.htm [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

26. Peprah et al., (2019). The Mediating Effects of Needs and Wants on the Relationship Between International Students’ Financial Stress and Learning motivation and Financial Sustainability. Adventist University of the Philippines.https://ijecm.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/7240.pdf [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

27. Perna, L. W., & Odle, T. K. (2020). Recognizing the Reality of Working College Students Minimizing the harm and maximizing the benefits of work https://www.aaup.org/article/recognizing-reality-working-college-students [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

28. Rodriguez et al., (2024). The Mediation of Financial Behavior to Financial Literacy and Spending Habits of Gen Z: An Explor Spending Habits of Gen Z: An Exploratory Factor Analysis or Analysis. https://scholar.stjohns.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

29. Sabri et al., (2020) The mediating effect of money attitude on association between financial literacy, financial behaviour, and financial vulnerability DOI:10.6007/IJARBSS/V10-I15/8254 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

30. Sabri et al., (2022). Mediating Effect of Financial Behaviour on the Relationship Between Perceived Financial Wellbeing and Its Fctors Among Low-Income Young Adults in Malaysia. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9161296/? [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

31. Sajid et al., (2024) Financial literacy, confidence and well-being: The mediating role of financial behavior https://www.researchgate.net/publication/382248380_Financial_literacy_confidence_and_well-being_The_mediating_role_of_financial_behavior [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

32. Setiawan et al., (2021) Effects of Indonesian Students’ Financial Literacy on Financial Behavior https://www.academia.edu/73400240/Effects_of_Indonesian_Students_Financial_Literacy_on_Financial_Behavior [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

33. Subhashree, P. & Thomas, B., (2020). Factors that Influence the Financial Literacy among Engineering Studentshttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050920314915?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR2&rr=91 85e6104b 440ea [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

34. Vol. 18 No. 1 (2023): The Journal of Behavioral Science | The Journal of Behavioral Science. (n.d.) https://so06.tcithaijo.org/index.php/IJBS/issue/view/17646? fbclid=IwY2xjawKXUlNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFLTVNhWWFLR2RzdFV uZWE2AR5Bu6ZKOYGVDb82 i4Sc73I4BMz1ZXOuCc8vPwCRtJClNN6KcQeKeS69swkdQ_aem_sli_jCQqbKtvgjDHt18oog [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

35. Xiao, J. J., & Porto, N. (2017) Financial education and financial satisfaction: Financial literacy, behavior, and capability as mediators. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 35(5), 805-817. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-01-2016-0009 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

36. Zhang, Y., & Chatterjee, S. (2023). Financial well-being in the United States: The roles of financial literacy and financial stress. Sustainability, 15(5), 4505. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054505 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

Metrics

Views & Downloads

Similar Articles